Ever since George Washington first took the oath of office in 1789, scores of men have followed in his footsteps. But not all of America’s presidents have left their terms with a glowing reputation. A number of these leaders have been harshly judged by history for their scandals, political decisions, inaction in the face of crises, and even for dying too quickly. And some have even been called the worst presidents in American history.
The Worst Presidents Of The 19th Century
Many of the men featured in the photo gallery above are considered to be some of America’s worst presidents because of their inaction or poor decisions in the 19th century as the country hurtled toward the Civil War. Then, deep divisions between North and South, and between free states and slave states, threatened to plunge the nation into an armed conflict.
John Tyler, who became president in 1841 following the sudden death of William Henry Harrison, is one such president. Pushed into power, Tyler advocated for states’ rights, even as his fellow Whigs in Congress tried to enact policies like a national bank. He elicited such ire from his party that they expelled him and introduced a resolution to impeach him (though it went nowhere). But Tyler’s animosity with his party isn’t the only reason why he’s often seen as one of the worst presidents.
Following Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860, Tyler initially tried to broker peace between the North and South. But once it became clear that Southern states would secede, the former president threw his weight behind the Confederacy. He voted for secession in his home state of Virginia, and, after he died in 1862, his coffin was draped in a Confederate flag. The New York Times even called him “the most unpopular public man that had ever held any office in the United States.”
Unpopular Presidents Of The 20th Century
Some 20th-century presidents, like Richard Nixon and Warren G. Harding, are often considered among America’s worst presidents because of the scandals that rocked their administrations while they were in office.
Warren G. Harding is perhaps best remembered for the Teapot Dome scandal in the early 1920s, when the former Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, accepted bribes from oil companies in exchange for the right to drill on federal land. Harding is reputed to have said that he had “no trouble with my enemies” but his friends “keep me walking the floor nights.”
About half a century later, Richard Nixon shocked the nation by resigning amidst the Watergate scandal. Burglars connected to Nixon’s reelection committee were caught trying to bug the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Though there’s no definitive proof that Nixon ordered the break-in, he did cover it up, and he decided to resign rather than face an impeachment trial.
Other presidents from modern history, like Herbert Hoover and George W. Bush, have been judged for the questionable political decisions that they made. Hoover became known for mishandling the Great Depression. And Bush has been critiqued for his unpopular war in Iraq, for his response to Hurricane Katrina, and for his leadership during the Great Recession.
According to an informal survey of 109 historians, 61 percent of them thought that Bush might be remembered as the worst American president of all time.