Presidential Rankings - The Terrible Ones

These are the presidential disasters, highly-negative leaders who clearly damaged the well-being of the nation.

Franklin Pierce: An unknown politician unprepared for the presidency.  His last surviving child died shortly before Pierce assumed the presidency, sending him into alcohol and grief.  He pandered to slave owners and vilified abolitionists.  The Gadsden Purchase took place during his presidency.

James Buchanan: Most impressive resume prior to George H W Bush, but twiddled his thumbs as the country descended into Civil War.  Did nothing as the South seceded after the election but before Lincoln's inauguration.

Andrew Johnson: Lincoln's greatest mistake.  A pro-slavery demagogue who was entirely unsuited to the task of healing a nation in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Woodrow Wilson: Worst racist in presidential history.  Reversed racial progress rather than accept the status quo.  Set the stage for the rise of the Nazis and WWII.  Imprisoned political opponents, notably Eugene Debs.  Held constitutional limits in low regard, ignored civil liberties, refused to negotiate with Senate Republicans in foreign policy (which killed his League of Nations), and hid his debilitating stroke for more than a year at the end of his term.

Herbert Hoover: Tragic figure.  Brilliant, accomplished, and well-meaning.  However, he was a compulsive busybody whose efforts to fix the economy only worsened the Great Depression.  Began many of the New Deal policies that FDR adopted; they were all bad.

Jimmy Carter: Economic incompetence, foreign affairs disasters, angering allies and fawning over enemies.  Responsible for the rise of the Iranian mullahs.  Emboldened Islamic terrorists for decades thereafter by showing such astonishing weakness.  The malaise speech, the misery index, inability to get along with Congressional Democrats, let alone the Republicans.  Acted to undermine virtually every successor, regardless of party.

Yes, I can agree with this bunch.  Franklin Pierce wasn't even considered as the candidate until the 35th ballot.  The big guns - Lewis Cass, James Buchanan, Stephen Douglas, and William Marcy - could not assemble two-thirds of the delegates to capture the nomination.  Pierce was a dark horse who was enough of a blank slate that he won the nomination on the 49th ballot.  Is it any wonder he was not ready for the job.  The Democrats saw their error from 1852 and did not renominate Pierce in 1856, instead choosing Buchanan.  Despite a tremendous resume, he too failed miserably.  Like George H W Bush, Buchanan was groomed for a foreign policy presidency and was unsuited to domestic issues.  Andrew Johnson was a Tennessean who favored the Union.  Straddling both sides, one would think he would be ideal in the wake of the war.  Instead, he paved the way for Jim Crow rather than racial equality.  Wilson did not like the Constitution or the Republic it established.  He was indeed a horrible president.  Hoover had been part of the Harding Administration when Secretary of Treasury Andrew Mellon deftly turned Wilson's post-war depression into nearly a decade of prosperity.  Instead of trying to duplicate that, he tinkered and meddled, transforming a downturn into the Great Depression.  I would guess that Graboyes had first-hand experience with the Carter presidency based on the laundry list of failings.  I've always viewed Carter in much the way he paints Hoover: a well-meaning man who inadvertently did far more harm than good.

Responding to a comment regarding his rankings, Graboyes said that the six terribles led to hell: Pierce & Buchanan to the Civil War, Johnson to Jim Crow, Wilson to Nazism, Hoover to Depression, and Carter to Jihadism.  He also speculates that it might have been better to have 7 tiers rather than 5.

Only Living President

As of this writing, there is one sitting president and 5 ex-presidents: President Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.  There have never been more than 5 living ex-presidents.  One supposes that after George Washington, the following presidents always had a predecessor enjoying his retirement.  In fact, no.  Several presidents have been the only living president during their presidency.

George Washington (1789-1797): As the first president, Washington had no predecessors to consult in the difficult times.  It was up to him to establish how Article 2 of the Constitution would work.  For nearly 8 years, he was the only living president.

John Adams (1797-1801): Having been Washington's VP, Adams knew his predecessor fairly well.  He even called upon Washington to lead an army during the Whiskey Rebellion.  However, Washington died in December 1799, leaving John Adams as the only living president.  He did not win re-election the following year, so his tenure as the only living president was only 1 year and 4 months.

Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877): When Grant began his presidency in March 1869, there were 3 ex-presidents: Millard Filmore, Franklin Pierce, and Andrew Johnson.  Pierce died in October 1869, Filmore in January 1874, and Johnson on July 31, 1875.  For the next year and 8 months, Grant was the only living president.

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909): Theodore took office upon the assassination of McKinley.  At that time, only 1 previous president was still living: Grover Cleveland.  When Cleveland died on June 24, 1908, Roosevelt was the only living president.  Eight months later, Roosevelt left office.

Herbert Hoover (1929-1933): When Hoover came to office, former President Taft was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Calvin Coolidge retired to Massachusetts.  Taft died in 1930 and Coolidge died on January 5, 1933.  Hoover was the only living president for 2 months.

Richard Nixon (1969-1974): Nixon took office when there were 3 living former presidents.  Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson.  Eisenhower died a couple of months after Nixon was inaugurated in 1969.  Truman died in December 1972 and Johnson died a month later, January 22, 1973.  Richard Nixon was the only living president for the next 18 months, at which time he resigned.

Since 1981, there have been 3 to 5 living former presidents.