Too bad it’s in the singular. I’d say all of them except Jefferson, Madison, VanBuren and President Paul (2009-2017). The worsts: LBJ, Nixon, Carter, Bushes, Clinton, Reagan.
But even Jefferson caved in rather dramatically in supporting intervention and redistribution, despite his fine rhetoric.
That’s true. But he composed the Declaration (which, by changing the phrase “Life, liberty, and property” in earlier similar declarations to “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” shows that Jefferson understood the Austrian concept of the subjective value of property to the owner as that property’s true value), opposed the death penalty (he introed a bill to abolish capital punishment in Virginia), and opposed a central bank. Just those things alone put him near the top of the Presidents. The fact that he was a renaissance man, with great catholicity of tastes and interests, is a wonderful model for the future free-market capitalist, who employs the leisure granted him by his capitalistic endeavors to pursue non-capitalistic ends.
“I should not regret a fair and full trial of the entire abolition of capital punishment.”----James Madison, 4th President of the USA
I don’t think it is possible to answer this question, but I would say FDR, Lincoln and McKinley is the closest to be called the worst presidents. Bush Jr. is also in the club, but I don’t think he is comparable with those three.
Lincoln and FDR are certainly right at the top, but I have to put in a plug for Wilson. He gave us the income tax, the Federal Reserve, the 17th Amendment (direct election of senators) and WWI and its aftermath. If Wilson hadn’t set the stage in WWI, FDR might have been just another crackpot patrician.
Oh, yes I forget about him, I agree with you 100%
This is an easy one. Lincoln at the top spot for murdering 622,000 soldiers and for killing secession and nullification. He laid the foundation, and the size and scope could now grow exponentially since those two checks on federal power were removed. Wilson at #2 for killing 113,000 Americans plus his involvement in the income tax and other progressive crap. He also intervened in Russia - without that, the Bolsheviks probably wouldn’t have come to power. FDR at 3 for his Raw Deal and by now establishing the govt. as the nanny; he also killed 404,000 soldiers by pushing us into WWII. LBJ at #4 for extending the raw deal with his Great Society and escalation of Vietnam. Billions poured down two ratholes that bankrupted America. #5 goes to the decider-in-chief, need I say why? #6 is the craziest of all time, “Teddy” the warmonger.
I personally believe that a stance against the death penalty for murder is an offense against natural law, but be that as it may be, his record on monetary affairs is not the best. I recommend A Financial History of the United States by Dewey, if you can still find a copy.
Worst president…jeez there are so many…
I am tied between three of them. Abraham Lincoln (the civil war, printing money, and being our all around first dictator), Woodrow Wilson (for making the Federal Reserve, Satan’s bank of choice), and Harry Truman( for the mass murder of civilians with the use of two atomic bombs)
I pray that these men recieve mercy in their judgment from The Almighty.
Sure, one strips you of your money and right to private papers. Another your property, countries moral dignity and what’s left of your Constitution?
The answer is easy, who has deprived you of more Liberties than any other?
The real question you want to ask yourself is who’s controlling Pinocchio strings? It sure isn’t the lovable Geppetto. [8-)]
Without a doubt Wilson, he brought the Fed, was the first to want to make “The world safe for Democracy” which is Bush’s model. This guy indirectly set the world up for WW2 as well. The USA had no business in WW1, they put the lucitania in the waters dispite the Germans warning them not to because it would be sunk and that was the reason Wilson used to get the US in the war. Bankers wanted that and Wilson obeyed.
Some bankers certainly wanted it. But Wilson badly wanted it himself. He saw the war as a path to greatness, both for the US and for himself.
The worst was Nixon. He even had to gaul to select the collegiate national champion. He is just the president. He had all the workings of a tyrant. He kept an enemies list. He had the dirty tricks campaign. He bombed the poor folks in Cambodia. He kept the Vietnam War going that George Bush would have continued up to this day. He was basically a scumbag.
After Nixon comes starting with the worst: Rosevelt, Wilson, Lincoln, Rosevelt and Adams who signed into law the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Wilson was the worst president ever, he screwed America in ways that nobody proior could hope and everybody after took advantage of.
Lincoln, for ending the voluntary status of the federal republic and founding the draft, TR for ending the Gilded Age, attacking peaceful trusts, and popularizing the term “democracy”, Wilson for entering WW1, FDR for sending troops to the Western Front and thus aiding the Soviets, Truman for entering Korea, LBJ for enter Vietnam, and Bush 43 for entering Iraq. All still support the existence of the draft for emergencies!!! The bulk of the rest of the other presidents exhibited wretched mediocrity with extreme exceptions: Coolidge, Jefferson, Cleveland and perhaps a few others.
The worst, in approximate order:
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Abraham Lincoln for starting the War Against Southern Secession resulting in wholesale slaughter and the start of big federal government.
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FDR for the New Deal, and causing untold misery by extending the Great Depression unnecessarily through idiotic economic policies.
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Woodrow Wilson for allowing the creation of the Federal Reserve, income tax, and getting the U.S. into WW1.
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Harry Truman for using nuclear weapons against hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians.
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Theodore Roosevelt for his use of the Sherman Antitrust Act, and for being a complete nut-job.
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George W. Bush for expanding the money supply and national debt more than any other president, for invading Iraq and for shredding the Bill of Rights. (Final position on this list unknown)
The best,
- William Henry Harrison for being president for only 31 days (died in office), and thereby doing the least amount of damage.
The thief, of course, - FDR.
One must remember in their evaluation of politics that, like in law, precedent is paramount. Without the horrendous acts of those who have preceded them, our tyrants would not have been able to do as much damage as they did in real life. As such, here is my list of the worst presidents.
1.) Lincoln. “Union uber alles” sums it all up. His taxing, spending, regulating, war, and suppression of civil liberties set the stage for tyranny abroad and tyranny at home by way of empire and the surveillance state.
2.) Teddy Roosevelt. Advanced the cause of ‘scientific progressivism’, which gave the state more power to intervene at home and abroad for utopian fantasies.
3.) Woodrow Wilson. Set another stage for empire through intervening in Europe, as well as income taxes and inflation at home, and advanced the horrid religion of democracy and egalitarianism.
4.) FDR. The man who truly forced America into being a bastardized mixed-economy, and ensured that America would be bled out internationally ever since.
5.) LBJ. Great Society and Vietnam. (I wonder what pattern these presidents are forming?)
6.) Bill Clinton. Kosovo laid the groundworks of the Iraq invasion through the flouting of international law, the last piece of law outside the dominion of the state, his welfare ‘reform’ was a joke, the dot-com bubble he created was a catastrophe, and he helped advance the surveillance state through the ATF and certain legislation. Bush II has done nothing Clinton hadn’t already done.
My votes and just a couple reasons why…
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Wilson - Federal Reserve and income tax.
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Truman - National Security Act of 1947 creating the CIA.
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Bush, Jr. - Patriot Act, “Unitary Executive” theory run rampant, Military Commissions Act
Let’s not forget Andrew Jackson people. Remember he voted against the nation bank. Thats pretty kick ass if you ask me. But as far as the worst, I would agree with basically all of the presidents listed earlier.