U.S. Presidents with the 15 lowest 'Moral Authority' scores, according to C-SPAN Quiz by awesomegerbzy

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Presidents With The Worst Morals Quiz

by awesomegerbzy

Created Nov 12, 2009 in History
Game Plays 5,410

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	turgidstan:	Nov 12th, 2009 at 23:55 GMT		30 points
	This seems pretty arbitrary, I don't remember Benjamin Harrison's Iran-Contra affair.

	RS89:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 00:06 GMT		58 points
	No Andrew Jackson? He was the reason for the Trail of Tears for crying out loud.

	coelho4187:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 00:57 GMT		16 points
	Amazing that Woodrow Wilson, the biggest racist to ever be President, isn't on this list.

	Westbranch:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 01:04 GMT		33 points
	This game could be more appropriately titled "boring presidents historians don't like because they weren't activist enough for them, plus Nixon, Clinton, and Bush." In addition to Jackson and Reagan, there's no Jefferson (Hemings), Grant (alcoholism), Wilson (virulent racism), Kennedy (womanizing), or Johnson (just read Caro's "Means of Ascent"). Meanwhile, what did poor William Henry Harrison or Herbert Hoover ever do that was morally wrong? These "historians" are the very antithesis of objectivity.

	TimeAndTide:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 01:22 GMT		27 points
	I haven't the foggiest idea what the C-SPAN historians think "moral authority" means?!

	gqb:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 02:26 GMT		-2 points
	I tried Clinton and Kennedy - nope. Then I tried Jackson and Jefferson - nope. I finally tried Harding and got a hit. After that, I just went backward from the present to the past and got to Van Buren and finished. I wonder what Wm. Harrison did in the one month he was president?

	RS89:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 08:55 GMT		19 points
	Well, Harding probably does belong on here. The Teapot Dome scandal was the biggest presidential corruption scandal until Watergate. Most of these guys, though... well it's already been said.

	Nat:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 15:13 GMT		0 points
	I would think that all of the early slave-owning presidents should be on here as well.

	JayHankEdLyon:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 15:53 GMT		12 points
	gqb, you do realize Clinton is on the list right? In any case, yeah, this quiz is sorta flawed. Woodrow Wilson said of Birth of a Nation "my only regret is that it is all so terribly true." Andrew Jackson was horrible to Native Americans. Reagan allowed AIDS to fester without government help because he hated gay people and sold weapons to our enemies. These things seem a lot worse than lying about an affair to me. Not saying Clinton will ever be a beacon of morality, but seriously, it's not like anyone died because of it.

	Fingon:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 17:08 GMT		26 points
	Helping feed war torn Europe after WWI was incredibly immoral of Hoover.

	GiantsJoe2110:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 20:51 GMT		2 points
	I agree that this is completely arbitrary. What about Cleveland who had a child out of wedlock? And even though Truman is considered to be one of the greatest presidents and many people agree with dropping the atomic bomb, shouldn't this at least get him spot 15?

	awesomegerbzy:	Nov 13th, 2009 at 20:57 GMT		12 points
	I absolutely know that the rankings are flawed - I just thought it was interesting what the C-SPAN historians believed. I think Wilson escaped because of his League of Nations, but I absolutely agree he should be on this list. The list definitely doesn't cover my own opinions - it covers that of the C-SPAN historians. I just thought it would be a neat quiz because I'm a history buff and I wanted to know what people thought of the rankings. I am definitely baffled, however, as to why a president who served one month is on this quiz, but alcoholic, corrupt or blatantly racist presidents are not...like I said, I thought it was interesting.

	chriscoooper:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 02:25 GMT		-3 points
	Jefferson should be some much higher on this list. Not only a slave owner. But he also tried to use conducted some pretty brutal political battles with the Federalists (going as far to try to impeach a Supreme Court Justice).

	Geo_Crazy:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 03:07 GMT		14 points
	For what Jackson did to the Native Americans (possibly genocide?), he should be worse than some of these other 1800s presidents.

	nut:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 05:16 GMT		9 points
	if james buchanan is on here for (presumably, because he didnt do much) allowing conditions for war to fester and then not running for re-election because he was afraid of the responsibility, then shouldn't LBJ be held to the same standard? but i guess passing the Civil Rights act was more than buchanan ever did.

	Fidelio:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 05:33 GMT		6 points
	While Jefferson certainly owned slaves, there's no proof that he ever slept with Sally Hemings. She gave birth to a white child, and the question was always which of the Jefferson men impregnated her. The fact that one of that child's descendants has Jefferson DNA means nothing - of course the child would have Jefferson DNA. The DNA testing was just supposed to provide scientific confirmation that a Jefferson was the father, which pretty much everyone already knew. But people who weren't aware of the circumstances heard the news about the DNA test and assumed it was proof that Thomas Jefferson himself was the father.

	JohnJF:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 14:56 GMT		18 points
	I'm not entirely sure what William Henry Harrison did in his 30 days as president while mostly in bed ill, but it must have been pretty terrible. Something worse than ignoring AIDS and selling arms to the Taliban, for sure.

	bosoxfanzz:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 18:04 GMT		14 points
	what the hell, c-span.

	jacksparrow34313:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 18:49 GMT		15 points
	jeez, William Henry Harrison must've been awful. Based on this, it's a good thing he only lasted a month or our country may have descended into an abyss of sin and vice...

	expat:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 19:13 GMT		7 points
	I think about 90% of the comments here could be addressed if you actually went to the CSPAN site and read the qualities being examined. Agreed this type of poll is always arbitrary but.....

	Wildcat612:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 19:15 GMT		7 points
	James Buchanan was a bad president- it doesn't mean he was immoral. How could he be below two presents to be impeached and one who resigned to avoid it?

	chriscoooper:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 20:36 GMT		12 points
	What about FDR? Japanese internment - the guy imprisoned thousands of American citizens without trial.

	Goober:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 22:04 GMT		8 points
	Presidents are politicians. I think a case could be made for nearly every one of them (there are a few exceptions, of course). Unfortunately, some people only see the bad in "the other party's" politicians.

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	PhilSandifer:	Nov 14th, 2009 at 23:27 GMT		9 points
	James Buchanan was a wicked, wicked boy.

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	chazzykc:	Nov 15th, 2009 at 02:27 GMT		10 points
	Seems quite arbitrary indeed.....the entertainment value of the comments section is higher than the quiz. It is amazing, as a certified old fart, the remarkably narrow and contemporary lens through which many view the past......it's comical.

	IsThisIt:	Nov 15th, 2009 at 02:36 GMT		16 points
	nymous: His moral compass is strong...just not exactly pointed in the right direction.

	bookbomb:	Nov 20th, 2009 at 03:20 GMT		2 points
	Westbranch is so right

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	caramba:	Apr 22nd, 2010 at 12:32 GMT		8 points
	Jimmy Carter was "history's greatest monster".

	emsee:	Apr 22nd, 2010 at 16:10 GMT		12 points
	Peanuts typically find Jimmy Carter quite offensive. Other than that...harmless

	crashintoavan:	Apr 22nd, 2010 at 17:50 GMT		-2 points
	It'd be cool if you made a quiz for all the other categories too.

	newenglander:	Apr 23rd, 2010 at 21:38 GMT		12 points
	@lalalala-because extending healthcare to 30 million people is so immoral

	thesurrealbunny:	Apr 24th, 2010 at 01:17 GMT		6 points
	I'm going to just echo everyone who already said Jackson and Reagan should be at the bottom of this list.

	illiniballer929:	Apr 24th, 2010 at 21:34 GMT		5 points
	i wouldnt say all of the "bad" presidents on this list were all that immoral. some good presidents like jackson and fdr should be on this list

	Hejman:	Apr 25th, 2010 at 03:37 GMT		8 points
	When Obi Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker that he was looking at a "Wretched hive of scum and villainy", I always though he was referring to Mos Eisley. After taking this quiz and reading all the comments, I realize now he was actually talking about the White House.

	saban4pres:	Apr 25th, 2010 at 17:49 GMT		1 point
	Bush was a bad president, but i don't think he was a bad man. I would go with JFK over him

	dxman:	Apr 26th, 2010 at 05:55 GMT		5 points
	I don't think there should be a Moral Authority list. Every president has done something totally wrong in their presidency. But almost all are spared. Almost all of them.

	barterer2002:	Apr 26th, 2010 at 16:19 GMT		4 points
	the other issue that appears not to have yet been brought up is the time. I can type in every president in the time given.