The Ten Best and Ten Worst
Presidents in U.S. History
E. Noel Preston, M.D.
whuffodat@aol.com  

I have been reading about the First World War and have decided that Woodrow Wilson was not one of our best Presidents. In 1918 Germany exhausted its supply of guns, food, clothing, and medicines. It secretly cabled Woodrow Wilson it desired an armistice based on Wilson's widely publicized Fourteen Points of Freedom. Wilson kept this information to himself, for several days not even telling the U. S. allies France, Great Britain, Russia, and Japan that Germany wanted peace. Wilson entrusted the so-called "Colonel" Edward M. House (who never once served a day in any armed forces, ever) to represent the U. S. at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. 

"Colonel" House was a stooge, and he wasn't even Wilson's stooge. He yielded to France's demands for vengeance against Germany. None of the Fourteen Points was incorporated in the final treaty of Versailles. Germany was required to pay reparations for the costs of the war, which meant Germany would not pay off its war debt until 1988! Britain flatly rejected the First of the Fourteen Points, which called for freedom of the seas.

Ho Chi Min, born in 1890, was at the Peace Conference and asked that his country, Tonkin, be allowed independence as the new Republic of Vietnam. Wilson refused, and gave it to France-- and we all know what happened after that. Wilson insisted on the abdication of the German kaiser, a not very bright man, but certainly better for his country and the world than Adolf Hitler (Some historians claim Hitler reclaimed for Germany what the Treaty of Versailles took away). Wilson also insisted on the abdication of the Emperor of Austria Hungary, which resulted in the formation of Yugoslavia under the dictatorship of Tito. 

Wilson was also President during the ratification of the constitutional amendment establishing Prohibition (and thus the beginnings of organized crime). He segregated the U. S. Navy and signed the U. S. income tax into law.

So who else were stinko Presidents, and to be fair, who were the "Good" Presidents? Here's my list:

Nine Good Presidents:

Abraham Lincoln, for preserving the Union.

George Washington, for winning our independence from the British.

Thomas Jefferson, for making the Louisiana Purchase and doubling the size of the country.

Franklin Roosevelt, for trying to end the Great Depression (although some people think it wasn't Roosevelt but World War II that ended the Depession)>

Theodore Roosevelt, for establishing the National Park System and breaking up the "robber baron" oil and railroad trusts.

Harry Truman, for dropping the atom bomb and ending World War II.

Ronald Reagan, for bringing about the collapse of the Soviet Union.

James Monroe, for establishing the Monroe Doctrine which kept European powers out of the Western Hemisphere.

John Kennedy, for ending the Cuban Missile Crisis without having to go to war.

Nine Bad Presidents:

James Buchanan, for not even trying to prevent the Civil War upon the election of his successor, Abraham Lincoln.

Jimmy Carter, for mishandling Iran and allowing the rise to power of the Ayatollah Khomeni.

Warren G. Harding, for remaining (willfully?) ignorant of widespread corruption in his administration.

George H. W. Bush, for allowing free rein to the oil companies and for failing to help Florida after Hurricane Andrew.

George W. Bush, for allowing free rein to the banks and Wall Street and not helping Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.

James Polk, for starting the Mexican-American War.

Ulysses S. Grant, for failing to recognize and act on widespread corruption in his administration.

Franklin Pierce, for signing the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which negated the Missouri Compromise and reopened the question of slavery in the West. He is the only President not to be renominated by his party for a second term.

Lyndon Johnson, for being misled by General Westmoreland and continuing to sacrifice our youth to the Vietnam war, and for spending millions of dollars on welfare programs at the same time.

And the Number Ten President for being both Bad and Good:

Richard Nixon, for ending the Vietnam war and opening trade relations with the People's Republic of China; but also for Watergate and flagrant abuse of Presidential power.

Is this a great country or what?

E. Noel Preston, M.D. is a retired pediatrician.

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