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The Worst President(s)
A while back A. asked who the Worst President Ever was, and expected me to say W. I did not. I know! I’m disappointed in me, too. I didn’t even say the current one.
I said it depends on if you are talking pre- or post- Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was NOT responsible for the Civil War occurring. Responsibility for that lies collectively with all the pre-Lincoln Presidents, and thus as a collective, they are the worst President before the Civil War. In a pinch, I would place Millard Fillmore as first among equals, as a man who believed slavery to be evil, but the federal government powerless to effect change, and who believed the Fugitive Slave Act to be morally repugnant but nevertheless enforced it vigorously. So: Worst President before the Civil War would be Millard Fillmore.
After Lincoln, things are a bit different. Here, I would place the blame squarely on Herbert Hoover, as directly responsible for the deaths and economic costs of WW2. Normally, we blame that on the Peace following the Great War, however, there were good and bad times in the Interwar period, and Hitler spent some time in jail. Notably, Coolidge’s veep Dawes put an end to occupation of factories in Europe and economically stabilized things, altho not forever. Herbert Hoover made some changes AND refused to deal with the financial crisis triggered by the stock market crash (and other things). As a result, the banking sector contracted, pulling capital back out of Europe and recreating the crisis that Dawes had stopped. That led to starvation, and the return of Hitler and all the evils that came along with it. Thus, Herbert Hoover is responsible for all the deaths and economic costs of WW2, which were otherwise indefinitely avoidable, as shown by Dawes’ actions under Coolidge.
I’ll probably change my mind, because I frequently do. For a long time, I blamed the Great Depression on the rise of gasoline internal combustion engines (which I formerly used an acronym for, but it’s used for something else widely now and I don’t need that kind of confusion) and resulting excessive production of grain as muscle power fell out of favor. However, capital contracting and pulling back out of Europe meant that Europeans could not afford to buy American grain, which was surely a much larger effect. So. It wasn’t the gasoline after all, but rather Herbert Hoover being a fucking idiot.
I said it depends on if you are talking pre- or post- Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was NOT responsible for the Civil War occurring. Responsibility for that lies collectively with all the pre-Lincoln Presidents, and thus as a collective, they are the worst President before the Civil War. In a pinch, I would place Millard Fillmore as first among equals, as a man who believed slavery to be evil, but the federal government powerless to effect change, and who believed the Fugitive Slave Act to be morally repugnant but nevertheless enforced it vigorously. So: Worst President before the Civil War would be Millard Fillmore.
After Lincoln, things are a bit different. Here, I would place the blame squarely on Herbert Hoover, as directly responsible for the deaths and economic costs of WW2. Normally, we blame that on the Peace following the Great War, however, there were good and bad times in the Interwar period, and Hitler spent some time in jail. Notably, Coolidge’s veep Dawes put an end to occupation of factories in Europe and economically stabilized things, altho not forever. Herbert Hoover made some changes AND refused to deal with the financial crisis triggered by the stock market crash (and other things). As a result, the banking sector contracted, pulling capital back out of Europe and recreating the crisis that Dawes had stopped. That led to starvation, and the return of Hitler and all the evils that came along with it. Thus, Herbert Hoover is responsible for all the deaths and economic costs of WW2, which were otherwise indefinitely avoidable, as shown by Dawes’ actions under Coolidge.
I’ll probably change my mind, because I frequently do. For a long time, I blamed the Great Depression on the rise of gasoline internal combustion engines (which I formerly used an acronym for, but it’s used for something else widely now and I don’t need that kind of confusion) and resulting excessive production of grain as muscle power fell out of favor. However, capital contracting and pulling back out of Europe meant that Europeans could not afford to buy American grain, which was surely a much larger effect. So. It wasn’t the gasoline after all, but rather Herbert Hoover being a fucking idiot.