Jim's Reviews > Worst. President. Ever.: James Buchanan, the POTUS Rating Game, and the Legacy of the Least of the Lesser Presidents

I recently read Great Presidents, one of The Great Courses by Allan J. Lichtman, so I thought a contrast would be good when it caught my eye. It was, although I found the presidential rating game rather arbitrary. Strauss makes a case for Polk being one of the worst saying he didn't do much, it was others who accomplished so much during his single term, yet Lichtman lists him as one of his 8 greats. If a president can be blamed for what happens on his watch, he should also reap the benefits, so I think Lichtman had the better side of the argument for Polk.

James Buchanan (1791-1868) the 15th President served from 1856 - 1860 & certainly is in the running for the worst & may well have been. He waffled as the South left the Union & managed to make so many incredibly bad decisions. Behind the scenes, he pushed for the horrible decision in Dred Scott. Even though he was from PA, he was a Southern Democrat. Strauss shows all of this well.

He covered the reasons for the South leaving the Union, states rights over the slavery issue, well, too. He also mentioned the low literacy & slave holding rates among Southerners. Both were low & literacy was much lower in the South than the North. Only about 1 in 5 Southerners owned a slave, less in many of the border states. He did a serviceable job explaining how most Northerners at the time who were for abolishing slavery didn't think Blacks were the equal of Whites in intelligence - not fully human - & mentioned the fears of Blacks taking labor jobs especially from recent immigrants like Germans & Irish who were having issues of their own.

Unfortunately, he didn't pull it all together & really emphasize the economics of the southern leaders, those who had the most invested in slavery, the ones who led their illiterate people into a hopeless war. He did point out how slavery was becoming less lucrative economically & the South was losing their preeminent position in politics, but he never came right out & showed that well.

I really liked the way he showed how so many presidents prior to & including Buchanan were not the best, but the compromise. By the end of the book when Buchanan is turning over the presidency to Lincoln, I really felt sorry for Lincoln & see why he may well be the greatest. He inherited a terrible mess.

Strauss says how instructive Buchanan could be to incoming presidents & I agree. I've read about the greats & certainly they're more fun, but Buchanan is a fine example of what a politician should avoid doing. Well narrated & interesting. Definitely recommended.