Today's Poll: Who's been the worst president?

They are/were all honorable upstanding patriotic men, great Americans all. Everyone of them took the oath and dedicated themselves to spending every minute of their term in office to upholding it. Gosh, how can I critize these men? We should all be proud they served us lucky citizens. No liars in that group.

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Phil, I'm pretty sure Dave was being facetious. They were/are all liars in their own right.

I was being facetious and sarcastic. The only 2 I would not call a bald-faced liar are Ford and Carter, that's only because I can't think of an example offhand. The rest, in my humble opinion were pretty egregious. I don't have time right now to reference all of their affronts. I think Ford and Carter were the 2 who actually tried to do right. They were both inneffectual however. Good Navy men too. It's too bad that to become President, a candidate has to pander to all kinds of special interests due to their financial support and that effectively breeds corruption. Instead of protecting and defending the Constitution.

Franklin Pierce

I agree about Ford and Carter...they were/are both pretty decent guys, and really just tried to do what is right.

My only beef with this poll is that Obama shouldn't be in it. He hasn't even completed 1 term yet, so you can't really say whether he has been THE WORST or even THE BEST. He still has time left to go either way, good or bad.
Imagine how things would have been if they held a poll during halftime at the Bills vs Oilers playoff game in '93, asking what the worst playoff loss in Bills' history was, and the current game were chosen? (to non-sports/ non-Bills fans, the Bills were down 28-3 at half, then down 35-3 at the beginning of the 3rd quarter...they ended up winning 41-38...it is the biggest comeback in NFL history)

I agree that Obama shouldn't be in this poll. But, if you took Obama out of the poll then there would be no reason to have the poll.
The results are exactly what was expected.

Franklin Pierce ?
14th President. Elected as President 1852: Pierce (Democrat) vs Winfield Scott (Whig).
Vice President : William Rufus DeVane King.

lol, when one of my son's was stumped on a quiz about presidents, he would always answer Franklin Pierce. No idea why, but he figured that he had a slim chance of being right.

Justin, I still remember listening to that game on the radio on the way to the Great House of Guitars with a few friends...I never left the car! What a game! Go Bills, yeah baby yeah!

My dad and brother went to the game, and I was at my grandma's playing football with my cousins. I quit playing so I could glue myself to the radio. One of my uncles bet me $5 at the half, saying Buffalo would lose...I still haven't seen that $5!!! First pre-season game tonight! GO BUFFALO!

Now back to your regularly scheduled president-bashing :-)

Why shouldn't Obama be in the poll? Want me to point out a few of his lies?

Obama:
He promised to end all earmark legislation. He hasn’t.

The president promised to put all legislation on the Internet for at least five days before signing it into law. He hasn’t.

The president promised to offer comprehensive immigration reform. He hasn’t.

Obama promised to have the congressional health care negotiations broadcast live on C-SPAN. He didn't.

Obama promised to keep unemployment from rising above 8 percent. Say what?

And now the polls show that his personal popularity is dropping parallel with the disapproval of his administration’s policies.

Does anyone actually think he can redeem himself in another 2 years? *Palm slap to the forehead*

My bad, but I just can't help myself. I "dislike" Obama even more than Clinton the piggy booger picker. G-Dubbya failed me on so many levels, too. I guess I "dislike" them all.

Kansas-Nebraska Act, nullification of the Missouri Compromise and support of pro-slavery interests in the south made Pierce our worst president ever. If he had gotten tougher on the slave states like a true New Hampshirite should, we may never have had to endure the Civil War.

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@Chris, After reading up on him it is sure hard to argue against you.

Jimmy Carter was the worst president in history and is the absolute worst ex-president that has ever lived.

http://vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200408310659

At least someone agrees on Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter: good person, bad President

Chris, in 8th grade history, everyone had to do a report on a President, I drew Franklin Pierce. He had a lot of bad luck in his life also. He didn't really want to be President and as history shows, shouldn't have. His successor James Buchanan is usually regarded as the worst. Pierce's predecessor, WNY homeboy Millard Fillmore is regarded a little higher.

Dave O, I disagree there are two that are ranked lower than Buchanan. Harding and W.H.Harrison, respectively.

I go with Buchanan. Harrison died not long after taking office, so it is a bit unfair to say how he would have turned out. I rate Harding ahead of Madison.

Political scientist Walter Dean Burnham noted the "dichotomous or schizoid profiles" of presidents, which can make some hard to classify. Historian Alan Brinkley said, "There are presidents who could be considered both failures and great or near great (for example, Nixon)". James MacGregor Burns observed of Nixon, "How can one evaluate such an idiosyncratic president, so brilliant and so morally lacking?"

David H. Donald, noted biographer of Lincoln, relates that when he met Pres. Kennedy in 1962, Kennedy voiced his deep dissatisfaction and resentment with historians who had rated some of his predecessors. Kennedy said, "No one has a right to grade a President - even poor James Buchanan - who has not sat in his chair, examined the mail and information that came across his desk, and learned why he made his decisions." Donald, David H., Lincoln, 1995, p.13

Howard!! You bash Bush for expanding government and wasteful spending while the bozo currently in office is bankrupting our nation AND our children?!? Oft times you and I respectfully disagree, but this is a doozy!

Bush was no great president, granted, but I'd take him back in a heartbeat over this progressive/socialist. His "leadership" is costing private sector jobs every darn day, and increasing government exponentially. If he had his way, there would be nobody left to pay the bills.

And tonight he comes out in favor of the ground 0 mosque and it's planned 09/11/11 groundbreaking. Good God, Howard. What in the world COULD be worse?

I find it interesting that 2 of the 3 lowest vote getters only served 1 term.

Another neat trend, is that if you look at the graph from Obama to Reagan, President Obama has the most votes, followed by George Bush, then Clinton, then GHW Bush, then Reagan. Can I make the conclusion that the Presidents in the most recent memory did the worst job?

It's very difficult to rate presidents who have recently served. Sometimes it could take a generation for the results of a program or law to take effect.

In a 1962 Arthur Schlesinger poll of 75 historians, Eisenhower ranked 22 out if the 31 Presidents ranked. (Kennedy, WH Harrison and Garfield were excluded.) Twenty years later, the Chicago Tribune asked 49 historians to rank the Presidents from Washington to Carter, and Eisenhower jumped to number 9.

The Schlesinger poll ranked Harding the worst, while the Tribune ranked WH Harrison as the worst (which I think is totally unfair, because how much can you actually get done in 31 days?)

I agree that Harrison shouldn't be rated. A 31 day stint in the Oval Office is just enough time to learn which doors to use to go where. Nine of those days were spent fighting the cold that ultimately took his life.

"Harrison became ill more than three weeks after the inauguration; modern studies have shown that exposure to adverse weather does not cause respiratory illnesses.

The cold worsened, rapidly turning to pneumonia and pleurisy. He sought to rest in the White House, but could not find a quiet room because of the steady crowd of office seekers. His extremely busy social schedule made any rest time scarce.

Harrison's doctors tried cures, applying opium, castor oil, leeches, and Virginia snakeweed. But the treatments only made Harrison worse, and he became delirious. He died nine days after becoming ill,at 12:30 a.m. on April 4, 1841, of right lower lobe pneumonia, jaundice, and overwhelming septicemia.

He was the first United States president to die in office.

Harrison served the shortest term of any American president: March 4 – April 4, 1841, 31 days, twelve hours, and 30 minutes"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison

I suspect that what the poll really shows is that 43.4% of readers are incredibly partisan Republicans while 30.3% are incredibly partisan Democrats.

Joshua, I think you may be on to something :)

I think it showed that most people are not into history. Men like Harrison, Filmore and others are glossed over in school history books, so most people are really only familiar with current presidents, or the more famous like Washington and Lincoln.

I had trouble naming all the Presidents by portrait even with the hints.

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My criteria for measuring the quality of any president's performance remains- how much has that president relied on executive authority to expand the powers of that office? ...And in doing so, how much has that manipulation detracted from either the intended balance of power or deprived "We the People" of our inalienable rights?

Executive Orders by President-
GW Bush 268 (current to 9/2008)
Clinton 363
G. Bush 165
Reagan 380
Carter 319
Ford 168
Nixon 345
Johnson 323
Kennedy 213
Eisenhower 481
Truman 893
FD Roosevelt 3,466

War time office-holders have been especially prolific in terms of executive order, relying on national emergency as empowerment for exercising executive privilege- note Wilson subjugating radio frequency assignment to squelch oppositional voices on the "new" medium. FDR abolished the gold standard installing a debt-based system, redefined the Trading With the Enemy Act and federalized many industries- including a shift on coining and currency regulation from congress to the president.

Truman who presided over WW II's conclusion extended emergency power through post-war reconstruction.

From the 1798 fifth-congressional Alien Enemy Act that empowered the president to decide who was native and who was enemy alien to Truman's 1952 federalizing of a steel mill to suppress a strike- presidents have actively expanded their authority beyond that detailed in the Constitution.

Reagan's sub rosa Iran Contra junta certainly puts him in the running for Constitution busting. George W. Bush's flagrant defiance of more than 750 laws, claiming he could detour any statute that conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution- including domestic spying earns him a prime spot.

Powers of the President-
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Powers of the Legislature-
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and Post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

The sad part of President McKinley's death is that the apparatus, that might have saved him, was on display at the Pan-American Exposition.
The x-ray machine was displayed there.
Had they used it, they could have performed precise surgery on him. He was shot twice, one deflected off his ribs, the other enter the stomach and continued through to damage his liver and pancreas.
Thomas Edison even sent another x-ray machine to the exposition, but that wasn't used either.

Similarly, medical technology played into Garfield's assassination. The story goes- an electro-magnetic device developed by Alexander Graham Bell was unsuccessfully employed to track the location of the bullet. Unfortunately, those operating the device neglected to take into account the metal bed-springs in the mattress he lay upon. Ultimately, it was the physicians probing his wound with unclean fingers that led to Garfield's demise after suffering 80 days with infection.

C.M., don't you just love presidential trivia?
I do.

replyPosted by John Roach on August 14, 2010 - 11:28am
I think it showed that most people are not into history. Men like Harrison, Filmore and others are glossed over in school history books, so most people are really only familiar with current presidents, or the more famous like Washington and Lincoln.

You are probably right about most people not being into history. I was fortunate enough to have teachers who were passionate about history and made it come alive.
History was not just dates, but a look back on the personalities; environment; and events that brought people to a point different from those who were living ordinary lives at that time and place.
For me, reading about the presidents was a joy not a chore.
Rating our most recent presidents may be a fun game, but their true rating will come long after we are gone.

Wow Bea, we have something in common :)
I loved history as a kid, and especially presidential history. I remember having a set of red encyclopedia brittannica, jr edition, and literally wearing the binding out reading about US history.
As Brother Alexander said " you don't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been"

Oh, and Andrew Johnson, 17th president...that's my vote

I know what you mean Bea, most History reading especially the Presidents and military history was more fun for me than a chore. Don't forget the oft-repeated quotation from Edmund Burke: “Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it.”

The President is only one man and cannot be solely to blame for the failures of the Government. There are also two branches of Legislature (the Senate and the House of Representatives) as well as the Supreme Court, not to mention the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Cabinet and the various levels of Government bureaucracy that all play a part in any situation our country finds itself in. Also, a President need not serve his full term to be judged 'the worst'. It is possible for him (or her) to screw up so bad in their first few years of office that nothing they could possibly do in their remaining years could make up for it. It seems the majority of the readers of the Batavian who responded to this poll believe that Obama has done more damage in his almost two years of office than George W. Bush did in eight. Why not do a poll of who the Best President was/is and see what the results are?

Ramdy, he is 1/3 of the government and can veto the actions of another 1/3 (congress). The other 1/3 (Supreme Court) can only review the actions of the other 2/3's. He is the end all be all of the government and rightfully should bear the blame.

The Joint Chiefs are under his control as is the cabinet and all the law enforcement agencies.