Worst Presidents: James Buchanan (1857-1861)

US Constitution

Buchanan acted as he did in the last months of his administration because he sincerely believed that there was nothing in the US Constitution to prevent a state from seceding from the Union. Read the Federalist Papers! Madison did not believe the Constitution prevented secession either!

Buchanan was even worse than this

He didn't just sit on his hands while after Lincoln's elections and let the Southern state secede. He let the southerners loot whatever federal assets they could get their hands on. His Secratary of War (later a confederate general) relocated federal armories to confederate territories to expidite the looting. When war broke out, it was these weapons that were used by the first confederate armies. If Buchanan had a longer lame duck period with which to make mischief, the civil war would have been that much longer and bloodier

Buchanan and decision-making

While you can get into a lot of trouble with a president who won't make a decision, you can get into just as much with one who refers to himself as "the decider".

Poor Buchanan

I have often wondered if anyone could have stopped the slide into secession; so hopeless had the situation become. With a US Senator beaten on the floor of the senate and battles routinely raged in Kansas over slavery the advent of outright war was probably inevitable. John Brown's raid quicken the pace of that slide.

Regarding the dispatch of troops to Utah I think the article in Wikipedia sets that reord straight

"The Mountain Meadows massacre was a mass slaughter of the Fancher-Baker emigrant wagon train at Mountain Meadows, Utah Territory, by the local Mormon militia on 11 September 1857. It began as an attack, quickly turned into a siege, and eventually culminated in the execution of the unarmed emigrants after their surrender. All of the party except for seventeen children under eight years old—about 120 men, women, and children—were killed.[1] After the massacre, the corpses of the victims were left decomposing for two years on the open plain,[2] their children were distributed to local Mormon families, and many of their possessions auctioned off at the Latter Day Saint Cedar City tithing office. The Arkansas emigrants were traveling to California shortly before the Utah War started. Mormon leaders had been mustering militia throughout Utah Territory to fight the United States Army, which was sent to Utah to restore US authority in the territory"

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Buchanan

If possible, it would have been better to let the Supreme Court decide the constitutional questions.

However, no doubt in my mind that the country is in a big mess at least partially because everything has gone to Washington and the states do not have many rights allowed them.

The more hands money goes through the less there is at the end of the line.

Less government on all levels but especially Washington would be a welcome improvement in my eyes so I am not ready to vote Buchanan the worse of the bunch.

Nothing but laughable...

Why is it in these kinds of "discussion" you liberal types ALWAYS have to jump on the bandwagon of bashing the most recent Republican. Oh yes - isn't it obvious that George Bush, on his own, in its entirety, created the mess that Mr Obama is now miraculously and in perfect form, in the process of cleaning up? The way you guys think is like a twisted railroad track to nowhere. I don't like Bush, McCain or Obama. What we REALLY need to do is get the government the hell out of the way but it will never happen thanks to all you pseudo-humanitarians who honestly believe we need government, cradle to grave as they say, to provide and secure everything in our lives for us. Pathetic...To quote Jack Nicholson from the movie "Easy Rider"- "God - this used to be one hell of a country!". You Obamaists could never ever possibly begin to understand what the hell he's talking about.

The President with his name in BOLD

I was under the impression that the comment section was for the discussion of the president, James Buchanan, and if people believe he should be on the list not about the current president!

Buchanan

Buchanan was a weak president who probably should not have been elected. As for the current presidency i believe that Obama or McCain would have made a good president. I believe Obama is working hard at foreign affairs and in case some people let slip , the U.S. is not the only country on this world. Obama is making good progress in other areas of the world. I still do not know who said this but, "the only dependable thing about the future is uncertainty."

Do not judge obama

It has been nearly 6 months since Obama took office, we should give him the benefit of a doubt. He did promise to bring change to this country, but it doesn't happen in a single snap of a finger. Americans must be patient and the country's economy will find equilibrium and it will take some time. Just think of the Great Depression that occurred during FDR's presidency; the depression began showing signs of change 5 or more years after Roosevelt took office. So please be patient with our President because I know he will bring the changed he promised during his campaign. Many people expect too much from, he maybe the President, but he's just one man he will need the support of every single one of us.

So to all who has been infuriated by the slow pace of change, please be more patient. Many foreigners ridicule us because we Americans are to impatient and hasty. Patience is a virtue, all we could do now is to give our full support to President Obama, only him and the Democratic Party are the people who'll clean up the mess left by the past Republican Administration.

Formerly Supportive

As a former Obama supporter, fundraiser, and integral part of his campaign, I find myself unable to claim any other than Barack himself as the worst President. His vision of 'hope & change' turned out to require a serious redefinition of terms: Whose hope and change? Not mine, and not America's. His allowance of the 'secret' cash funneling Geithner has control of will structurally alter the US for many decades to come--and not for the better. Truly, I find myself more than merely worried, and wish I could turn the clock back. For someone in the know, who was there with him the whole time, it's tough for me to say so--but I can't lie about it anymore. The worst President in US History? Barack Obama.