Who was the worst U.S. president?

[ATOMonkey]

I think Lincoln was a good man, who had the wrong philosophy.

He should not have focused on preserving the Union as his main goal for his presidency. That lead to everything else.

It is my understanding that the suspension of habeous corpus was a result of a court system that simply wasn't functioning, and that many locals simply took justice into their own hands without any Federal direction.

He is number 2 on my list of worst presidents, simply because he did nothing to stop the war, and that was well within his power to do so.

FDR not only wrongly imprisoned Americans, but sought to overthrow the government from within, fathered modern socialism, and still found the time to fight a global war through conscription. All while being a complete and total moron. The man was a dullard by all accounts, but was a good speaker and a good liar.

 

[dbd870]

I'm going with FDR as well.

 

[jmiller676]

I don't think a lot of people know much history besides the points you listed. FDR was BAD. Ever here of the "new" bill of rights..check it out FDR was *&%#$@ up.

 

[Ramen]

I voted for Wilson. Federal Reserve and World War 1. Lincoln may have trounced all over the Constitution, but the Federal Reserve is still directly affecting my and my children's futures.

At least number one is easy. GEORGE WASHINGTON.

 

[2A_Tom]

Is?

 

[Kutnupe14]

I voted for Wilson. Federal Reserve and World War 1. Lincoln may have trounced all over the Constitution, but the Federal Reserve is still directly affecting my and my children's futures.

At least number one is easy. GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Would you still say that if you knew George Washington embezzled money from the federal government?

 

[dross]

Would you still say that if you knew George Washington embezzled money from the federal government?

That is not established fact, it is conjecture.

 

[Mike_Indy]

Toss up between Wilson and FDR. FDR continued what Wilson started. Lincoln, I give him a very small pass because slavery had to be stopped. Not agreeing with the method, just the need. However, many of the other things he enacted where terrible for the country.

 

[Paco Bedejo]

Abraham Lincoln

• Arrested/executed tens of thousands of his political opponents in the North
• Arrested congressmen, mayors, journalists
• Had a warrant to arrest the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• Waged war on his political opponents in the South
• Did not obtain congressional approval for war
• Confiscated citizens guns
• Declared Martial Law
• Shut down newspapers, censored the telegraph
• Quartered soldiers in private homes
• His war killed more Americans than both World Wars
• Created the nation's first income tax and the precursor to the IRS

Woodrow Wilson

• Created the Federal Reserve
• Created the IRS
• Exacerbated the Great Depression
• Entered the U.S. into World War I
• Arrested an estimated 175,000 Americans for "seditious" speech
• Instituted rationing and price fixing
• Created the War Industries Board which took over the U.S. Economy in service of the State
• Created the Committee on Public Information used to lie to the American public and spread propaganda
• Supported joining the League of Nations

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

• Instituted the Social Security Act
• Created the "New Deal", at least 100 new bureaucratic agencies
• Created the FBI
• Created the FCC
• Created the SEC
• Signed the National Firearms Act of 1934
• Confiscated Americans' gold
• Locked up American citizens in concentration camps
• Created wage and price controls
• Created Selective Service Act
• World War II
• Sent battle tanks into Washington DC to crush the 1932 Bonus March

I had a tough time choosing between these three...but from my point of view, FDR has done more over the long-term to undermine the rights & safety of Americans than any other president. Lincoln is right there with him though, IMO.

After typing that last paragraph...I'm thinking maybe this question needs to be a two-parter:

Which president did the most horrendous things during his time in office?
Which president did the most to screw over future generations?

Heck, not knowing the future, I'd say Bush v2.0 & Obama would be serious contenders for the latter...

 

[Mike_Indy]

I'm a bit concerned that BO is leading the poll. America has too short of a memory. Read up on the others before claiming what is current and in the news for 2+ years being worse than the work of those that proceeded. Don't get me wrong, Obama stinks and America is in trouble in GREAT part due to him... But read up on those before him.

 

[Kutnupe14]

That is not established fact, it is conjecture.

The paper trail is pretty damning.

 

[neraph]

You might want to look at the date up at the top too. This did not cause the war nor was it a part of the war but rather a way to calm those outspoken against slavery in the north that wanted it to be about slavery...

You might want to check out the "original" 13th Amendment.

The Corwin Amendment was a ...

Again guys, I'm not defending him. I'm just responding to those who said that "Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves" was a myth. He helped pass the 13th Amendment. I don't think eliminating slavery was his goal from the beginning nor do I think it was a direct cause of that war, merely that he did in fact help to free the slaves. No, he didn't do it alone and the Emancipation Proclamation did not free all of them outright, but he did in fact help pass the 13th Amendment.

 

[Compatriot G]

Again guys, I'm not defending him. I'm just responding to those who said that "Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves" was a myth. He helped pass the 13th Amendment. I don't think eliminating slavery was his goal from the beginning nor do I think it was a direct cause of that war, merely that he did in fact help to free the slaves. No, he didn't do it alone and the Emancipation Proclamation did not free all of them outright, but he did in fact help pass the 13th Amendment.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but the President has nothing to do with the passage of Amendments to the Constitution.


"The Supreme Court did deal with this issue, following the ratification of the 11th Amendment. It was argued that the amendment was invalid because the amendment was not passed to the President prior to being passed on to the states. But in Hollingsworth v Virginia (3 USC 378 [1798]), the Court wrote (in a footnote): "The negative of the President applies only to the ordinary cases of legislation: He has nothing to do with the proposition, or adoption, of amendments to the Constitution.""

"Once the CSA was defeated, approval of the 13th Amendment was quick in the Northern states. By the end of 1865, eight of the eleven Confederate states had also ratified it. Proposed on January 31, 1865, it was ratified on December 6, 1865 (309 days). Eventually, all of the CSA states except Mississippi ratified the 13th after the war; Mississippi ratified the amendment in 1995."

If you will note from the above, it was the former Confederate States themselves that helped pass the 13th Amendment, not Lincoln.

 

[rambone]

Official tyrant ranking system

I learned a few things about Wilson in making this list. I added them to the OP. He was worse than I originally knew, with the mass arrests and all. And there is a case to be made that his post-WWI actions directly led to WW2.

All in all, it is a tough call but I would rank Wilson as 3rd worst.

1. FDR
2. Lincoln
3. Wilson
4. GWB
5. LBJ

As far as OBAMA, well, his legacy remains to be seen. Maybe his worst is yet to come. So far he has not out-done the rest of these fascists.

• He hasn't arrested droves of dissenters (yet),
• he hasn't declared Martial Law (yet),
• he hasn't confiscated guns or gold (yet),
• he hasn't forced citizens to serve him using a military draft (yet),
• he hasn't enacted any federal firearms acts (yet)

Obama is really just a "vanilla" tyrant so far. He should actually be pleasing to most of Bush's supporters, since he is doing the same damn things... War, spending, domestic Police State, welfare, stimulus, war. Obama is just continuing all the same crap laid out in front of him by many other bastards. Obamacare is the one thing that really is his baby, but it is not worse than any of my points above, sadly.

BHO is going to have to step up the dictating if he wants to rank higher on my list. Your thoughts?

 

[ThrottleJockey]

If you will note from the above, it was the former Confederate States themselves that helped pass the 13th Amendment, not Lincoln.

Thank you for stating this. I have contended for most of my life that slavery was already becoming too costly when compared to some of the industrial developments of the day and was nearing an end before secession or the war. If you think about it, would a keen business man or farmer prefer to buy a slave, feed him/her, clothe them, provide medical care however poor it may be, etc only to have them eventually die or buy a machine that occasionally requires repair, does the work of dozens of slaves in a fraction of the time, never dies or gets sick, never eats, sleeps, gets tired, needs clothes shelter or heat in the winter.......I doubt it was even about slavery for the CSA but rather the states right to decide for themselves as per the 10th amendment. When it became obvious that the COTUS actually meant nothing to the CIC things began to get serious. But I could be suffering from lack of sleep too.........IDK

I think Wilson was playing way out of his league and was used (like the tool he was) by those in the congress to achieve their agenda. What I am uncertain of is whether he was just a complete hayseed that got played like a cheap fiddle or if he had actual malicious intent. I recall a speech in which he apologized to the public for a grave mistake he had made and claimed to have been "tricked" into signing the 16th, and that it would eventually lead to the destruction of the USA and everything it stood for. In the speech, he seemed sincere.

 

[CarmelHP]

If you will note from the above, it was the former Confederate States themselves that helped pass the 13th Amendment, not Lincoln.

Because it was a condition of readmission.

 

[rambone]

Bump for a fresh new discussion.

Unfortunately I cannot update the OP anymore.

 

[Rizzo]

All the above?

 

[Mgderf]

I voted Woodrow Wilson, because the question was phrased, "Who was the worst U.S. President?"

Obama is not done yet, but he will decidedly take the prize.

Woodrow Wilson started all of this "progressive" bull though, so he gets my vote for now.

 

[strahd71]

i agree with Rambone that Lincoln is the worst, but i would have had to really consider JFK too, he sucked, cuban missile crisis ring a bell? and he was as dirty as they come with his affairs and such and yet they idolize him because he was shot............ he too was a douche bag

on a side note, i read something like 20 years ago that said that Mary Todd Lincoln had syphilis, back then that tended to make people get puss on the brain and go nuts, if (and i dont know if its true) she had then wouldnt he have it? and if he had it wouldnt he have puss on the brain and be crazy as well?

again i have no idea where i read it or if it is true but interesting at any rate. i grew up 40 minutes maybe from springfield il. lots of rumors and crap about him there

jake