IdealisticNihilist on 27 October 2014
FIrst, I asked who were your favorite U.S. presidents. Now I ask, who are the worst U.S. presidents and why?
Once again, I must warn you about my "Top 10 Worst U.S. Presidents" list. It contains many of the most beloved ones, especially by historians and the public. From Republicans to Democrats, Progressives to Conservatives. As a libertarian, I'm a firm believer of freedom of speech. So, feel free to call me a "greedy capitalist, white supremacist, and poor-hating conspiracy theorists who needs to check his privilege tenfold" for my picks of the worst U.S. presidents.
1. Abraham Lincoln
Pros:
- Didn't serve a second term.
Cons:
- Provoked the Civil War (without congressional approval) to prevent peaceful succession.
- Illegally suspended habeas corpus.
- Ordered mass execution of the Sioux.
- Nationalized state banks with the "National Bank Act".
- Censored the press and imprisoned over fifteen-thousand political opponents without trial.
- Introduced the U.S.'s first income tax.
- Instituted the first U.S. military draft.
- Suspsended the gold standard and replaced with the fiat "greenback" currency.
- Ordered martial law via "Proclamation 113".
- Deported freed black slaves to Liberia and Haiti.
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Pros:
- Ended American intervention in Haiti.
- Repealed the "Dawes Act".
- Supported the dismantlement of prohibition.
Cons:
- Knew beforehand and allowed the Pearl Harbor attack to drag the U.S. into World War II.
- Authorized the firebombing of Dresden, Hamburg, and Tokyo.
- Created internment camps for Japanese, Italian, and German-American citizens.
- Served four terms until his death as if he was a king.
- Passed the "National Industrial Recovery Act".
- Signed the gun control "National Firearms Act of 1934".
- Enacted "New Deal" laws without the approval of the Supreme Court.
- Suspended the gold standard and siezed gold from citizens.
- Authorized the "Manhattan Project".
- Increased the income tax at 94%.
3. Woodrow Wilson
Pros:
- Ratified the "19th Amendment".
Cons:
- Created the Federal Reserve.
- Entered World War I over the contrived "Luisitania incident".
- Created the "League of Nations".
- Incarcerated World War I protestors with the "Espionage Act of 1917".
- Instituted prohibition.
4. Lyndon B. Johnson
Pros:
- Decreased the income tax.
- Signed the "Freedom of Information Act".
- Ended the Hanoi and North Vietnam bombings.
Cons:
- Lied about the "Gulf of Tonkin incident" to justify an undeclared war in Vietnam.
- Covered up Israel's deliberate attack on the USS Liberty.
- Passed the egalitarian and private property killing "Civil Rights Act of 1964".
- Expanded the welfare state with the "Great Society" program.
- Signed the "Gun Control Act of 1968".
5. George W. Bush
Pros:
- Cut taxes.
- Opposed the "Kyoto Protocol".
- Signed the "India-United States Civil Nuclear Agreement".
Cons:
- Started the "Iraq War".
- Signed the "Patriot Act".
- Enacted "No Child Left Behind".
- Signed the TARP bailout.
- Created the "Department of Homeland Security".
6. Barrack Obama
Pros:
- Repealed the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.
- Spearheaded the "Comprehensive agreement on Iranian nuclear program".
- Started the "New START".
Cons:
- Killed four U.S. citizens without due process.
- Authorized NATO invasion of Libya without approval from congress.
- Bailed out the automobile industry.
- Passed the "NDAA".
- Expanded domestic survelliance via "PRISM".
7. Harry S. Truman
Pros:
- Racially desegregated the military.
- Refused to authorize "Operation AJAX".
- Authorized the "Berlin Airlift".
Cons:
- Lead the "Korean War" without congressional approval.
- Atomically bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- Nationalized the steel industry.
- Took control of railroads by threatening to draft railroad workers.
- Created the CIA.
8. Ronald Reagan
Pros:
- Loosen the federal 55-MPH speed limit law.
- Fired striking federal air traffic employees after giving them a fair warning.
- Signed the "Civil Liberties Act of 1988".
Cons:
- Responsible for the "Iran-Contra affair".
- Expanded the "War on Drugs".
- Invaded Grenada and supported the Mujaheddin.
- Tripled the national debt.
- Claimed to lower taxes while raising them to bailout Social Security.
9. Richard M. Nixon
Pros:
- Lowered the military defense budget.
- Opened mutual relations with China.
- Supported SALT I.
Cons:
- Permanently ended the gold standard and replaced it with the petrodollar.
- Created the EPA.
- Initiated the "War on Drugs" by creating the DEA.
- Authorized the brutal bombings of Cambodia and Laos.
- Supported Pakistan's genocide of India.
10. William McKinley
Pros:
- Signed the "Gold Standard Act".
Cons:
- Declared the contrived "Spanish-American War".
- Annexed Hawaii.
- Passed the protectionist tariff "Dingley Act".
- Raised taxes to fund imperialistic policies.
- Instigated the blatantly imperialist "Philippine-American War".
Dishonorable Mentions:
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Pros:
- Swiftly ended the "Korean War".
- Refused to intervene in the "Hungarian Revolution of 1956".
- Warned about the military-industrial complex.
Cons:
- Authorized the "1953 Iranian coup d'etat".
- Authorized the "Guatemalan coup d'etat of 1954".
- Increased the income tax at 91%.
- Sent troops and military advisers to South Vietnam.
- Authorized the CIA's assassination attempt at Fidel Castro.
Bill Clinton
Pros:
- Reduced federal taxes.
- Signed the "Defense of Marriage Act".
- Supported the "Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty".
Cons:
- Declared a bombing campaign against Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
- Signed the gun control "Brady Bill".
- Authorized NATO intervention in Kosovo and Bosnia.
- Authorized the Waco siege.
- Authorized sanctions against Iraq that resulted in the deaths of 500,000 Kurdish children.
Theodore Roosevelt
Pros:
- Resolved the "Treaty of Portsmouth" to end the "Russo-Japanese War".
- Supported gun rights.
- Appointed Booker T. Washington to the White House.
Cons:
- Imperialistic foreign policy.
- Expanded the power of the executive branch.
- Stopped the "Coal Strike of 1902" by threatening it with the army.
- Advocated for eugenics.
- Planted the seeds for the FDA.
George H.W. Bush
Pros:
- Ratified START I.
Cons:
- Entered the "Gulf War".
- Raised taxes to increase spending on welfare.
- Tightened gun control via executive order.
- Authorized "Operation Restore Hope" in Somalia.
- Creepy "New World Order" speech.
John Adams
Pros:
- Signed the "Naturalization Act of 1789".
Cons:
- Initiated the "Quasi-War".
- Passed the "Alien and Sedition Acts".
- Appointed John Marshall to the Supreme Court.
- Raised taxes.
- Signed the "Midnight Judges Act".
Once again, I must warn you about my "Top 10 Worst U.S. Presidents" list. It contains many of the most beloved ones, especially by historians and the public. From Republicans to Democrats, Progressives to Conservatives. As a libertarian, I'm a firm believer of freedom of speech. So, feel free to call me a "greedy capitalist, white supremacist, and poor-hating conspiracy theorists who needs to check his privilege tenfold" for my picks of the worst U.S. presidents.
1. Abraham Lincoln
Pros:
- Didn't serve a second term.
Cons:
- Provoked the Civil War (without congressional approval) to prevent peaceful succession.
- Illegally suspended habeas corpus.
- Ordered mass execution of the Sioux.
- Nationalized state banks with the "National Bank Act".
- Censored the press and imprisoned over fifteen-thousand political opponents without trial.
- Introduced the U.S.'s first income tax.
- Instituted the first U.S. military draft.
- Suspsended the gold standard and replaced with the fiat "greenback" currency.
- Ordered martial law via "Proclamation 113".
- Deported freed black slaves to Liberia and Haiti.
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Pros:
- Ended American intervention in Haiti.
- Repealed the "Dawes Act".
- Supported the dismantlement of prohibition.
Cons:
- Knew beforehand and allowed the Pearl Harbor attack to drag the U.S. into World War II.
- Authorized the firebombing of Dresden, Hamburg, and Tokyo.
- Created internment camps for Japanese, Italian, and German-American citizens.
- Served four terms until his death as if he was a king.
- Passed the "National Industrial Recovery Act".
- Signed the gun control "National Firearms Act of 1934".
- Enacted "New Deal" laws without the approval of the Supreme Court.
- Suspended the gold standard and siezed gold from citizens.
- Authorized the "Manhattan Project".
- Increased the income tax at 94%.
3. Woodrow Wilson
Pros:
- Ratified the "19th Amendment".
Cons:
- Created the Federal Reserve.
- Entered World War I over the contrived "Luisitania incident".
- Created the "League of Nations".
- Incarcerated World War I protestors with the "Espionage Act of 1917".
- Instituted prohibition.
4. Lyndon B. Johnson
Pros:
- Decreased the income tax.
- Signed the "Freedom of Information Act".
- Ended the Hanoi and North Vietnam bombings.
Cons:
- Lied about the "Gulf of Tonkin incident" to justify an undeclared war in Vietnam.
- Covered up Israel's deliberate attack on the USS Liberty.
- Passed the egalitarian and private property killing "Civil Rights Act of 1964".
- Expanded the welfare state with the "Great Society" program.
- Signed the "Gun Control Act of 1968".
5. George W. Bush
Pros:
- Cut taxes.
- Opposed the "Kyoto Protocol".
- Signed the "India-United States Civil Nuclear Agreement".
Cons:
- Started the "Iraq War".
- Signed the "Patriot Act".
- Enacted "No Child Left Behind".
- Signed the TARP bailout.
- Created the "Department of Homeland Security".
6. Barrack Obama
Pros:
- Repealed the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy.
- Spearheaded the "Comprehensive agreement on Iranian nuclear program".
- Started the "New START".
Cons:
- Killed four U.S. citizens without due process.
- Authorized NATO invasion of Libya without approval from congress.
- Bailed out the automobile industry.
- Passed the "NDAA".
- Expanded domestic survelliance via "PRISM".
7. Harry S. Truman
Pros:
- Racially desegregated the military.
- Refused to authorize "Operation AJAX".
- Authorized the "Berlin Airlift".
Cons:
- Lead the "Korean War" without congressional approval.
- Atomically bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- Nationalized the steel industry.
- Took control of railroads by threatening to draft railroad workers.
- Created the CIA.
8. Ronald Reagan
Pros:
- Loosen the federal 55-MPH speed limit law.
- Fired striking federal air traffic employees after giving them a fair warning.
- Signed the "Civil Liberties Act of 1988".
Cons:
- Responsible for the "Iran-Contra affair".
- Expanded the "War on Drugs".
- Invaded Grenada and supported the Mujaheddin.
- Tripled the national debt.
- Claimed to lower taxes while raising them to bailout Social Security.
9. Richard M. Nixon
Pros:
- Lowered the military defense budget.
- Opened mutual relations with China.
- Supported SALT I.
Cons:
- Permanently ended the gold standard and replaced it with the petrodollar.
- Created the EPA.
- Initiated the "War on Drugs" by creating the DEA.
- Authorized the brutal bombings of Cambodia and Laos.
- Supported Pakistan's genocide of India.
10. William McKinley
Pros:
- Signed the "Gold Standard Act".
Cons:
- Declared the contrived "Spanish-American War".
- Annexed Hawaii.
- Passed the protectionist tariff "Dingley Act".
- Raised taxes to fund imperialistic policies.
- Instigated the blatantly imperialist "Philippine-American War".
Dishonorable Mentions:
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Pros:
- Swiftly ended the "Korean War".
- Refused to intervene in the "Hungarian Revolution of 1956".
- Warned about the military-industrial complex.
Cons:
- Authorized the "1953 Iranian coup d'etat".
- Authorized the "Guatemalan coup d'etat of 1954".
- Increased the income tax at 91%.
- Sent troops and military advisers to South Vietnam.
- Authorized the CIA's assassination attempt at Fidel Castro.
Bill Clinton
Pros:
- Reduced federal taxes.
- Signed the "Defense of Marriage Act".
- Supported the "Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty".
Cons:
- Declared a bombing campaign against Sudan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
- Signed the gun control "Brady Bill".
- Authorized NATO intervention in Kosovo and Bosnia.
- Authorized the Waco siege.
- Authorized sanctions against Iraq that resulted in the deaths of 500,000 Kurdish children.
Theodore Roosevelt
Pros:
- Resolved the "Treaty of Portsmouth" to end the "Russo-Japanese War".
- Supported gun rights.
- Appointed Booker T. Washington to the White House.
Cons:
- Imperialistic foreign policy.
- Expanded the power of the executive branch.
- Stopped the "Coal Strike of 1902" by threatening it with the army.
- Advocated for eugenics.
- Planted the seeds for the FDA.
George H.W. Bush
Pros:
- Ratified START I.
Cons:
- Entered the "Gulf War".
- Raised taxes to increase spending on welfare.
- Tightened gun control via executive order.
- Authorized "Operation Restore Hope" in Somalia.
- Creepy "New World Order" speech.
John Adams
Pros:
- Signed the "Naturalization Act of 1789".
Cons:
- Initiated the "Quasi-War".
- Passed the "Alien and Sedition Acts".
- Appointed John Marshall to the Supreme Court.
- Raised taxes.
- Signed the "Midnight Judges Act".
