Is Trump the Worst President in American History?

By Travis Van Oosbree

We have all heard it, maybe you have thought it, I have definitely said it: “Trump is the worst President in American History.” I make no secret of the fact that I do not support President Trump, but whenever I hear this claim it raises a number of questions for me. First of all, how do you possibly quantify whether a President is good or bad? Good according to who? Bad according to who? Secondly, while Trump may be a schmuck on a personal level, as far as his policies and actions as a president go, I do not have an encyclopedic knowledge of every presidential policy and the ensuing consequences so I really can’t judge how his travel ban, the separation of migrant families at the border, or his response to Neo-Nazi rallies stack up when compared to past presidential decision making. Lastly, we can judge every other president based on the lasting effects of their presidency. Without the benefit of hindsight, how can we assess the success or failure of his time in office through an equal lens? The honest answer is we can’t, but I’m going to try.

First I had to establish a baseline for what the president is supposed to do. According to Whitehouse.gov “The President is both the head of state and head of government of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces…is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress…appoints the heads of more than 50 independent federal commissions, such as the Federal Reserve Board or the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as federal judges, ambassadors, and other federal offices”[1] The site goes on to list a number of powers that the president has and ways he can exercise his powers, but as far as Whitehouse.gov is concerned, that’s all the president has to do. As long as Trump sits at his desk with the name plate that reads “Head of State/Head of Government/Commander-in-Chief,” fills the vacant positions at the heads of federal commissions, and makes sure that law and order is being followed, he is doing the duty of the president. The mandate to execute and enforce laws caught my eye though. Numerous times the actions taken by this president have been challenged in court. In a Washington Post article most recently updated in April of 2019, the Trump administration had more than 70 policies overturned by federal courts.[2] This would indicate to me that the administration is attempting to operate outside of the constraints of the law and therefore not executing or enforcing the laws created by Congress. There’s one mark against Trump.

Whitehouse.gov’s definition of the role of the president seemed a little thin to me, so I looked for another source. In an American Government textbook, published by Pearson Education, under the heading “The President’s Job Description” they list his roles as, Chief of state, Chief executive, Chief administrator, Chief diplomat, Commander in chief, Chief legislator, Chief of party, and Chief citizen. Chief citizen has me worried. Pearson elaborates that “the President should represent all of the people of the United States. Citizens expect the President to work for their interests and provide moral leadership.”[3] I think anyone would be hard pressed to argue that Donald Trump is a faithful representative of all Americans and if he is the moral leadership that Americans are looking to, we’re all in trouble.

So, if it can be concluded that Trump is not in fact fulfilling his duty as President, that’s bad, but how bad is he when compared to other disgraced presidents? A quick google search of “worst presidents in American history” brings up 182,000,000 hits. Of those, the answers are pretty consistent. Although they vary slightly in their ranks depending on the report, Warren Harding, Andrew Johnson, and James Buchanan lead the pack for the title of America’s worst president.

Warren Harding was an unprepared and inept leader. He freely admitted, “I am not fit for this office and should never have been here.”[4]  He left the newspaper business to pursue politics and after winning a few elections in Ohio, was picked by the Republican Party as their presidential nominee for the 1921 presidential election. Once in office he was “an unrestrained womanizer,” and “busied himself with golf, poker, and his mistress.”[5] His administration was mired in corruption. He died two years into his term and no irrevocable damage was done to the office of the president, the government or America as a whole, but he is remembered as one of the least competent presidents in history. Does any of that sound like Trump? Business man turned politician, womanizer, more interested in golf than running the country, associates with criminals, crooks and scoundrels, scandal ridden and corrupt executive branch. If Trump is as bad as Harding surely he is one of the worst presidents in history.

Let’s take a look at why Andrew Johnson is considered one of the worst presidents in history. Johnson was elevated to the office of the president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. In the fierce political battles fought at the conclusion of the civil war regarding the direction and scope of reconstruction, Johnson was found to be entirely out foxed by Southern law makers and displayed “an astonishing indifference toward the plight of the newly freed African-Americans.” With his veto power he struck down the renewal of the Freedman’s Bureau as well as the first civil rights bill, and he opposed the passage of the 14th Amendment.[6] Unhappy with the state of the reconstruction efforts in the South, Congress attempted to limit his executive power; a struggle that ultimately ended with him becoming the first president to be impeached. Again, the parallels to the 45^th president are striking. Trump took office after an historically significant, yet polarizing president and proceeded to undo all of the social progress achieved over the previous eight years. Trump’s indifference and resentment of the lowest classes mirror Johnson’s and a battle with Congress over presidential power which led to impeachment.

Finally let’s see why James Buchanan is almost unanimously considered the worst president in history. Buchanan is remembered as the president who ushered in the Civil War. Although he believed the institution of slavery to be an “indefensible evil” he did nothing to combat the practice. He supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act and endorsed the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision in his inaugural address.[7] Most damaging to his reputation though, was his lack of action in stemming the tide of secessionist senators who had decided to withdraw from the Union. Buchanan saw himself as powerless to act against the Southern states until the situation erupted into civil war upon Lincoln’s election. While many criticize Buchanan for having been ineffectual in preventing the level of division amongst countrymen which led to the civil war, Trump has openly encouraged division amongst Americans. His popularity stems from his mockery of his opposition and when Russia intentionally sowed division between the parties with their social media blitz in 2016, he encouraged them and sought their help in his 2020 campaign. Trump is not like Buchanan in that Buchanan was faced with political division and he did nothing. When Trump sees the country splitting in two, he drives the wedge deeper.

So Trump is as unfit and corrupt as Harding, as insensitive as Johnson, and as divisive as Buchanan, does that make him the worst president in history? My heart says yes, but as a historian I have to say it’s too early to tell. We cannot say what the long term ramifications of the Trump administration will be. Three years into Buchanan’s presidency the Civil War had not yet broken out. It is only through the benefit of hindsight that we can know that the events which happened during his time in office would result in the bloodiest war in American history. I’m not saying that I think Trump is going to do something in the next six months that will redeem his presidency, but I can’t say that we know all of the facts right now and that we can fairly judge his time in office against those which we have been able to study for a century or more. Don Levy, director of the Siena College Research Institute, which conducts surveys ranking past presidents, claims, “The rule of thumb that we have…is that it probably takes 50 years for history to settle in.”[8] So, in 2070 ask me again if Trump is the worst president in American history.

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[1] The White House. “Our Government: The Executive Branch.” Accessed April 17, 2020. https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/the-executive-branch/

[2] Barbash, Fred, Deanna Paul, Brittany Renee Mayes and Danielle Rindler. “The Trump Administration Policies the Courts Have Ruled Against.” The Washington Post, April 26, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/trump-overruled/

[3] Pearson Education. “The President’s Job Description.” Accessed April 17, 2020. https://assets.pearsonschool.com/asset_mgr/legacy/200938/section1_jobdescription_26523_1.pdf

[4] Tolson, Jay. “Worst Presidents: Warren Harding (1921-1923).” US News and World Report, Updated November 6, 2019. https://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/the-worst-presidents/articles/2014/12/17/worst-presidents-warren-harding-1921-1923

[5] Ibid

[6] Tolson, Jay. “Worst Presidents: Andrew Johnson (1865-1869).” US News and World Report, Updated November 6, 2019. https://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/the-worst-presidents/articles/2014/12/17/worst-presidents- andrew-johnson-1865-1869

[7] Tolson, Jay. “Worst Presidents: James Buchanan (1857-1861).” US News and World Report, Updated November 6, 2019. https://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/the-worst-presidents/articles/2014/12/17/worst-presidents- james-buchanan-1857-1861

[8] US News Staff. “Where Would Donald Trump Land on a List of Worst Presidents?” US News and World Report, Updated November 6, 2019. https://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/the-worst-presidents/articles/where-would-donald-trump-land-on-a-list-of-worst-presidents