5 Worst Presidents in American History
As the general election nears, and as politics become inescapable, it’s easy to lose perspective. Yes, many of us get anxiety from the day-to-day news cycle, but we forget that America has already faced her fair share of challenges, and a few inept leaders too. Let’s take a look at the five (debatably) worst presidents in American history.
5. Richard Nixon
Nixon’s legacy is not completely one of corruption. After all, he spent decades in public service, first as a senator from California, and later as vice-president to Dwight D. Eisenhower. And as president, the Republican re-opened relations between the United States and China, which was a milestone at the time.
Still, most of his accomplishments have been marred by a legacy of corruption. The Watergate scandal, which eventually led to his resignation, unveiled a large-scale pattern of paranoia, dirty tricks, and illegal activity. Among them, using reelection funds as hush money to silence the perpetrators of the Watergate break-in.
4. William Henry Harrison
Harrison never really got the chance to prove what kind of president he would be. After all, he died only thirty days into his term. He infamously made the longest inaugural address in history, trying to prove his war hero burliness by standing outside in the winter cold without a hat, gloves or coat. He soon developed pneumonia, and died a month into his presidency. His pride, quite literally, was the death of him.
3. Herbert Hoover
While there were several causes for the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover has historically been blamed for the nation’s worst ever economic crisis. The former Secretary of Commerce had just ascended to the presidency in 1929 when the stock market crashed, commencing the Depression. The homeless settlements that popped up around the country would soon become known as Hoovervilles, permanently linking the Republican to America’s economic nightmare.
2. Warren G. Harding
Harding is best remembered for his tight-knit group of cronies known as The Ohio Gang. The president allowed his boys to engage in bribery, bootlegging, and general corruption directly from the White House. In fact, Harding would host poker games at the executive mansion, where he allegedly entertained prostitutes. But his philandering run in Washington didn’t last long. Harding died of a heart attack two years into his term, and was replaced by his straight-laced, conservative vice-president, Calvin Coolidge.
1. James Buchanan
Buchanan alone cannot be blamed for the centuries of slavery that led to the Civil War. But as president in the late 1850s, Buchanan did almost nothing to prevent the war, and was generally mute on the issue of slavery. He did, however, urge the Supreme Court to rule that freed slaves could not become US citizens in the notorious Dred Scott case. The day Abraham Lincoln replaced Buchanan as President, seven states seceded from the Union. As a result, we mostly remember Buchanan for failing to prevent the deadliest conflict in U.S. history.
(Fun fact: James Buchanan may have been America’s worst president, but many believe he was also America’s first gay president. Buchanan lived with politician William Rufus King for 16 years before King’s death in 1853. Never married, Buchanan appointed his niece, Harriett Lane, to serve as First Lady during his presidency).