Pondering our Worst Presidents
History is where I take refuge when the present is too vexing
to deal with. Presidential history is
my default position and I am currently reading my 17th Presidential
biography.
The names
that are almost uniformly at the top of Presidential rankings (George Washington,
Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt,
Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, John Adams and Harry Truman) are already
checked off my list, so the other eight books have been selected from the
middle (Grover Cleveland) to bottom (Chester A. Arthur) of the pack.
For reasons that should be
obvious to anyone with a brain and a television, I find myself pondering the
worst Presidents in America’s history. Who
is on this dubious hit parade? Both
liberal and conservative historians place the following Presidents at the very bottom
of the list of Presidential effectiveness: James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding,
Franklin Pierce, Andrew Johnson, William Henry Harrison, Millard Fillmore and
John Tyler. Were there some things they
had in common? Was there a nexus that
brought these unloved, disregarded souls together.
First, none of these men were
considered a first choice for President.
They were what was left over when squabbling between the presumed
leaders could not be resolved. Harding
and Pierce were nominated under these circumstances. Andrew Johnson, Fillmore and Tyler were Vice
Presidents, selected only to “balance” the ticket, and achieved the office upon
the death of their President. None were
re-elected.
The second thing to notice about
this group is that all but one of them (Warren G. Harding) had a pretty
impressive resume. Buchanan, for
example, had 26 years of public service prior to becoming President. He had been in the state legislature, five
terms in the U. S. House of Representatives, been ambassador to both Russia and
England and had served as Secretary of State.
He was also a pro-slavery proponent of the Lecompton constitution and thought
the Dred Scott decision, delivered shortly after his inauguration, was a correct
read of the law. His statement that the
federal government had no right to prevent states from seceding left Lincoln
with a country actively on the way to Civil War.
Evidently experience in public
service is not everything. In fact, the
seven Presidents on the bottom of our list carried a total of 119 years (!!!) of
civil service into their dubious Presidencies.
Buchanan, Andrew Johnson and William Henry Harrison each had over 20
years. By contrast, our ten best
Presidents generally had less than ten years of experience prior to their
Presidency (Jefferson and Truman being the only exceptions, and their years
were in the low double digits).
Balancing this we do have outstanding
Presidents who entered the office under similar circumstances. Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman were Vice
Presidents to a deceased President and they were great Presidents. Lincoln was a compromise nominee. Neither does there seem to be any magic in
the idea that governors make better Presidents.
Four of our best have been governors, but so have two of our worst. What then is left?
Leadership is an amorphous
quality, subtle yet studied, aggressive but with deliberate yielding. [Winston Churchill said that he would accede
to any compromise that would get him his way.]
Our best Presidents were tireless workers and surrounded themselves with
smart, independent people. They have
been willing to make decisions knowing there is no one else to blame for the
consequences. They don’t complain of rigged systems or vast right-wing
conspiracies. They own their successes
and their failures.
History gives me something to
ponder while I keep the faith.
Comments