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Worst Presidents

Worst American President(s)


  • Total voters
    35
Abraham Lincoln without a doubt is the WORST POTUS in history, and it's going to take something pretty significant to ever topple him from that perch.
 
Really, which presidents have? Please name them, this should be good.

Just about every former president we have other than Carter has enjoyed trading on their fame in return for big dollars. Is this a shock to you or some new information you were not aware or?
 
That's like saying Hitlers actions were the perception of time, and hence he wasn't one of the worst person in the world.

Jackson first signed into the Indian Expulsion Act, which is absolutely horrible and inhumane. It did not have bipartisan support. His policies killed nearly half of the Indians in the US and he stole their homeland. You remember trail of tears?

Jackson had no respect for the Supreme court and the system of checks and balances.

Jackson did reduce the debt, but the previous President did most of the job. He just finished it by causing a property bubble. The property bubble and his silly economic policies caused a huge economic depression.

Jackson created the spoils system, which is hiring your friends to important positions, instead of the ones who are qualified.

The good to great President has policies that are advanced...Jackson did not....During his time, things were quite rotten for so-called minorities..
We still do not have a definite "energy policy" as Mr Carter has esposed....this makes him a failure ???? I say that the true failure is the Congress and the American people...just like today.
 
Our nations politics have become so uber-extreme that it is now common for people to view the current person as the "worst ever" if they are on the opposite side politically. To me this usually demonstrates two things on the part of the person making such a statement... 1) lack of objectivity, and 2) lack of knowledge of history.

I have serious issues with President Obama, and consider him to be weak and ineffective, but... he is not even close to "worst ever". Nor was Bush II.

Worst ever? My vote goes to Franklin Pierce.
 
Jackson first signed into the Indian Expulsion Act, which is absolutely horrible and inhumane. It did not have bipartisan support. His policies killed nearly half of the Indians in the US and he stole their homeland. You remember trail of tears?

Jackson had no respect for the Supreme court and the system of checks and balances.

Jackson did reduce the debt, but the previous President did most of the job. He just finished it by causing a property bubble. The property bubble and his silly economic policies caused a huge economic depression.

Jackson created the spoils system, which is hiring your friends to important positions, instead of the ones who are qualified.

So far as I'm concerned you're talking about one of the three Greatest Presidents of all time when you discuss Andrew Jackson.
 
Just about every former president we have other than Carter has enjoyed trading on their fame in return for big dollars. Is this a shock to you or some new information you were not aware or?
Generally true, but as I recall, President Eisenhower retired on his farm in Gettysburg, shunning the spotlite....which was respected...Today, this would not be, the media and people tend to be far too nosy...
Carter was, IMO, too much of a humanitarian ..
Its sick that some think that this attribute make a man a failure...
 
Conservative said "No one can change the reality that Jimmy Carter is smiling these days as Obama will replace him as our worst President in modern history. "

Let's see who agrees with him.
The quote narrows it to modern presidents only, but the poll includes presidents who weren't in the modern era. There's an inconsistency here.


Any one who thinks that Obama is the worst President is a partisan hack with no ability to understand how a determination like this would be made. Generally, it takes about 10 years after a Presidency to fully understand the impact of that administration. Currently, we can not fully assess the administrations of GWB or Obama. Anyone who believes otherwise has no credibility.
Taken in context, this is correct. In a general overall sense, a president's term cannot be effectively judged until after they have been out of office for a time. You need time to let their policies and actions shake out to see what they really did. It has not been uncommon for a president to either rise or fall in public opinion several years after they left office when people realize what that president did to or for them.


While Carter was indeed a failed president, he is the model for excellence after leaving office. He is perhaps the only one who has not whored himself out to the highest bidder.
For the most part I agree with this. Carter has been a fine ex-president. My only complaint is that it seems the past 10+/- years he's starting to get a little full of himself and he's believing his own press releases, so to speak.
 
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This is an interesting poll. I should say that it is kind of a goofy poll. I don't understand where the benchmark is. What is the criteria? People can pretty much cherry pick, connect the dots, spin and provide imaginary rhetoric to prove their points which is very evident already. Much of this is opinion. Not based on fact. It is pretty easy to judge a president on the history we know. How about the unknown decisions that some presidents made without our knowing. There are so many policies to judge.
 
So far as I'm concerned you're talking about one of the three Greatest Presidents of all time when you discuss Andrew Jackson.
As a child or as a young adult, I'd agree, but with some knowledge passed thru my head over the years.....those who are conservative are not so hot....what really counts is the greatness of the people...we do have a ways to go....
Our presidents are not dictators (as some think), which is a good thing.
 
As a child or as a young adult, I'd agree, but with some knowledge passed thru my head over the years.....those who are conservative are not so hot....what really counts is the greatness of the people...we do have a ways to go....
Our presidents are not dictators (as some think), which is a good thing.

I am no child myself, earthworm. I'm working on 38 years of knowledge myself and obviously we have very different experiences and viewpoints on what should be. As for our President's not being Dictators.... maybe you should go back and inform Mr. Lincoln of Springfield, Illinois of that little tidbit.
 
That's like saying Hitlers actions were the perception of time, and hence he wasn't one of the worst person in the world.

Jackson first signed into the Indian Expulsion Act, which is absolutely horrible and inhumane. It did not have bipartisan support. His policies killed nearly half of the Indians in the US and he stole their homeland. You remember trail of tears?

All of which were pretty terrible... based on the perceptions of OUR time period. Back then? Not so much. As far as you "Godwining", the perception of the persecution of the Jews was universal with the exception of extremists. Very different scenarios.

Jackson had no respect for the Supreme court and the system of checks and balances.

True. I never said Jackson was perfect, but putting him as one of the worst is absurd.

Jackson did reduce the debt, but the previous President did most of the job. He just finished it by causing a property bubble. The property bubble and his silly economic policies caused a huge economic depression.

JQ Adams did not do much of the work. Nowadays, Jackson would probably be seen as a Libertarian. His small government policies, appropriate for the time were what reduced the debt. Also, Van Buren worsened the economic crisis by doing nothing, and though Jackson had a part in what happened, The Bank of the US also had a part. Blaming it all on Jackson is inaccurate.

Jackson created the spoils system, which is hiring your friends to important positions, instead of the ones who are qualified.

Van Buren is the "father" of the modern patronage system. Jackson was the first to take it national.
 
While Carter was indeed a failed president, he is the model for excellence after leaving office. He is perhaps the only one who has not whored himself out to the highest bidder.

neither Bush has and neither blasted their successor, unlike the moron Carter. there are a bunch of 1980 olympians who cannot wait to piss on Carter's grave
 
Just about every former president we have other than Carter has enjoyed trading on their fame in return for big dollars. Is this a shock to you or some new information you were not aware or?
Are you not aware that Carter wrote well over a dozen books to capitalize on his fame?
 
Are you not aware that Carter wrote well over a dozen books to capitalize on his fame?

or, Unlike George HW Bush or W, he whined about Reagan, he whined about GHWB, and he whined about W while GHWB had nothing bad to say publicly about Clinton and W has not bashed the uber incompetence of Obumble
 
All of which were pretty terrible... based on the perceptions of OUR time period. Back then? Not so much. As far as you "Godwining", the perception of the persecution of the Jews was universal with the exception of extremists. Very different scenarios.
I am judging him based on the perceptions of our time periods. I am not following the morals of the 1800s. Hitler was no extremist back in the 1930s. Many people supported him, also outside Germany. Jew-bashing was very common across the whole Europe. That doesn't make Hitler's actions any better.

True. I never said Jackson was perfect, but putting him as one of the worst is absurd.
Well, I don't even know about any President who has been worse than Andrew Jackson. I mean many sources claim Andrew Johnson is the worst, but at least he just fought any law that would give minorities equal rights. He didn't go out there, cheated them, killed them and stole their homeland.

JQ Adams did not do much of the work. Nowadays, Jackson would probably be seen as a Libertarian. His small government policies, appropriate for the time were what reduced the debt. Also, Van Buren worsened the economic crisis by doing nothing, and though Jackson had a part in what happened, The Bank of the US also had a part. Blaming it all on Jackson is inaccurate.
Jackson is no liberterian. Jackson was a populist. Adams reduced the debt from 13% to 7% of GDP per capita.

Jackson was the reason for the crisis. When he took power, he said no to renew the charter of Bank of the US and withdrew the money from the national bank and distrubuted it among local banks. The local banks began to heavily overstimate the situation and gave out too many loans to invest in new properties after the removal of the indians. This caused a property bubble, which jackson used to pay off the debt. Also, imports rose too fast and caused a trade deficit.

Then he decided to require only gold and silver as payment for public lands to fight overvaluation. This has disasterous consequences. He crashed the economy, and sent the debt levels back up to when he took office.

Van Buren is the "father" of the modern patronage system. Jackson was the first to take it national.
They are from the same party. No wonder he kept jacksons spoils system.
 
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I voted for Hoover, though the poll does not give many good choices. Also, why is that on every poll, the conservative choice is always voted on by visitors? Are these people too embarrassed to log in? Every time I look at a poll and there is a lopsided conservative vote, only like 3 names show up.
 
Any one who thinks that Obama is the worst President is a partisan hack with no ability to understand how a determination like this would be made. Generally, it takes about 10 years after a Presidency to fully understand the impact of that administration. Currently, we can not fully assess the administrations of GWB or Obama. Anyone who believes otherwise has no credibility.

THAT was the point of this poll.

That and highlight how idiotic Conservative's belief is.

To argue Obama is worse than the Presidents who essentially sent 500,000 Americans to die needlessly is a sign of serious mental issues.
 
THAT was the point of this poll.

That and highlight how idiotic Conservative's belief is.

To argue Obama is worse than the Presidents who essentially sent 500,000 Americans to die needlessly is a sign of serious mental issues.

Perhaps that's why almost all of them voted anonymously. Out of 20 votes, 8 of them were anonymous, and 7 of the 8 voted "Obama".
 
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Perhaps that's why almost all of them voted anonymously. Out of 20 votes, 8 of them were anonymous, and 7 of the 8 voted "Obama".

It's really quite sad. I basically made the poll as stark of a choice as possible.

A president who essentially destroyed the economy of the US causing the worst economic disaster the US had ever encountered, the Presidents who are essentially responsible for the deaths of 500,000 Americans or Obama.

You are not rational if you pick Obama.
 
I voted for Hoover, though the poll does not give many good choices. Also, why is that on every poll, the conservative choice is always voted on by visitors? Are these people too embarrassed to log in? Every time I look at a poll and there is a lopsided conservative vote, only like 3 names show up.

Because the more you proclaim your conservative/liberal beliefs, the less mature you are. Who throws the hissy fits around here? The Extremists. But you do have a point that it tends to be the "conservatives" who spam polls when the result doesn't go their way. It's really quite pathetic for people who allegedly worship personal responsibility and maturity to act like toddlers.
 
I don't know enough history to be aware which president(s) you specifically refer to in the 2nd option.

I'm assuming Lincoln and whoever before him...

But in either case, I'm of the opinion that trying to draw such conclusions is highly subjective.


I mean...talk to one person, X decision by a given president was good.

Talk to another person, the same decision was bad.


Meh.
 
I don't know enough history to be aware which president(s) you specifically refer to in the 2nd option.

I'm assuming Lincoln and whoever before him

By the time Lincoln got there is was largely inevitable.

I think someone listed them. Pretty much the 4 or 5 Presidents preceding Abe.

I mean...talk to one person, X decision by a given president was good.

But some people are in fact stupid.

I don't see how someone rational can think that sending 500,000 Americans to die because you were too worthless to make the hard decisions to save the country means you were a better president than Obama. Letting the Civil War happen at all is a sign you were a bad president.
 
I am judging him based on the perceptions of our time periods. I am not following the morals of the 1800s. Hitler was no extremist back in the 1930s. Many people supported him, also outside Germany. Jew-bashing was very common across the whole Europe. That doesn't make Hitler's actions any better.

Firstly, you cannot base an 19th Century decision on 21st Century morals. Complete non-sequitur. And Hitler was certainly an extremist based on morals of the time.


Well, I don't even know about any President who has been worse than Andrew Jackson. I mean many sources claim Andrew Johnson is the worst, but at least he just fought any law that would give minorities equal rights. He didn't go out there, cheated them, killed them and stole their homeland.

Again, you are basing your decision on 21st Century morals... in assessing someone from the 19th century.


Jackson is no liberterian. Jackson was a populist. Adams reduced the debt from 13% to 7% of GDP per capita.

Jackson was for a smaller government and prized individual liberty over most other things. That sounds like a libertarian to me. And regardless of what Adams did... Jackson paid off the entire US debt.

Jackson was the reason for the crisis. When he took power, he said no to renew the charter of Bank of the US and withdrew the money from the national bank and distrubuted it among local banks. The local banks began to heavily overstimate the situation and gave out too many loans to invest in new properties after the removal of the indians. This caused a property bubble, which jackson used to pay off the debt. Also, imports rose too fast and caused a trade deficit.

Then he decided to require only gold and silver as payment for public lands to fight overvaluation. This has disasterous consequences. He crashed the economy, and sent the debt levels back up to when he took office.

That is one school of thought. Others would state that the crisis was CAUSED by the Bank of US itself (fraud and corruption), problems with Mexican silver, and state government deficit spending... having nothing to do with Jackson.


They are from the same party. No wonder he kept jacksons spoils system.

No, Van Buren CREATED it. Jackson borrowed it and took it national.
 
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