Peering into the concealed narratives of American presidents, this article unveils lesser-known aspects that shed light on their triumphs, failures, and controversies.
James Buchanan
James Buchman was the 15th president of the United States of America between 1857 to 1861. During his time, the United States experienced a series of administrative challenges ranging from poor leadership and economic woes to toxic slavery policies leading to a negative impact on the citizens of the United stage. His inability to provide succour and timely leadership intervention to the secessionist escalated to civil war. James Buchmanan’s controversial support for the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 resulted in riots tagged as “bleeding in Kansas,” which rocked the whole country and cemented his place as one of the worst presidents in United States history.
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States of America that assumed office after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Johnson made some remarkable strides by spearheading the healing process of the United state after the civil war, where he championed the process of reintegrating southern states back into America and proffered solutions to the right of newly freed black slaves. He was also the one that led the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Despite all his accomplishments, his tenure was regarded as a failure because of his impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1868, resulting from his shady plan to oust the Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton without the approval of the Senate.
Franklin Pierce
Franklin Pierce was the 14th president of the United state. Pierce fell into the pit of the worst president in history because of his stance on the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, where popular sovereignty was allowed to decide if newly admitted states in the United States would be slave free or not. This further intensifies the brewing debate about slavery and later spread to conflicts in Kansas territory. Violent clashes between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers in Kansas characterized this ugly situation. In addition, America lost its credibility on the international scene due to its inability to secure territorial rights and the proposed annexation of Cuba.
Warren G. Harding
Warring G. Harding’s tenure lasted between 1921 to 1923, which was marked by a series of poor leadership and other scandals. One of the famous scandals was the “Teapot Dome,” which involved the illegal leasing of Oil Reserves in California and Wyoming to private companies in exchange for bribes. Harding leadership style was a questionable one due to his choice of surrounding himself with friends and family, collectively called the “Ohio Gang.” These gangs were Involved in a series of illicit activities, leading to the inability of the administration to handle governance issues appropriately.
Herbert Hoover
Herbert’s tenure from 1929 to 1933 coincided with the beginning of the Great Depression, leading to economic hardship for the United States citizen and a high unemployment rate. Hoover’s policy during tbs time further worsened the situation and exposed millions of Americans to economic woes. Herbert Hoover had the conviction that the economy required no intervention and would bounce back naturally. Afterwards, he went ahead to introduce the Smoot-Hawley tariff. This exercise imposed high tariffs on imported goods, leading to a decline in international trade. His approach to tackling the Great Depression was ineffective, which further heightened the number of Americans suffering, and plunged them into poverty.
Richard Nixon
Nixon was the first American president that would resign from office. His resignation was against the backdrop of a series of scandals that unfolded during his second tenure in the office. Richard Nixon’s involvement and cover-up of the embarrassing break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters by men of his re-election committed. This led to a series of investigations that unraveled the gross disregard for the rule of law in the Nixon administration, which later led to his resignation from office.
Millard Fillmore
Fillmore fell into the wrong side of the history book due to his poor handling of the divisive issues of slavery that rocked the United state during his tenure. Millard Fillmore was the 13th United state president from 1850 to 1853. His era was denoted by the compromise of 1850, leading to the establishment of legislative measures aimed at addressing the South and the other over the expansion of slavery. The 1850 compromise temporarily yielded some positive development. Still, Millard Fillmore’s support for this compromise came at a grave cost due to some controversial aspects of the compromise that mandated that every escaped slave must be returned to the owners (Fugitive Slave Act). This act further worsens the relationship between the country’s North and South sides, leading to the outbreak of civil war just over a decade later.
George W. Bush
George W Bush was considered a failure throughout his two-term stint in office between 2001 to 2009. Reasons include the Iraq war in 2003 and some controversial foreign policies that resulted in thousands of American and Iraqi deaths and total destabilization of the said region. Another reason was the poor handling of the global economy, where many attributed the economic crisis of 2008 to improper management and lack of regulation in the financial and housing sectors; this led to the total breakdown of the world economy and recession. Furthermore, during his tenure, there was complete polarization in American politics when the country became overly divided, leading to a climate of distrust and hostility.
John Tyler
John Tyler was the 10th president of the United state who spearheaded one of the most tumultuous periods in the United States’ history between 1841 to 1845. Tyler, a former Democrat leader, made a bad reputation for himself by distastefully handling slave issues. A bid to annex Texas as a slave state led to a massive uproar and sectional tension between the northern and southern states. Tyler was also the first president ever to face impeachment in office when he tried to use veto power to block legislation pushed by Congress big wigs.
Ulysses S Grand
Ulysses S. Grand oversaw one of the corruption-ridden and scandalous administrations from 1869 to 1877. Ulysses failed at managing the rebuilding process aftermath of the civil war; his term was plagued by scandals and corruption, such as contract manipulation for the construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad, “the credit mobilier” scandal and the Whiskey Ring expose of tax evasion and bribery among whiskey distillers and member of Ulysses government. Additionally, the “Black Friday” problem, where some financers used their power to disrupt the gold market, marked the beginning of financial difficulties in 1869.
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