Worst Presidents: James Buchanan (1857-1861)

Honestly, he should probably be third on the list with Andrew Johnson at number one and Jimmy Carter in second. Disappointed that this list is clearly discriminatory against the pre-Civil War-era presidents. I'm sure that every person in the country- and yes I do mean EVERY single person in the country- would include atleast one post-Civil War-era president in the list that isn't already (including the people that developed this falsified list.) However, many people would put George W. Bush in the top three when he clearly had some successes and really wasn't much worse by any means than Obama. The fact does remain though, that many of the more modern presidents' errors can be overshadowed by a few key things such as their efforts during a war time or helping to lower the budget deficit simply because they weren't president during a war time or a recession or depression. Only Time will be able to tell which presidents truly had the worst affect on the U.S. as a whole. For one, even though I do not question why Nixon is on the list, he certainly does not deserve to be, all things considered. After all, Nixon probably had some of the best foreign policy skills and beliefs of all the presidents; this is one of the most important attributes that a president can have considering the fact that there is clearly never a right way to try to fix the economy and foreign policy is one of the most delicate responsibilities of the U.S. government. Our first president wasn't so great himself, he refused to shake hands with citizens and was clearly a sinner as a man since he thought of himself in the same way he is represented in his general on the horse statue- in a godly manner. Why don't we just throw Van Buren under the bus since he was president during such hard economic times? Well, this situation was a result of the collapse of a national bank and some of the policies that Andrew Jackson set in place. In addition, he was extremely influential in creating the (original) Democratic party, which- in my opinion- was the best party in our nations history when combined with the Jeffersonian Democratic beliefs. So then shouldn't Andrew Jackson be on this list? Obviously not. Actually, I discredit any historian that isn't favorable of him. He was a genuine president with much charisma that fought as hard as he could for what seemed to be truly in the interest of the people. Plus, he did manage to take down the monopoly-like federal banking system and be the ONLY president to run a debt-free nation. That's right, the only time the U.S. hasn't been in debt is when he was president. In sum, this is not an entirely useful list and it was probably created in a way they thought would be as neutral as possible, especially when considering recent presidents. But the real fact of the matter is, there is no such thing as a president that is a complete success or an entire failure. The true feat of a successful president is the ability to create a nation of followers.

Ryan of IL 5:03AM December 16, 2011

Carter should be number one on all lists!!!

jake of NY 1:44PM November 11, 2011

Buchanan deserves the bottom spot for simply letting states secede. Lincoln knew that if the South could leave the Union, other states -- such as gold-rich California, then separated from the rest by 1,000 miles of wilderness -- could follow. That's why even while fighting the Civil War, Lincoln also speeds up the building of the transcontinental railroad, eventually connecting the West Coast to the rest of the nation. Some people here argue that slavery would have faded away without a war, but that's bunk; to the contrary, in Buchanan's day the pro-slavery forces were doing everything humanly possible to expand slavery, as it was phenomenally profitable in a nation whose main industry was agriculture, and where there was skads of cheap, fertile land and not enough free Americans to work it all. In 1860 in some states, such as Mississippi, there were even more slaves than free whites, and newspaper opinions of the time confirm how desperate Southerners were to preserve this system that raked in the dollars. That the religious Buchanan considered slavery a terrible evil, and yet stood by idly as the US fell apart because of it, is a sad commentary on his lack of backbone.

creamnsugar of FL 12:44AM August 21, 2011

He was also gay. (not that there's anything wrong with that)

TW of FL 10:57PM July 10, 2011