Analyzing POTUS: Polk - Garfield

James K. Polk (1845-1849)
Polk gets a mixed review from me. Historians rate him high because he
expanded the country, and that fact gets no argument from this blog.
Texas, the Pacific Northwest and Southwest became part of the U.S.
due to Polk's efforts. Yet, the way in which we 'acquired' these places
was smarmy, and I have difficulty giving praise to Polk when he basically
attacked the impoverished, unorganized Mexico just because they
wouldn't play ball. Polk, like his successors, also did little to avoid the
upcoming Civil War. Still, I cannot argue that Polk didn't accomplish
what he had been elected to do. Also, his move to place the treasury in
a central location was the right one. The guy literally kept all of his
campaign promises. Who the hell does that anymore??
Grade: B+ (ruthless? yes. effective? yes.)

Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
General Taylor didn't last a year and a half in office, so I'm grading on a
curve here. Taylor really wasn't qualified to be president. He had never
voted prior to his own election, and didn't seem to have much of a platform.
His popularity on the battlefield caused his wide victory. I give "Old Rough
and Ready" marks for getting the ball rolling on the Department of the
Interior. And while he was vocally against secession, it seems that his
policies and actions were mostly handled by--well, his handlers. Although
his tenure is linked with the Compromise of 1850, his part in it was more
divisive than productive.
Grade: D+ (Could've been worse.)

Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
Although Fillmore generally gets hell from historians, I give him credit.
He started his Administration knee-deep in the mess of the Compromise
of 1850, and even though others were key players in the debates,
Fillmore signed it into law and avoided the Civil War for a decade. The
included passage of the Fugitive Slave Act was repulsive. His handling
of Japanese trade exploration was beneficial to the U.S., as were his pro
-active relations with other countries. Fillmore's decisions were often
unpopular, but he avoided domestic and foreign battles and presided
over a strong economy.
Grade: C- (Hindsight is 20/20.)

Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
I have to agree with the terrible rankings that the Pierce Administration
has received throughout the years. Pierce's support and signage of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Compromise of 1850 and set the
stage for War. Although the War would not begin for four years following
Pierce's departure (he was declined re-nomination), people started to
rebel and Pierce wasn't strong and assertive enough to get his agenda in
order. The Gadsden Purchase, which helped shape the Southwest, was
his only real achievement. Chaos stared him in the face and he did nothing.
Grade: D (handsome guys aren't perfect.)

James Buchanan (1857-1861)
Chaos only stared at Pierce. It went for James Buchanan's jugular. The
elderly Buchanan got the prize of the presidency after decades of devoted
public service. Unfortunately, his best years were behind him. Buchanan's
inability to work with an angry Congress plagued him for his only term.
Military action in Utah against Mormons was a farce and the economic
panic of 1857 developed a huge deficit. Buchanan's lasting legacy is the
fact that he sat idly by while states left the Union at the onset of the Civil
War. Stating that there was nothing he could do to stop them, Buchanan
allowed seceding states from taking over federal property, thus enabling
the Confederacy.
Grade: D- (inaction=indifference)

Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
The national friction that existed for decades preceding Lincoln's election
arrived in full force and consumed his entire presidency. A few presidents
had been war-time administrators, but none faced the gravity of a "nation
turned against itself." Lincoln was one of our best. His involved control of
the Union effort was displayed in everything from top-general management
to his presence on the battlefield. Lincoln's stance against slavery is
romanticized, but the Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address
brought finality to the inhumane institution that the U.S. had tolerated far
too long. Lincoln's Reconstruction policies were just what the country
needed following the South's surrender. He never lived to see them through.
Grade: A+ (everything he was cracked up to be)

Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
The tailor from Tennessee had impossible shoes to fill following Lincoln's
murder, facing a vindictive Union in no mood for peaceful reconciliation.
Upon Johnson's inauguration, he said that he wanted to continue Lincoln's
moderate Reconstruction ideas. Unfortunately, his stubborn and public
battle with Congress suggested otherwise and made none of this possible.
Exercising his veto power against the Freedman's Bureau and the Civil
Rights Act, Johnson soon made more enemies than friends. The remainder
of Johnson's presidency was spent narrowly avoiding impeachment.
Grade: D (a wasted four years)

Ulysses Grant (1869-1877)
Grant was another extremely popular general who did not belong in the
White House. Still, I do not grade Grant as harshly as others. His advocacy
for civil rights and promotion of peace was needed at a time when freed
slaves were experiencing cruel treatment, though his actions had limited
effect. The Panic of 1873 showed Grant as a weak leader. Grant's legacy
is the patronage and widespread corruption that existed in his Administration.
Grant named buddies and family members to high office; not experienced
statesmen and politicians. Grant gets points for his racial equality efforts.
Grade: C- (barely)

Rutherford Hayes (1877-1881)
Due to a nasty, close election that he shouldn't have won, Hayes began his
term with bitterness from the opposing party--who happened to control
Congress. Any thoughts of progressive post-Civil War reconstruction ended
as Hayes struggled against the powerful Democrats. Seeking to bring an
end to the patronage corruption of the Grant years, Hayes immediately
brought himself at odds with a large faction of his own party. His exclusion
of Chinese immigrants into the U.S. and allowing U.S. military to pursue
bandits into Mexico were horrible foreign policies. His best achievement
was perhaps his swift handling of an 1877 national railroad strike.
Grade: C (good intentions, bad crowd)

James Garfield (1881)
Although Garfield had some notable achievements, he was only president
for six months (two of which he spent bed-ridden from his gunshot wound.)
Grade: I (surprisingly NOT Garfield the Cat's namesake)




NEXT: Analyzing POTUS: Arthur - Coolidge