Harvey here, the main voice of Bad Things in History.
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The United States, at the time this video is released, has had forty-four Presidents.
And some of these dimwits were completely incompetent.
There have been so many bad Presidents that historians over the past one hundred and fifty
years have revised their lists numerous times.
But a few names appear over and over again.
And because of their abject failure to serve the country they were sworn to protect, we
are able to give you the top five worst Presidents in US history.
I was initially disappointed in the absence of modern Presidents in this list, because
I have some stinging comments.
But the writers have their reasons.
First of all, it is difficult to examine historical contributions for Presidents that have held
office within the past 30 years or so.
Fair enough.
Most importantly, the United States has experienced far more hardship in the past than in recent
times.
As you will see, one of the best ways to get on the list of worst Presidents is to take
office during a time of crisis then make it much worse.
They do of course reserve the right to include our current leaders in future episodes.
Failure is always an option for politicians after all.
Maybe we can take some comfort in the nation having survived these losers.
Millard Filmore
This imbecile actually made the US slavery problem worse.
Fifth worst President Millard Filmore was born in 1800 into poverty, in the Finger Lakes
area of New York.
Despite not having much formal education, he graduated law school and found success
as an attorney.
In 1828 he was elected to the New York State Assembly.
Then the US House Of Representatives in 1832.
Throughout his political career, Fillmore proclaimed Slavery to be evil.
He also said it was beyond the powers of the federal government.
His reaction to slavery was essentially “Sorry, nothing I can do about it”.
Millard Filmore’s attempt to climb the political ladder reached a new peak in 1848 when he
was elected Vice President.
Zachary Taylor would win the Presidential election that year.
Taylor was a career military officer who had played a role in every major conflict since
the War of 1812.
He ran on a platform of being an independent, even though he identified as a member of the
Whig party.
In keeping with his image, Zachary Taylor did not seek much advice when making political
appointments.
Taylor actually tried to avoid Washington as much as possible.
But he eventually arrived at the White House, and tried to solve problems faced by the United
States.
The most immediate issue concerned how to handle recent territories acquired during
the Mexican-American war.
It wasn’t clear how to break them into states, and how to select which would be slave states
and which ones wouldn’t.
The conflict over these issues divided Congress.
Congress continued to work on resolving their differences, but Zachary Taylor would never
see the result.
On July 4, 1850 he consumed copious amounts of iced milk and raw fruit.
It is assumed it somehow contributed to his death.
Nobody knows for sure what he caught on that day, though cholera has been suggested.
Gastroenteritis has also been put forward as a cause.
Whatever really happened, Taylor definitely died on the night of July 9.
Millard Filmore was sworn into office shortly thereafter.
And he wasted no time ensuring his legacy as a failure would be firmly established.
Congress passed a series of bills that are known as the Compromise of 1850.
This was intended to settle the question of slavery, but in actuality made it worse.
And Filmore not only signed it into law, but campaigned for it as well.
The compromise established Texas as a slave state and California as a free state.
Remaining land previously held by Texas was split into other territories that could choose
their own slave status in the future.
These bills also included the Fugitive Slave Act.
This act required that all states arrest and return escaped slaves, even the northern states
that didn’t support slavery.
It also gave federal agents the power to pursue and capture these slaves anywhere in the country.
This put northern states that were against slavery in the position of having to support
the institution.
At the time these bills were passed, it was cause for celebration.
Many thought that the arguments over slavery were resolved and the union was saved.
But in truth, it only delayed conflict another decade.
Fillmore left office in 1853.
He ran again in 1856 but was defeated by Franklin Pierce, who also makes an appearance on our
list.
Millard Fillmore thought his career was over.
But good fortune found him and he married a wealthy widow.
He was healthy and wealthy until the day of his death in 1874.
He was not remembered fondly by those who elected him to office.
The problems caused by the Fugitive Slave Act contributed directly to the Civil War
a decade later.
It is possible that there is nothing Millard Filmore could have done to prevent conflict.
But to be remembered as a good President, he would’ve needed to actually try.
Andrew Johnson
This waste of life was the worst possible successor to Abraham Lincoln.
Coming in at number four on our list, Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United
States.
He previously held the position of Vice President, and assumed office after Lincoln was assassinated.
Johnson occupied the office of President from 1865 to 1869.
Andrew Johnson wanted the southern states to be brought back into the Union quickly
and didn’t want any protections for former slaves.
He implemented his own form of reconstruction using a series of proclamations and orders.
Johnson wanted the southern states to form their own conventions and hold elections to
reform their governments.
Predictably, this meant the southern states basically re-elected their former Confederate
leaders.
The Senate refused to seat some of the representatives that were elected in this manner.
This put him into conflict with Congress and he was impeached in 1868.
Johnson was acquitted by only one vote.
Johnson also opposed the fourteenth amendment, mostly because it granted citizenship to former
slaves.
Andrew Johnson was such a problematic President that Congress actually passed laws restricting
his ability to fire cabinet officials.
Andrew Johnson left office after one term, but was elected to the Senate in 1875.
He is the only President to ever serve in the Senate after leaving office.
He died five months into his Senate term.
Many at the time did not consider it a great loss.
Franklin Pierce
An aggressively pro-slavery piece of filth, this next one is at least indirectly responsible
for Americans killing each other on a massive scale.
Franklin Pierce makes our list as the third worst President.
He has appeared in several episodes on our channel as well, which helps demonstrate that
he wasn’t exactly an effective leader.
Pierce was in office from 1853 to 1857.
He was born in New Hampshire, and served as a brigadier general in the Mexican-American
war.
Pierce ran as a Democrat, and they hoped he might help unite the country and overcome
the north/south divide.
It should have been obvious that wouldn’t happen when Franklin Pierce stated that the
abolitionist movement was a threat to the United States.
But that was just the beginning.
He made sure to fully enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, which definitely didn’t make
friends among his northern supporters.
He supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which actually nullified the previous Missouri Compromise.
This act basically allowed the new territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves
if they would be free or slave states.
And people wanting to sway the vote flooded into Kansas which in turn resulted in numerous
armed conflicts.
These went on for years and were collectively known as “Bleeding Kansas”.
Pierce also vetoed legislation intended to provide healthcare for the insane, most of
whom were veterans.
And he didn’t stop making things worse once his term ended.
During the Civil War, Franklin Pierce also spoke out against Lincoln on numerous occasions.
And when Jefferson Davis, the former President of the Confederacy was captured, it was discovered
that he and Pierce were great friends.
It seems that the north and the south were not so different after all, at least where
a lot of their leaders were concerned.
Warren Harding
Although I can’t make direct comments about modern Presidents in this episode, this infuriating
douche shows why you shouldn’t have Presidents giving influence to their buddies.
Coming in at number two on our list is the 29th President of the United States.
He served from 1921 until his death in 1923, not even finishing a full term.
So making it this high on the list of worst Presidents is a notable achievement.
More so when you consider that it didn’t end in a war that ripped the country apart.
One of the main reasons Harding isn’t remembered fondly is because he had a habit of appointing
incompetent friends to important positions.
These were collectively known as the “Ohio Gang” since most of them followed Harding
from his home state.
For instance, Charles R. Forbes was a deserter from the US army.
He was caught in 1900, returned to the army, then went on to serve in World War 1.
He was given an appointment as the head of the Veteran’s Bureau then proceeded to spend
money like there was no tomorrow.
When he was inevitably caught stealing taxpayer dollars, Harding allowed him to flee to Europe,
though Forbes did eventually return and serve a prison sentence.
And this is just one of many similar stories.
The Teapot Dome scandal was perhaps the worst to come out of the Harding Administration.
There was an oil reserve in Wyoming which was one of three set aside for the Navy to
use during national emergencies.
To greatly simplify what happened, the required bidding process was not followed and some
very lucky businessmen in Wyoming began making a lot of money from exclusive access to these
reserves.
None of it was legal, and it enriched several businessmen at significant expense to taxpayers.
He was mourned as a great man when he died.
But once people realized just how much corruption Warren Harding brought into the government
he quickly moved up the list of bad Presidents.
It’s worth note that Harding also had a couple of extramarital affairs.
Modern historians don’t hold this against him.
But in the 1920s, it was considered a serious character flaw.
James Buchanan
This heavy handed dickbag arguably provoked the Civil War.
The number one worst President on our list is someone who isn’t well known today.
This isn’t terribly surprising considering that they usually don’t build statues and
name buildings after powerful men who failed.
James Buchanan was the 15th President of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861.
He was the last President to serve a full term prior to the Civil War.
He was the first, and to this day, the only President from Pennsylvania.
Clearly he ruined it for everyone.
Buchanan was also a member of the Democratic party.
During his inauguration speech, Buchanan attacked Republicans saying they were dangerous and
had unfairly attacked the south.
He also claimed that any federal slave code should protect the rights of slaveholders
in all of the states.
Two days after James Buchanan took office, the Supreme Court issued what is known today
as the Dred Scott decision.
This decision asserted that Congress had no Constitutional right to restrict slavery in
the territories.
It also meant previous laws, such as the Missouri Compromise, were not Constitutional either.
Buchanan hoped this would destroy the Republican party, but it actually just made them more
angry.
Then a financial disaster known as the Panic of 1857 happened.
Focused mostly in the north, 1,400 state banks and 5,000 businesses collapsed.
Buchanan attributed the financial collapse to speculators.
And he also advocated “reform not relief” which essentially meant the Federal Government
had no duty to help alleviate economic woes for the citizens.
The northern states affected by the collapse were not feeling great about this response.
The issues with Kansas that started under the previous administration continued.
Buchanan didn’t care if Kansas was admitted as a slave or free state, he just wanted it
to happen quickly since it would provide more support for the Democratic party.
To promote his own interests, James Buchanan recognized the pro-slave faction of Kansas
as the legitimate government of the territory.
In 1860 the House of Representatives created a committee to investigate Buchanan for impeachable
offenses.
They were unable to establish any.
But the report did indicate bribery and corruption, and stated Buchanan even tried to bribe members
of Congress.
In his final address to Congress, rather than help alleviate tensions, Buchanan stated that
the southern states could not legally secede, but the federal government couldn’t stop
them.
He then went on to explain that if the North didn’t stop interfering with slavery they
should leave the union.
This was a notable achievement as he angered both the North and the South.
When the Civil War broke out, for some time it was referred to as “Buchanan’s War”.
Many in both the north and south blamed him directly for driving the nation into armed
conflict.
So what does it take to make the list of worst Presidents?
Of the five Presidents in our list, three of them served prior to the Civil War.
And one held office immediately after.
Apparently doing nothing while the country falls into disarray and financial ruin is
one way to get onto the list.
Public displays of corruption are another good way to earn a spot too.
Americans require that when the government steals from them, it isn’t intentionally
obvious.
Additionally, the worst Presidents often adopted positions that were in direct contradiction
to the voters they were supposed to represent.
Then, if asked to do something to help improve the situation, they would often choose to
do nothing.
Will any of our more recent Presidents make it into the top 5?
Only time will tell.
Who do you think is the worst President?
Let us know in the comments.
And thank you for watching Bad Things in History.