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Top 10 Most Corrupt Presidents in U.S. History
Here’s a list of ten most corrupt U.S. Presidents in American History. You wouldn’t believe what these Presidents did until about you read them on here:
10. Benjamin Harrison:
Harrison was the grandson of 9th President of the United States of America, William Henry Harrison. William Henry Harrison was the oldest president to take office until Ronald Reagan, being 68 years old at the time inauguration. He also served the shortest tenure in U.S. Presidential history; dying on the 32nd day of office from complications from pneumonia.
Benjamin Harrison served as President between 1889 and 1893. He was cold and humorless. He came into office with a pledge to compensate Civil War veterans with bonuses that the incumbent President Cleveland refused to do. Once elected, he made good on his electoral promises and provided the veterans the funds. But that was the only good thing he did while President.
He was not well liked by the populace and for good reason. He imposed the McKinely Tariff, which enforced historic protective trade rates and the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibited certain business activities that the government found to be anti-competitive. He also created National forests by amending the Land Revision Act of 1891. In terms of foreign policy, he strengthened the Navy and conducted an active foreign policy. With the imposition of the aforementioned Tariffs, the federal government was able to run a surplus. Instead of using the surplus to help the people, Harrison would use it to increase federal government spendings, namely on himself. These spendings are what led to his defeat in the 1893 elections.
I include him on the list of the 10 worst U.S. Presidents because his policies and tariffs led the country into a full-blow depression. The American people were so fed up with Harrison that they elected to have Cleveland back in office.
9. Calvin Coolidge:
Calvin Coolidge was the 30th President of the United States of America. He was very quick and reclusive as a politician. The only good thing he did, while in office, was able to restore public confidence in the White House after the scandals his predecessor was immersed in. Oh and wait, he represented the interests of the middle class and was able to interpret their longings and allow them to express their opinions.
Critics argued against Coolidge because of his laissez-faire government policies. Ronald Reagan revived many of Coolidge’s policies and always spoke about Coolidge being his inspiration. Reagan did a much better job at laissez-faire than Coolidge.
So why include Coolidge on this list? I wasn’t too pleased with how he handled the Boston Police Force strike. He really did not think it would be a good idea to intervene in this situation. And when he did act, he fired all the staff and took control of the police station. That only made matters worse. Shouldn’t police services be part of the emergency services?
8. Ulysses S. Grant:
Ulysses S Grant was the 18th President of the United States, holding office between 1869 and 1877. Previous to that, he had a successful career as military commander in the American Civil War. During Presidency, he focused his efforts on the elimination of the vestiges of Confederate nationalism and slavery, the protection of African American citizenship, and the defeat the Klu Klu Klan. One of his major strengths was his foreign policy. He settled the Alabama Claims with Britain and avoided war with Spain over the Virginius affairs, a diplomatic dispute between the U.S., Spain, and Great Britain. At the time of death, he was seen as “a symbol of the American national identity and memory.
Many commentators and scholars argue that the Grant administration was one of the most corrupt administrations in United States history.When Grant took office he was honest about his inexperience with politics. In his inaugural address he was quoted as saying, “The office has come to me unsought.” Grant strongly believed in racial equality, not only in the South, but also in the North. In his inaugural address he spoke in favor of “security of a person, property, and free religious and political opinion in every part of our common country.” Grant took no action as president to enforce this belief, however, and his motto guided him: “Let us have peace.”
I believe that one of Grant’s biggest faults was his failure to cultivate allies as he had done in the war. He failed to consult party leaders for his federal appointments, and elected to give the positions to his friends or family. You never mix friendship with business. Other offices were held by those he hardly knew, but had sponsored him during his election campaigns. Great examples of foolish appointments include Secretary of War John Aaron Rawlins and Secretary of the Navy Adolph Edward Borie.
7. John F. Kennedy:
In light of the 50th anniversary of his assassination, American History critics are beginning to think that John F. Kennedy probably was one of the worst American Presidents of the 20th Century. He spent his 35 months in the White House going from one fiasco to another. He came into office and agreed upon the Bay of Pigs invasion, a big fiasco. Then he went to a Vienna summit conference and got himself owned by Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union. That led to, among other things, the Cuban missile crisis and a couple of other almost near miss nuclear attacks.
Looming over it all is the American descent into Vietnam. The assassination of Vietnam’s President Diem on Kennedy’s watch may have been one of the two biggest mistakes that Kennedy ever made. The other mistake he made was the decision to wage a war of attrition on Hanoi. No one buys the theory disseminated by Robert McNamara and others that Kennedy would have kept U.S. troops out. Sure, Kennedy wanted out of Vietnam — just like Lyndon Johnson wanted out a few years later:
He was also a womanizer and cheated on his young wife Jacqueline Kennedy. His affair with Marilyn Monroe would have been made public, if she hadn’t died the night before. Jackie had to go to Monroe’s hotel room the night before she died to beg her not to expose her husband. There were other women, including a White House intern named Mimi Alford, a Swedish woman named Gunilla von Post, and a painter named Mary Pinchot Meyer. All were between the ages of 19 and 25.
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I believe that the only reason Kennedy is remembered fondly is because he was assassinated when he was. He was already on the road to full scale involvement in Vietnam and if he had not been killed when he was, everyone would remember him for Vietnam instead of LBJ and the people would have had time to stew in the messes he was involved in. The best thing he did to preserve his legacy was to die. Sounds harsh, but it is true none-the-less.