The U.S. Presidents: The Best and the Rest - Term Paper Example

The U.S. Presidents: The “Best” and the Rest After the revolutionary war in America, founding fathers ousted the political system of monarchy that most parts of the world adopted. Therefore, they elected a president that would lead the nation instead of the previous kings. He became the leader of the federal government, commander-in chief of the armed forces and enacted the laws of the land. The presidency has evolved over time with the initial direction taking a different twist. Throughout Americans history, it has seen presidents who were both good and bad. This paper seeks to find out the good and bad presidents of this great nation. To explain this thesis statement into details, the paper looks at the merits of good presidents while determining the demerits of failures in the presidency. The constitution has recommended their residents to be in the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: Washington D.C (Alan and Davis 70). This piece of work chooses three good presidents namely George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. Bad presidents include Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan and Warren Harding. George Washington In American history, the early presidents are lauded for their importance and assertiveness. This is the opposite of the general notion of weak presidents. George Washington is the pioneer president who took over after the nation gained independence (Alan and Davis 110). He ruled from the year 1775 until 1783. During his tenure, the president established an office character that his predecessors would later emulate. In his era, the president embraced statesmanlike manner and set the two terms standards. On the other hand, he created the perfect image a president: capable, strong, honorable and non-partisan. This paper seeks to find out the great things that the president did to deserve such applause. The good things that he did are his achievements. Firstly, he resigned as the commander chief of the armed of the Continental army in the year 1783. This was a great achievement since many presidents prefer to cling to the power as the commander of armed forces to extend their reign and tenure. This move brands the leader as a lover of democracy. He resigned after revolutionary war victories. In contrast to his move, the country wanted him a new king of his great nation. However, the president refused to become such a war hero. In his mind, he wanted a country where the citizens were, democracy prevailed and unison among the nationals. This is a character, which would be found in future presidents. At this point of history, the Americans were happy under him since the country had just been relieved from the British rule. The president also longed for retirement in his residents at Mount Vernon. However, he then realized that his nation was never forging a head under the Articles of Confederation (Alan and Davis 75). This shows how he was dedicated to serve his people and the urge to see the country move ahead. Therefore, he was instrumental in making the country’s constitution by attending and organizing the Constitutional Convention, in Philadelphia 1787 (Alan and Davis 76). He encouraged the citizens to ratify the new constitution and it took effect in the same year. The Electoral College eventually elected him the first president. From his efforts, he represents a great leader who wanted to rule under a constitution that fevered federal system of governance. At this point in history, many states around the world were engaging their neighbors in numerous wars but George Washington united the 52 states through effective federal governance. In his first term, he unified the states through federalism and never interfered with congress powers of policy making. He is the father of foreign policy that he believed could benefit the nation. George Washington took a great stand in the French Revolution wars. Though he believed in foreign policy, he did not want to engage the country into unnecessary wars. The Revolutionary war was fought between England and France. It was a battle of supremacy. The president insisted that the United States would remain neutral in the war. However, the secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson recommended that the country should join the war. He was a pro-French and wished that his mother country could be helped. To his dismay, the president declined. On the other hand, the treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton was pro-British and wanted the same for Britain but the president declined. George Washington feared joining the European war since it would shatter the new government. In the year 1793, the president issued a neutrality proclamation. It urged Americans to embrace impartiality of the European war. He discouraged against sending war materials or aid to France or England. This saved the nation from engaging in a war that could affect its economy and politics. Abraham Lincoln He is one of the great heroes of America and most scholars view him as one of the sharpest political minds of the nation. He took a law career that formed his political basis and he took to the senatorial race at a time when slavery was being reconsidered. He became the first republican president and he is associated with the abolition of slavery. He fought for unity but never lived long to enjoy it since John Wilkes Booth assassinated him. Despite his humble downfall, the president did some great things that this paper outlines in details. After his election to the presidency in the year 1860, he fought hard to abolish slavery in his country. He formed Confederate states of America thereby launching the nation into civil war. The main issue was slavery. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation (Alan and Davis 120). This was in the year 1863. Though it never ended slavery, it shaped the Civil War. The war ended after the Confederacy surrendered to the union, which marked the abolition of slavery in the country. The thirteenth amendment was also instrumental in ended the slavery. This is a historic achievement for Lincoln. His leadership helped the nation to sail through internal turmoil. This was the greatest stalemate in the country and Lincoln helped sustain the Union. While the chaos escalated, he helped resolve the international dilemmas like the 1861 Trent Affair (Alan and Davis 70). On the other hand, he managed to achieve his reelection bid. His achievements have become references to many presidents including Barrack Obama in his election in 2009. He had numerous achievements that can be outlined including overseeing the creation of the national bank system. On the other hand, the president approved Pacific Railways Acts of 1862 and 1864 (Alan and Davis 80). This paved way for Transcontinental Railroad construction. He also signed the Homestead Act thus opening millions of government owned acres of land for purchase. This targeted the West. The president is the only person to hold patent and at the same time serve as the president of the United States. The most outstanding good thing about him is the making of Thanksgiving and making it a holiday in the year 1863. Franklin Roosevelt He is the 32nd president of the United States between the years 1933-1945(Alan and Davis 130). He is a great president because he successfully led the country through the Second World War. This era needed a president with sound mind who could guide the country through the provocations from Japan at the Peal Harbor. When he first entered the office, his priority was cleaning the abuses in Wall Street. His focus was creation of jobs which he did through TVA and other public projects (Alan and Davis 134). The other sectors like security increased in the country. He was elected just a decade after the First World War and a decade into the Second World War. Therefore, the country needed a patient president who could not easily trigger war with the rest of the world. During his tenure, several neutrality Acts were enacted one of them being the Neutrality Act of 1935 that forbade arms exportation. The other important act under him was the Agricultural Adjustment Act in the year 1938 that improved the economy of the country. It restricted agricultural production since framers were paid subsidies. The president also helped the country overcome the great depression. However, it took longer, but it ended under Franklin Roosevelt. This he did by assenting to the 1941 Revenue Act that increased taxes to help the country overcome recession. He also motivated veteran war heroes from the first war through the Servicemen Readjustment Act of the year 1944 (Alan and Davis 140). It helped educate war heroes. The most important achievement is the way he took the country through the war. It was a war started in Europe but spread all over the world. The president did a great job of stopping the Nazis who wanted to control the world. He did not hurry into the war but gave aid to Britain when necessary since Britain was a major economic tie. When Japan waged a war against the country, the president ordered the use of the atomic bomb that ended the world war. This war could have gone for a long time if the country had not intervened. Of all the presidents, Roosevelt succeeded in leading the country when it was faced with economic depression and wars. He embraced the policy. Andrew Johnson Most historians view him as the nastiest person who served as United States after Americas Civil War (Alan and Davis 70). He had incompetence in the federal office and miscalculated public support to his policies. America scholars consider him the worst President in their history. The citizens saw him as rigid, dictator and racist. On the other hand, he never compromised political realities that were against his ideas. His actions rather united the opposition instead of compromising moderates and radical republicans. He opposed the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill, Fourteenth Amendment and Civil Rights Act of 1866. These actions favored him. Eventually, he extended the national strife period than healing the Civil War wounds. This divided the country and made the opposition work in unison to oppose his governance. The country was thus at a stalemate. The president undermined the presidency. This he did through his self-grandiosity, stubbornly disregarding political realities and blatant racism. The president is also responsible for the congressional authority conflicts with the presidential authority. His political incompetence made congressional activists succeed in restraining the president upon chief executive. This stalemate gave the congress powers of setting national policies for five years. The president was also committed in obstructing civil and political rights of the blacks. This was responsible for Reconstruction's failure in solving the race problem of the South and America in general. He also supported prewar and economic system that deemed the hope of redistributing land to the freed people in the South. In summary, the president failed state when it needed healing after the Civil War. At this time, many blacks were freed from slavery and they needed lands to settle as well as representation in the Congress. This paper also concludes that Andrew Johnson was a big flop of his predecessor Lincoln who had changed the country. James Buchanan Historians also rank Buchanan as one of the worst American presidents (Alan and Davis 90). His greatest fall is attributed to a failure to take actions when necessary. For instance, he never bothered to challenge the slavery that greatly affected the nation. He was elected at a time of the 1857 economic depression. The president did nothing to help the people in the West and North who were worse hit by the recession. The most criticized decisions were his action to try to buy Cuba from its protectorate. In his statement, he recommended the use of force if Spain refused. He acted out of order and it could have triggered a war. His biggest failure is that he did not act to prevent the south from breaking away from the Union. On the other hand, the president left Fort Sumter and ignored the south’s aggressiveness. He left the house when the union was completely divided. Even before Buchanan became president, he actively supported efforts that were being made to spread slavery in the whole country, especially in the western region. These areas were acquired through the Louisiana Purchase and Mexican War. This research paper cites his evils in the inaugural address. In his words, the president encouraged Dred Scott’s Supreme Court decision (Alan and Davis 130). This court ruling stated that the Congress had no jurisdiction to kick slavery out of the American territories. The president through his quiet nature did not challenge the states that wanted to withdraw from the Union. Though it was not that significant, it showed a president that lacked action and could not do much to salvage a situation. He had a belief that the constitution did not grant him powers against the states that wanted to secede. Until his final days, he believed that history would be fair to him but it was wrong to do so. The president achieved less in his tenure and he became an inept to the citizens due to the “Bleeding Kansas” (Alan and Davis 149). The president rests at the bottom of the presidential lists. On the other hand, his inaugural speech is the least effective compared to other chief executive speeches. Many American historians see him as a presidential failure. Warren Harding Warren is the 29th president of the United States. He ruled from1921-1929, the era immediately after the First World War (Alan and Davis 159). Therefore, the citizens expected him to heal the nation after the much fought war in Europe. Most scholar works and texts rank him as one of the worst presidents in America’s history. His failures were rather ethical since he faced corruption scandals while in office. He vied on the republican ticket and won. While in office, he appointed corrupt officials. This prompted “the Teapot Dome bribery scandal” (Alan and Davis 160). The scandal led to the imprisonment of Cabinet secretary for the first time in the country’s history. Corruption amongst officials was a bit harsh to the country’s history as the president did promise normalcy in his inaugural speech. His governance channeled to big business and condoning favors. He colluded with his officials to slash corporate and income taxes. On the other hand, they gave support to employers seeking to abolish unions. His administrators received bribes and kickbacks from businesspersons and lobbyists. In any office, ethics govern people’s behaviors. They are codes of conduct that leaders need to uphold because they are role models for the society. In America, sex scandals are treated with utmost disgust. An example is Bill Clinton’s case with the Monica Lewinski woman. He had to resign from the oval office. If history is to go by, Clinton may as well have borrowed a leaf from Harding. He was an adulterer. Though it was an allegation, a president with corruption scandals is hard to tell whether sex allegations were true or not. The woman hit headlines by claiming to be Harding’s mistress and even gave the proof of the illegitimate daughter. This was ethically unacceptable since it came from a president who should show good ethics because he is like the General Manager of the country. Conclusion In summary, the good and bad things that the presidents did while in office have driven the changes and evolution of Americans presidency. The great leaders like George Washington, Roosevelt and Lincoln are characters to emulate in the country's leadership. They contributed in the constitution of the country, leadership as well as good morals and ethics. In most cases, these individuals appear in the top list of the various presidents of the United States. However, this great nation has not escaped bad leadership in its quest to have good presidency. Andrew Johnson, Harding Warren and James Buchanan let the country down in terms of leaders. They were corrupt individuals who were self-centred and never had the interests of the people at heart. Americans see them as big failures. . Work cited Alan, Brinkley and Davis, Dyer, Eds. The American Presidency: The Authoritative Reference. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Print. Read More