Worst Presidents: Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)

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The rest of the list I can see. This was a tough time in America. The war was over and the task of unifying the North and South together after the war seemed impossible. Congress wanted to punish the entire south, taking away things like voting rights limited senate/house imput and cost of war penalties. Scholars generally agree that even Lincoln homself would have had trouble in reconstructing the union. Add to that a hostile power mad Congress out to get Johnson for trying to get the South on equal terms with the North in the Union, impeachment - I just don't see how Johnson can really rank as one of the 10 worst. Non-Effective because of a lousy cabinet. Question: What or who could have done better. Not Grant, or Harrison.

Craig of CA 10:16AM October 02, 2011

He is my second fave. President. The Radicals just wanted to dictate the South, which they did thru the Aferican-Americans. They sold the Aferican-Americans out in 1876. Johnson risked everything except foreign policy on stopping them. If the Radicals got their way they would have robbed the South dry and left the Aferican-Americans to take all the blame, unfortunately they partially succeeded. The Radicals are the ones who made segregation and Johnson stopped it from being worse. And who could forget how well under him the Monroe Doctrine was defended by liberating Mexico.

godisgoodandheavenisreal of LA 9:23PM September 23, 2011

Andrew Johnson became president by accident. then had the bad luck to be a Southerner and a Democrat (from Tennessee) at the end of the Civil War when being either was unpopular. He tried to continue Lincoln's conciliatory policies toward the defeated South, but had no chance in a Congress dominated by the Radical Republicans, who wanted the South to pay a price. His impeachment was more about his differences of policy with Republicans than anything else. Congress had been suspicious of Johnson from the outset. Now, he wasn't a good president, but there were several others who entered office with better situations in Washington and fumbled their opportunities, and should be in the Bottom 10. Calvin Coolidge, for one, ignored repeated evidence that the economy was in trouble (per-capita disposable income was declining, the construction boom had stopped and businesses were slashing production) during his administration, and that set the foundation for the Great Depression.

creamnsugar of FL 11:38PM August 20, 2011

I rarely see it mentioned that Johnson risked war with France only one year after the end of the Civil War. The French army was in Mexico propping up Maximilian in an attempt to establish a greater French influence in the New World. It took bold leadership to risk a war with a major world power all to enforce the Monroe Doctrine.

Larry Gant of GA 11:51AM March 23, 2011

Damn, blackallyoucareabout,
you 1 dumsob, don't u know they make comedy skits about "you people" trying 2 use big words! God bless Louisiana!

Jamie of LA 4:59PM February 09, 2011

Mr Moir, we all know who runs "Hollywood" and the media and the country and they are not Black.

Steve of CA 12:48AM August 30, 2010

Maybe you should have spent more time paying attention in history class and less time doodling yourself shooting minorities. Lincoln tried to avoid the war at all cost, it was the south that made the war on the north, have you ever head of the saying "A house divided against itself cannot stand" you should Google that.

abe of CA 1:02PM August 19, 2010

no it doesn't you gotta stop watching fox news, slavery has been a big part of this country even after it "ended". It took decades for the reconstruction era to finally end with the civil rights movement, it is not whether they are black and stuff is revolving around them, it is about the Anglo community (since you dislike the term white, i respect that, it's call tolerance you should try it) realizing that little by little they have to share another part of society and politics with a more diverse group of people. So they piss and moan and would make up any excuse to avoid this from happening, it is a patter seen after slavery was abolish, when Irish and other immigrant groups gained the right to vote, the woman's right movement, and we are seen it now with immigration and rights for gays.

abe of CA 12:59PM August 19, 2010

The whole nation and everything in our past, present and future now seems to revolve around what can be done for blacks. That's all I'm going to say. Of course, even the term "black" is now virulently racist, we have to say "African American," when all my background warrants is "white." They control Hollywood and the government. What's left?

Alexander Moir of NY 5:30PM July 14, 2010

Modern historians give more credit to the Radical Republicans for altruism than I do. Many if not most of them only wanted citizenship and voting rights for the ex-slaves because it would guarantee reelection for themselves. After all, they didn't demonstrate similar concern for women or Native Americans. Moreover, for all his faults, Johnson did NOT deserve impeachment!

Ted Snyder of NY 10:01PM February 14, 2010