Who was the worst two term US President. You won't believe this.

[denem]

Or maybe you will,


Ranked 38 - 42

The runner up?


Ranked 29 - 30.

Source: Nate http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/23/contemplating-obamas-place-in-history-statistically/

[mwooldri]

1. I disagree with the findings on one president.

It isn't GW Bush, it's Andrew Jackson. Trail of Tears. I cannot believe he was ranked #13. IMO he should be there with Mr. G W Bush.

[BlueStater]

2. LBJ wasn't a two term president.

He served the remaining 14 months of Kennedy's term, then served one term of his own, and finally declined to serve another.

[bornskeptic]

7. Nor were Theodore Roosevelt, Coolidge or Truman.

They also became president through their predecessor's death.Only 17 presidents were elected and re-elected to the presidency, if you count Cleveland, who actually won the popular vote 3 times. Of those 17, two were assassinated so soon that their second terms were almost non-existent (Lincoln and McKinley) and a third resigned in disgrace, so only 13, before Obama, actually served two full terms.

[dmosh42]

3. What always amazes me, is remembering Nixon, being impeached over a break in of the Dem hdqtrs....

and Clinton's impeachment over a BJ. Meanwhile, Bush starts a 'fake' war in which thousands die unnecessarily, but has a library memorial built in his name, when he should be remembered as a war criminal.

[jmowreader]

8. Nixon wasn't impeached

His handlers told him if he didn't resign he would be removed from office.

Bush's museum was built through private donations, and I think that's just great...with all the good Bush did for people who would have been fine without it (at the expense of us all) they really needed to do something nice for him. And remember, every dollar spent on a prison-shaped repository for such Bush treasures as Saddam's pistol, the Mission Accomplished banner and the 8-6-01 presidential daily briefing is a dollar that won't be used to rig an election.

[modrepub]

4. US Grant

He had everything: financial panics, major corruption scandals (11 of them) and the abandonment of black civil rights and the decent of Jim Crow during the final phases of Civil War Reconstruction, which wasn't reversed until the 1960s.

IMO US Grant lead one of the most charmed lives in US history. He was highly unsuccessful in just about every endeavor from business to the army. His rapport with Lincoln and some very able lieutenants assured his rise during the Civil War and his political success afterwards. He lost nearly all of his money after he left the White House and spent his last days penning his autobiography, which saved his and his family's financial fortunes, finishing it before he succumbed to throat cancer.

[Aristus]

5. I disagree with the notion that he was unsuccessful in the Army, or that he owed his

rise in rank to an association with Lincoln. Military historians began re-assessing Grant's stature as a general a number of years ago, and began to debunk the "Lee was a gifted general; Grant just had more men" conventional wisdom.

Grant was a talented field commander, daring, risk-taking, and willing to buck contemporary received wisdom on the subjects of military tactics and strategy. He was also skilled in getting his subordinate commanders to work together as a cohesive whole, at a time when vainglorious field leaders sought personal success and attention.

[modrepub]

9. I agree on Lee

Lee never won an offensive campaign in his career. He failed to destroy McClellan during the second half of the Peninsula Campaign, he failed in his first invasion of Maryland and failed at Gettysburg (miserably I might add). It was Lee's decision to invade PA instead of sending Longstreet to relieve Vicksburg that enabled Grant to capture the Mississippi on the same day that Lee began his retreat from Gettysburg. Both of these actions meant the South was not going to get any hard aid from Europe for the remainder of the war.

Grant had the confidence of Lincoln, which was no small deed. Therefore he was able to grind it out with Lee without major opposition regarding his tactics. The Union could afford large losses in the field but the South could not. Grant having a free hand to use the army was something previous commanders, especially in the east, did not enjoy.

[former9thward]

10. Lee's career was more than the Civil War.

He had distinguished service in the Mexican War and both Grant and Lee served in the same unit under General Scott.

[NYC Liberal]

12. Abandonment of civil rights? Quite the opposite.

Grant aggressively enforced civil rights laws, went after the Klan and essentially shut them down, signed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, fought for the 15th Amendment, used federal troops to ensure former slaves were allowed to exercise their right to vote.

[dsc]

14. blaming Grant for Jim Crow is scurrilous

He worked his ass off to pass a civil rights bill which a largely inherited SCOTUS trashed.

[LeftishBrit]

6. Interesting

I would rate him even lower!

Whatever Andrew Jackson's achievements, there was that little matter of genocide, which as far as I'm concerned would put him at the bottom.

Of course one can never have a definitive ranking, partly because different people will have different views as to what's idesirable in a president, and partly because people can be good and bad on different issues -e.g. LBJ was IMO one of the best presidents ever on domestic policy, and one of the worst ever on foreign policy

[Hippo_Tron]

13. The more I learn about Andrew Jackson the more I hate him and like him at the same time

As far as he was concerned, South Carolina's attempts at nullification and secession were treason. If that mentality had prevailed, there may never have been a Civil War. There almost certainly wouldn't be tea-baggers in the south talking about it today.

On the other hand, there is that matter of genocide and there's no getting around that.

[Nancy Waterman]

11. Bush was by far the worst

We will be digging out of the various messes he made for decades.

[sofa king]

17. Worst. President. Ever.

Let me run down my own list of worst Presidents, and I think you'll see where I'm going:

Ulysses S. Grant. Sold out to corrupt corporate interests; widespread corruption across his administration; his Vice President was guilty of awarding his own corporate interests with lucrative government contracts...

Just like George W. Bush.

Warren G. Harding. Scandalously leased government-owned lands, particularly oil-rich lands, to his corporate cronies. Held secret policy-formulation meetings with corporate interests, then fought disclosure...

...Just like George W. Bush.

James K. Polk. Lied to the public in order to spark a war under false pretenses, for reasons far more greedy than publicly stated...

...Just like George W. Bush.

Franklin Pierce. Disinterested, alcoholic, accused drunk driver...

...Just like his many-great grand-nephew, George W. Bush

Ronald Reagan. Not intellectually capable of doing the job, nor of policing his subordinates. Presided over the systematic violations of Congressional direction and the Constitution...

...Just like George W. Bush.

Richard Nixon. Attempted (and successful) election theft. Manipulated an intelligence agency as part of a larger series of cover-ups. Fought undeclared wars in secret. Underlings included Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld...

...Just like George W. Bush.

George W. Bush is the worst President ever, without question, and it should be without debate. Why? Because George W. Bush did all of the worst things that all of the worst Presidents have done, and screwed it up bigger, killed more people, ruined more lives, and stole more land and homes than any of them--and probably more than the rest of those chumps put together. You bring me any other "worst ever" candidate, name his five worst sins, and I can show you W. committing and getting away with the same sins, only worse. He was that bad.

George W. Bush was a shambling composite of every prior evil that ever shat upon the Presidency. Worst. President. Ever.

Hey, does DU still sell those T-shirts? Mine's worn out.

[Jamaal510]

15. Perhaps I misread this,

but acording to the chart used on this article, historians ranked REAGAN ahead of Clinton, plus he is in the top 10. How on Earth is that possible? I think they must've been smoking something good when making this chart. Apparently, these supposed historians have forgotten about him running up the debt and popularizing the type of economics that has chiefly been responsible for the elimination of America's middle class. At least under Clinton, the economy was booming, the country wasn't at war, there were jobs, and he left office with a surplus.
Reagan should've been at the bottom of the list with Bush ll.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. Dubya was the worst followed closely by Reagan

Reagan was awful