The Failures

Here is the final installment on the presidents. This final list includes the seven presidential failures including the reason for their inclusion on the list. They are ordered chronologically.

1. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857): Pierce got run down and pushed around by Stephen Douglas when leadership was needed most. He supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act which led to a civil war within the state of Kansas. He could not deal with that crisis and was denied renomination. Kansas-Nebraska helped lead to the Civil War. Pierce retired to a life of alcoholism.

2. James Buchanan (1857-1861): Buchanan was the worst of them all. He was unrepentantly pro-Southern. Buchanan pushed for the Dred Scott decision, the Lecompton Constitution in Kansas, and even thought about attacking the Mormons in Utah to unite the country. When South Carolina left the Union, he did nothing.

3. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869): Johnson did everything he could to block Reconstruction. He did nothing to help the freedmen in the South. Eventually, he was impeached, but acquitted. Johnson would later become Senator from Tennessee.

4. Warren Harding (1921-1923): The first Clinton Administration. Harding's Administration was rife with scandal and devoid of achievements. The Teapot Dome scandal is still one of the greatest scandals in history. On the plus side, he did work for arms limitation and supported Blacks in the South.

5. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933): The Great Depression was not his fault. It struck in his seventh month in office. However, Hoover could not solve the country's woes. Ironically, he was the best man for the job having worked on European relief during World War I. Hoover raised taxes and tariffs which made things worse. Hoover did try an unprecedented governmental aid program, but most people do not know this because FDR's New Deal dwarfed it. (FDR did not end the Depression either). The government has never fixed an economic downturn. In 1932, a group of World War I vets marched on Washington asking for their war bonus early. The army rolled in the tanks. It was an American Tiananmen Square and an exclamation mark on the Hoover years.

6. Jimmy Carter (1977-1981): No man has ever been less qualified for office (unless Obama wins in 2008). Carter's policies made an economic slowdown worse and led to the misery index (inflation rate + unemployment rate= Misery Index). While in office, Iran took 52 Americans hostage and Carter looked weak and incompetent. On top of this, gas prices went through the roof as did unemployment and inflation. People have been saying the economy today is the worst since the Depression. This is wrong. It is the worst since Jimmy Carter. On top of this, Carter had a super majority in the Congress. He refused to work with them even when Tip O'Neill promised to help pass anything Carter wanted. Carter was defeated in a landslide by Ronald Reagan.

7. Bill Clinton (1993-2001): Clinton set the record for most scandals. He pushed Fannie and Freddie to make risky loans which collapsed the economy. When offered Osama Bin Laden by the Sudan, he refused. When he could have whacked Bin Laden with a missile strike, he refused. Clinton also gave us Monica and was impeached.