Worst Presidents: What Do You Think?

It's much too early to pass judgment on Obama, Bush Jr., Clinton, Bush Sr., or Reagan -- we're still living with the results of their policies and we have yet to gain the perspective which is necessary to really make a conclusion on where they rank. It will be decades before we have the full story, despite all of the so-called "tell alls" that have been coming out from past administrations. I'm not even sure we really have the perspective necessary to judge Nixon, Ford and Carter, either. (And now we have two new perspectives on JFK -- one from Jackie and one from the intern he supposedly had an affair with. Do those matter? Only time will tell.) However, in my opinion, two of our worst presidents have to be Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson. All through the 1800s, presidents helped facilitate the genocide of Native Americans, but Jackson bears the most responsibility for the Trail of Tears (as he is the one who ignored the Supreme Court order to halt the eviction of the Cherokee). Andrew Johnson botched Reconstruction and helped create the abhorrent conditions which the freed slaves and their descendants would live under to the present day. Both men were presented with opportunities to do the right thing, and refused.

Apa of DC 11:55AM February 14, 2012