The Underachievers

Continuing the categorization of the 43 presidencies, here are the five guys that were below average. They weren't absolute failures, but they were not successful either. Each one served only one term. They are listed chronologically.

1. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829): Adams was a lame duck when he assumed office. Most people voted against him and he ascended to the White House through the mechanisation of Henry Clay. While in office, he did not do much except wait for the whoopin' Jackson would put on him in 1828. The one major piece of legislation was the Tariff of Abominations. This raised tariffs to a ridiculously high rate and caused a rift between north and south.

2. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841): The minute Van Buren took office, a depression hit. As such, he got the blame. The depression did not end until he left office. Now, that was not the reason for his inclusion here. During the Amistad Case, he supported slaveholder interests and while in office was a southern lapdog. He lost his re-election bid to William Henry Harrison.

3. Millard Fillmore (1850-1853): He took office upon the death of Zachary Taylor. He supported the Compromise of 1850 and the horrible Fugitive Slave Law. On the positive side, he peacefully opened Japan to Western Trade. The Japanese celebrate this event to this day.

4. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893): Presidents can not fix the economy when it heads south. They can help ease the pain or give people hope. On the other hand, presidents can mess up the economy. Harrison's economic plans did just that. In 1893, a panic hit. His one major success was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act which was not really used in the manner it was meant until Theodore Roosevelt.

5. William Howard Taft (1909-1913): The Era of Bungled Diplomacy, the Payne-Aldrich Tariff fiasco, the Income Tax, Dollar Diplomacy, the Ballinger-Pinchot rift, and the Republican Party schism...Taft's Administration sells itself! However, he did bust many monopolies and the country was in decent shape despite the bungling. So, he was not a complete failure!