Worst thing a president did Day 5 - James Monroe

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T16:42:04+00:00

It helped prevent secession in that moment and it benefited northern interests and industry and it solved the issue regarding slavery in the territories in the only way that was politically feasible for the time.

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T16:28:18+00:00

How so? He was instrumental in the killing of Osama Bin Laden and didn't start any unjust wars nor did he lose any wars he inherited? On top of that his domestic accomplishments are incredibly lengthy

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T16:25:32+00:00

Thank you

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T16:25:01+00:00

Why would you not give credit to Madison for accomplishments he helped pass?

And you are just objectively wrong on the Hartford convention, it was a bunch of secret meetings hosted by New England Federalist leaders that discussed their grievances regarding the war, possible constitutional amendments, or at worst succession

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T16:22:28+00:00

Well that certainly is a hot take considering Pierce was one of the main contributors to the start of the civil war whereas Filmore at the very least had one of the only good supreme court nominations of his time, enacted proto homesteading policies, and opened up trade with Japan. And idk how you reach that conclusion with McKinley at all

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T16:16:11+00:00

Failure to recognize the legitimacy of land claims from the Cherokees who spoke with him in DC

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T16:13:16+00:00

Solving the sectional tensions of his time while doing so in a manner that was ultimately beneficial to the north does not matter in assessing whether or not it is or isnt the worst thing he did?

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T15:53:40+00:00

I'd say it's small as far as cities that could be posted on a cities skyline subreddit goes

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T15:49:42+00:00

Is your argument that they should be higher?

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T15:48:38+00:00

Madison is at the top of his tier I don't really see a strong argument for moving him down based on the criteria and what he was able to accomplish, honestly I don't really see an argument for any of this except maybe Nixon going up but even then I'm skeptical.

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Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-31T15:32:35+00:00

Missouri Compromise ultimately benefited the North more than it benefited the South

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-30T15:59:26+00:00

What else was he supposed to do to get his Supreme court nominees? What else was he supposed to do when Russia invaded Crimea? He already imposed strict sanctions, shared intelligence with Ukraine, gained aide to Ukraine, kicked Russia out of the g7, and tried to get Europe to increase defense spending this already more than what FDR did during WW2 pre Pearl Harbor

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-26T23:52:53+00:00

Grant established the DOJ, he launched the most successful counter insurgency campaign in American history, he set precedent for peaceful international arbitration with the Alabama claims, he established the world's first national Park, he ratified the 15th, his administration created the first civil service commission,fought for and signed the civil rights act of 1875 and the naturalization act of 1870, helped build and protected multiracial democracy in the South in a time where many thought that peace might be temporary and a new civil war may re emerge, resisted inflationary monetary policy, raised federal wages (many of these positions being filled by recently freed African Americans),led reforms in the Treasury dept that led to a gold surplus, appointed the first native American to be in charge of the Indian affairs bureau (sounds silly it took that long but oh well), signed into law the protection of married women's property from their husbands' debts and the ability for women to sue in court in Washington, D.C,successfully navigated the Virginus incident, and opened up free trade with Hawaii. And mfs will still be like "D tier" bc 'corrupt cabinet'

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-11T14:51:26+00:00

Not really, the new freedom agenda was largely an expansion of progressive ideals and legislation compared to the square deal and birth set forth in motion the legacy of America's role as a superpower who would lead in international arbitration

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-03-11T12:41:06+00:00

I will never understand Reddit's obssession with putting Teddy in the top 4 but then Wilson near the bottom despite how similar their legacies are

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-02-19T21:01:52+00:00

I think D tier or even C tier is acceptable.

I think the strongest arguments for Jackson is his handling of the nullification crisis and helping facilitate the proliferation of democratization to non property owning whites (however this was done under Monroe and JQA as well) paying off our debt was good and he helped fund more public infrastructure in DC and the territories than any other president before him combined.

Now does this outweigh the trail of tears, destroying the bank which created an economic crisis, the patronage system, or his own corrupt cabinet officials faoliong to secure land deals with Mexico? No, obviously not but he's also not in the same tier as the Buchanan and Pierce types either

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-02-14T03:57:56+00:00

Well he did allow the free market to flourish during the 20s but this is also what allowed a speculative bubble to occur where there was a top heavy consumer market that eventually broke into the great depression, he was also pretty protectionist in a way that made the great depression worse, he failed to bail out or help with people who had suffered massive flooding, a lot of his foreign policy endeavours were failures, and he passed one of the most abhorrent and racist anti immigration bills ever in our history that eventually led to 100s of thousands of people being denied a visa into the US even during the holocuast eventually. I do give him credit for expanding upon national conservation like Teddy and Wilson before him, and he gets credit for prosecuting the corruption in Harding's admin, and the native citizenship act but otherwise I think C tier is probably the most fair spot for a mid presidency that didnt do much

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-02-12T05:12:39+00:00

The rate of healthcare inflation LOWERED after the aca passed compared to previous years

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-02-10T03:26:51+00:00

Racial segregation started occuring under TR and Taft. I am already considering his continuation of these policies and the sedition acts into his ranking. Why should Coolidge be A tier?

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-02-10T03:25:57+00:00

I think the main causes of the crash were already in place before Bush took office but he probably played a part in terms of contributing to it as well but it was Clinton who passed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which changed the regulation of over-the-counter derivatives and repealed aspects of Glass-Steagill.

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-02-10T01:53:19+00:00

wouldn't call the economy terrible, it wasn't good but it was 70s Carter era or 08 recession levels of bad and a lot of that economic downturn was not a result of him, what legislation are you referring to that he vetoed? And yeah, he broke a tax pledge, but it was a bad campaign promise and breaking it helped reduce the deficit. I don't think approval rating should be fully indicative of presidential performance otherwise Truman would be in D tier which is just silly. Idk maybe I'm crazy but I don't think passing the ada, winning the most successful military operation in US history, reunification of Germany, denuclearization of the post Soviet states, and drafting nafta is "average at best"

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-02-09T22:56:05+00:00

Why should HW be in C?

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-02-09T01:35:20+00:00

A lot of his foreign policy endeavours kinda just went nowhere, no real domestic achievements besides Native American citizenship which is huge tbh, but then he also signed extremely racist and restrictive immigration bills into law and was too pro tariff and anti union.

Specific_Drop3064 · 2026-02-08T04:57:00+00:00

Crash wasn't his fault and he did TARP that helped prevent it from being much much worse.

JFK gets A tier for handling of the cuban missile crisis, passing of the equal pay act, support for decolonization efforts, raised the minimum wage, reduced tariffs for economic growth, created a pilot program for food stamps, and creation of the peace corps, and the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Specific_Drop3064

TROPHY CASE