In your educated opinion who has been the best and worst president in the history of the United States? Why?
442667
Best - Reagan for killing the Soviet Empire\nWorst - Harding for the Teapot Dome scandal, but at the rate he is going, ol' "W" may pass him by!
13882
Hard times can make a great President.  Lincoln is considered great because of what he accomplished in a very bad time.  He freed the slaves and brought the country back together.\n\nPolitics can color judgement on this too.  FDR is considered great by Democrats.  He certainly changed the way our nation operates.  And I would concede that he was a great wartime President.\n\nBut, being a conservative, I'm going to have to say that Reagan was the best.  He changed the world by bankrupting European communism.  He had some success in deregulating our country, and his economic policies never get enough credit for pulling our country out of the stagflation trap of the late 70's.
508490
Best or 2nd best.  Lincoln or Reagan.\n\nBTW, Answerman is an asshole.
110114
Pétain is the one for me.\nAmong the "normal" (democrat) leaders, Chirac would be quite close to be the worst. At the beginning of the 1920's, one president, Paul Deschanel, was insane. He was found... walking along a railway, in pyjama, by night, not knowing what he was doing! He was dismissed and sent to an asylum.
501695
Greatest: Mr. John F. Kennedy (saved our country)\nWorst: Mr. Shrubs (bush) (demoralized it)
1162699
Certainly not Reagan -- he was the worst president ever (except maybe for the current one).
329048
Nope.  He's been a terrible President.  It's depressing to think what a truly great and brave President could have done after 9/11.  He could have united the world behind us and we could have tackled all kinds of tough problems.  Bush squandered all that with his stupid war, divisive politics and reckless budget policies.  Worst President ever?  Bottom 5 for sure!!!!!!!!!!
304353
Forget this political name calling, let just look at the facts:\n\nAccomplishments As President:\n\n* Attacked and took over two countries. \n* Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury. \n* Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history. \n* Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period. \n* Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market. \n* First president in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record. \n* First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in U.S. history. \n* After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history. \n* Set the record for most campaign fundraising trips than any other president in U.S. history. \n* In first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job. \n* Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in U.S. history. \n* Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period. \n* Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in U.S. history. \n* Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in U.S. history. \n* Presided over the biggest energy crises in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed. \n* Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans. \n* Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind. \n* Dissolved more international treaties than any president in U.S. history. \n* His presidency is the most secretive and unaccountable of any in U.S. history. \n* Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history (the 'poorest' multimillionaire, Condoleezza Rice, has an Exxon oil tanker named after her). \n* Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world. \n* First president in U.S. history to order a U.S. attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation. \n* Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States. \n* First president in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the human rights commission. \n* First president in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the elections monitoring board.  \n* Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in U.S. history. \n* Withdrew from the World Court of Law. \n* Refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions. \n* First president in U.S. history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. elections). \n* All-time U.S. (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations. \n* Largest lifetime campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation). \n* Took the biggest world sympathy for the U.S. after 9/11, and in less than a year made the U.S. the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in U.S. and world history). \n* Reversed previous diplomatic gains and created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years. \n* Fist U.S. president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view the US as the biggest threat to world peace and stability. \n* Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts. \n* Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated U.S. law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts. \n* Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other
89960
Adolph Hitler was by far the worst person in recorded history. Saddam and Osama are tyrants, and George Bush is taking the blame for everything he was advised to do.
1120292
Bush, very interesting article here about it.  http://www.rollingstone.com/news/profile/story/9961300/the_worst_president_in_history
487363
Bush the Decider is the worst President America has ever had. I thought nobody could out do Nixon, and Bush the Decider is the one.
1111230
George Washington.  Got to love those wooden teeth.  \n\n\nCome on what kind of question is this.  The only half way decent not old president was JFK
301630
These are the top ranking three Presidents—in chronological order, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Frequently ranking just below those three are Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. The remaining "top 10" ranks are often filled by Andrew Jackson, Harry S Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.\nIn these polls, the highest ranking president who served only one term is usually James K. Polk or John Adams. The highest ranking president who served less than one full term is usually John F. Kennedy.\nFrequently ranking at the bottom of most polls are Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, and Warren G. Harding.
927104
i used to think reagan was the worst president ever. before bush.\n\nhmm. what was so bad about reagan? overthrowing democractically elected governments in south & central america because they were too liberal for his buddies' tastes and doing so via illegal wars financed through the secret, illegal selling of weapons to their (U.S.'s)  enemies. (namely Iran. btw, saddam hussein was the U.S.'s good buddy at this time, they were also selling him weapons, and he was at war with who? that's right IRAN.) another way they financed those wars was that the cia imported cocaine and dumped it in black ghettoes, which lends a whole new meaning to reagan's ' war on drugs.' that's for starters.\n\nand believe it or not, bush's gang  is worse.\n\noh  yeah. aroooooooooooooooooooooooo
96108
I have been around since Truman and probably started paying attention around Eisnehouer, I have never (including Richard Nixon) seen a more corupt govenment in my life. As for the worst I think he is bar none.  Bill CLinton was a good president in the sense I have never seen so much prosperity. His trouble with his zipper should have not been a problem. It should have been a problem only between him and Hillary. It was brought on by dirty politics, if you remember they started out by investigating white water and how it got to that was pure and mean. Ken Star wherever you are should be a very proud man.
652623
the smartest I think was Abraham Lincoln and least smartest is George W. Bush for a two reasons 1.he cant even say a sentece without screwing it up 2.he went to Iraq to catch Saddam because his daddy didnt
464091
Hands down it is Bush.\n\nThe most incompetent of all time, secretive, anti democratic etc.  Not to mention the fact he has done nothing positive for the average american in all his years!