This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's Presidents Day, that holiday set between the birthdays of two of our greatest presidents — Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, who now must share the honors with the 41 other guys who have held the job title.
The online magazine Salon today marks the occasion with a rich essay by historian Glenn W. LaFantasie, provocatively titled "Who's the worst president of them all?"
LaFantasie's pick, one shared by many historians, is our 15th president, James Buchanan — whose main positive contribution to history was to make it essential to elect his successor, Lincoln.
Buchanan cannot be blamed solely for the conditions that set up the Civil War, LaFantasie argues, but his support of Southern slavery and his dithering over secession didn't help. What's more, Buchanan was "a saber-rattler" who talked tough and was willing to sent the U.S. military to battle other armies — Mexican, Paraguayan, British (in a border dispute near Vancouver) — on the slightest provocation. (He also wanted to annex Cuba.)
One instance of Buchanan's belligerence cited by LaFantasie was in the Utah territory, where Brigham Young and his Mormon followers were ignoring federal authority. LaFantasie describes Buchanan's actions in 1857 when the Mormons "were in a state of near insurrection":
[Buchanan] ordered, in his capacity as commander in chief, a military expedition to the territory that was "not to be withdrawn until the inhabitants of that Territory shall manifest a proper sense of the duty which they owe to this government." The army blundered its mission, and the Mormons fought an effective guerrilla campaign against the federal troops. Eventually, Buchanan felt the heat of political pressure to end the so-called Mormon War, and a peaceful end to the fiasco. True to form, however, Buchanan claimed credit for a victory in Utah.
In his essay, LaFantasie argues that Buchanan hasn't retired the "worst president ever" trophy for good. In many traits — military single-mindedness, over-reliance on advisers and general incompetence — Buchanan compares well with George W. Bush, LaFantasie writes.
Buchanan is still the worst, LaFantasie writes, but "it is well within the realm of possibility — once historians have a chance to reckon more completely with all of Bush 43's extraordinary transgressions as president — that W might someday unseat Buchanan as the very worst president this nation has ever had."