Politics / Other

Being the commander in chief is not easy. Its a demanding, stressful job with the entire world looking to you to make the right choices. That being said, some of the men who donned the POTUS title could have been outshined by a circus monkey. Here are the top 5 worst presidents of all-time.

5.          George W. Bush

George W. Bush assumed office just as one of the most productive decades in American history was coming to an end. The dot-com bubble was bursting, but the Government was still running a surplus. The famous Bush Tax Cuts were a welcome measure, but things would get much worse. The tragic events of 9/11 took place, and under the direction of Bush and Cheaney, the PATRIOT act was quickly rushed through Congress. Nobody really knew what was in this act; only that it promised to make America safer. In reality, it expanded the powers of the Executive Branch, increased surveillance of American Citizens, and established a dangerous precedent that continues to this day.

Top 5 Worst Presidents – George W. Bush

Bush’s era enjoyed the prosperity of the housing bubble, created mostly by the policies of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, but the aftermath was so crushing it nearly toppled the financial system forever. Bush largely deferred to  special interests, namely the banks. His worst moment was appointing Hank Poulson Secretary of the Treasury. Paulson, a former Goldman Sachs CEO, duped Americans using fear tactics to save the banks. What this really meant was giving $700 billion of taxpayer dollars to his friends on Wall Street, with little measures to account for what the money was used for. Finally, the ultimate black eye that is left on Bush’s era, are the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that would drag on for more than a decade, leaving America weary and asking what really has been accomplished after so much bloodshed.

Top 5 Worst Presidents – Franklin Pierce

4.            Franklin Pierce

                The predecessor to the third worst President on this list, Franklin Pierce was simply ineffective in turning the tide of growing dissent between North and South in the era just prior to the Civil War. He passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened the door for bloodshed in these territories by allowing advocates of both sides to move in and try to take over with their sovereign views on this important issue. He also isolated himself from his base by supporting the Fugitive Slave Act, which allowed for runaway slaves in other states to be returned to their former residences as properties of their former owners.

Top 5 Worst Presidents – James Buchanan

3.            James Buchanan

                Simply put, Buchanan cared more about Politics than he did about the issues of his day. The most tumultuous time in American history demanded a leader who would respond to the pressures demanded of him. Buchanan’s response was to try to appease both sides by taking vague stances on slavery. He deemed it illegal for the South to succeed, but also illegal to use military force to stop them. This left him isolated and unpopular, and ultimately the career peak of this one-term President is generally regarded as one of the worst Presidencies by historians after the fact.

Top 5 Worst Presidents – Barack Obama

2.            Barack Obama

                If upholding the Constitution is in the job description of the President of the United States, then Barack Obama must be one of the worst do to the job. His entire Presidency has been one polarizing campaign of executive decisions, bypassing Congress, and finding fall guys for the countless scandals that threaten him politically. Some examples include the Afghan Prison release for a US Military deserter, the Benghazi scandal, IRS abuses, broken promises over Obamacare, and the biggest issue that the media quieted: the Fast and Furious scandal, where the Administration basically put firearms in the hands of hostile drug cartels for shady purposes. The details of these scandals will not be expanded upon in this article; but Obama was elected upon his slogan of “Change” from such behaviors during the Bush era but instead has reinforced the distrust that Americans have with their elected representatives.

Top 5 Worst Presidents – Woodrow Wilson

1.            Woodrow Wilson

                No worst Presidents list would be complete without the man who handed over the financial control of America to a privately owned group of international bankers. In 1914, Wilson, while Congress was on vacation, signed the Federal Reserve Act in December 1913. He also instituted the first military draft, involved America in its first overseas war, and nationalized many industries such as telephones and railroads. Corporate and individual tax rates soared under Wilson, and it wasn’t a decade before the worst depression in US history would hit in 1929. Wilson later admitted regretting being the puppet of pushing the Federal Reserve agenda; perhaps he knew it would land him on top of my worst Presidents of all-time list.