The 5 Worst Presidents in U.S. History

The 5 Worst Presidents in U.S. History. Who is the worst president in US history? Ask the average American and you may get several different answers, with the responses usually falling along party lines. But what would happen if you asked a group of historians? The American political network C-SPAN did just that. They asked 91 historians to rank each president on ten qualities of presidential leadership. Then they averaged out the total scores for each president and made a list from best to worst. In this video, we’ll take a look at who that list determined were the Top 5 Worst Presidents in US History.

Number 5, John Tyler. After a brief period serving as the vice-president, in 1841 John Tyler took over from President William Henry Harrison, who died from illness while in office. While “His Accidency” – as Tyler’s critics called him - was considered to be accomplished in foreign affairs, it was his inability to move the country socially that hurt his reputation. This was an era when the move towards equal justice for all Americans was on the rise, but Tyler remained weak on that particular issue.

Economic issues also plagued Tyler, with a period of depression arising while he was in office. The national debt was on the rise at this time, yet Tyler seemed unwilling to raise tariffs to a level that might help dig the nation out of an economic crisis that started building as far back as 6 years earlier with the Panic of 1837.

Number 4, Warren G. Harding. Serving as the 29th president of the United States, Harding spent two years in office, from 1921-1923, before his untimely death from a heart attack.

The list of scandals on Harding’s resume is more than most politicians manage in a single lifetime. The bad blood with the American people began with rumors of Harding’s affair with Nan Britton, just one of many alleged mistresses.

Perhaps the biggest scandal on the Harding resume, though, is one that is referred to as the Teapot Dome Scandal. During this era, the US had large oil reserves that were set aside for Navy use in the event of a military emergency. Harding, supposedly not knowing that it was illegal, transferred that oil for use in the interior.

Number 3, Franklin Pierce. Franklin Pierce served as the 14th president of the United States, and is responsible for creating a huge rift in the country at a time when the abolitionist movement was starting to gain ground. Franklin Pierce’s time in office ran from 1853 to 1857, and it was a period that was filled with turmoil, the majority of which had to do with the legality of slavery in the country.

Rather than making the move towards equal justice for all Americans, Franklin instead chose to put that particular decision in the hands of the new territories. This included the signing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which essentially led to those for and against slavery battling one another within these territories, which became known as “Bleeding Kansas”.

Number 2, Andrew Johnson. Andrew Johnson served as the 17th president of the United States, coming to office after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He served from 1865-1869, and it was his stance on African-American rights and suffrage that has him on the list of the 5 worst presidents.

While Johnson ran on the same ticket as Lincoln, his views and ideals were very different from that of Honest Abe, which was something not so uncommon during this historical period. He seemed hell-bent on opposing radical Republicans who were against the old Confederate methods of doing business, and he would rarely seek to find any sort of compromise with this group.

Number 1, James Buchanan. The 15th president of the United States, James Buchanan held office from 1857 to 1861. The problems for Buchanan began just 2 days after his inauguration, with the Dred Scott decision, which stated that Congress could not exclude slavery in the territories. Word got out that the Chief Justice had revealed the decision to Buchanan prior to it going public, which did not sit well with anyone.

Another major issue during the Buchanan presidency was the Panic of 1857, in which thousands of banks and businesses collapsed, leading to massive unemployment, most of which took place in the North. Buchanan sided with the residents of the relatively unscathed South, stating that over-speculation was the cause of the economic collapse.

This is just scraping the surface of all that went wrong during Buchanan’s 4 years in office, so it’s no real surprise that he is considered the worst president in US history.

In case you were wondering, the C-SPAN survey covered presidents up through the administration of Barack Obama. The current president, Donald Trump, won’t be eligible for the survey until after he leaves office.

The Top 5 were Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower.

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