| Posted by Brandon Buell on July 3, 2013 at 2:00 PM |
The
leader of the free world isn't always free of controversy; bad
decisions can change the fabric of our nation. A president must face it
all, and as the years go by, many unpopular actions are made at the
hands of various presidents in office. With reflective minds in full
effect, Man Of The Hour presents 10 of the most controversial presidents in U.S history.
Number: 43rd
Political Party: Republican
Time in Office: January 20, 2001-January 20,2009
Controversy: Bush will go down in history as one of the most controversial presidents. After the attacks on September 11, He ordered the invasion of Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 to overthrow the Taliban regime. In December of 2001, the Pentagon declared the Taliban defeated. Then in 2002 during the State of the Union Address, Bush called Iraq an “axis of evil” and insisted the country had “weapons of mass destruction”. The invasion of Iraq started on March 20, 2003 and ended on April 9, 2003 with Bush declaring the end of all combat operations. The military stayed in both countries to provide security for 11 more years until President Obama called for all military personnel to be out by 2014. Some compared the two wars to the Vietnam War because of the lengths and controversial issues regarding the reason for the invasions.
Bush’s administration was also involved with controversy over interrogation techniques used on terrorist. Bush authorized the use of waterboarding, an act which makes the victim believe they are drowning, on terrorist. He also signed into the law the Patriot Act, the act reduced restrictions on the ways law enforcement gathered information on suspected terrorist, expanded the Secretary of the Treasury’s authority to regulate financial transactions and broadened the term “terrorist” to include domestic terrorist, allowing the surveillance of individuals within the United States.
During Bush’s presidency the U.S. economy fell into a recession and many U.S. companies and banks failed. He also was criticized for his “slow” response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
President: Bill Clinton
Number: 42nd
Political Party: Democrat
Time in Office: January 20, 1993-January 20, 2001
Controversy: During Clinton’s presidency he oversaw policies putting restrictions on homosexuals. The “Dont ask Dont tell” policy was a compromise to allow any U.S. citizen to join the military regardless of sexual orientation. The policy allowed gay and lesbian individuals to served but barred them from being open about their sexual orientation. The policy was repealed on September 19, 2011. In 1996 Clinton signed into law the Defense of Marriage Act. The Act defined marriage between a man and a women and restricted federal benefits for same sex marriages. The act was declared illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26.
Clinton however will always be remembered for his scandal with Monica Lewinski. After Lewinski claimed to have sexual relations with Clinton, Clinton adamantly denied the claims with his famous words “ I did not have sexual relations with that women”. Because of the allegations and ensuing court battles, Congress voted for his impeachment. However the Senate did not acquire the needed votes to have him removed and he remained in office till the end of his term.
President: Herbert Hoover
Number: 31st
Political Party: Republican
Time in Office: March 4, 1929-March 4, 1933
Controversy: Many believed Hoover was to blame for one of the worst economic downfalls in American history, The Great Depression. After the stock market collapse, Hoover refused to allow direct government intervention and spending fearing it would be a step towards socialism. He also insisted businesses keep wages which resulted in high rates of unemployment. During his presidency many homeless camps emerged and became known as “Hoovervilles” because many blamed Hoover for the depression.
President: Andrew Jackson
Number: 7th
Political Party: Democrat
Time in Office: March 4, 1829-March 4, 1837
Controversy: Andrew Jackson was in conflict with his Vice President John C. Calhoun over the “American System” economic plan. The plan called for high tariffs on imported products to protect American companies. Calhoun argued the plan was unconstitutional and wanted individual states to have the ability to reject any federal plan seen as unconstitutional. Jackson differed with his vice president in order to protect the union. He believed if states had the ability to reject any federal plan seen as unconstitutional it could potentially divide the union.
Jackson also was involved in controversy over his support of the “Indian Removal Act”. The act called for the relocation of indian tribes east of the Mississippi to the west. Many believed the act was inhumane. At the end of his second term, over 45,000 Indians were relocated.
President: Thomas Jefferson
Number: 3rd
Political Party: Democrat-Republican
Time in Office: March 4, 1801-March 4, 1809
Controversy: Jefferson opposed slavery. The first draft of the Declaration of Independence denounced Britain's involvement in the international trade market. Even though he was against slavery, he himself was a slave owner. Jefferson used slaves on his plantation but treated them better than most slave owners, giving them more freedom and using whippings as a last resort. Nevertheless his opposition to slavery contradicted his personal life.
President: Andrew Johnson
Number: 17th
Political Party: Democrat
Time in Office: April 15, 1865-March 4, 1896
Controversy: Johnson was in constant quarrel with his Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Stanton did not approve of Johnson’s stance on Southern policy after the civil war. Johnson resisted the Republicans want to give freedom to the former black slaves. He and Stanton would clash constantly. In an attempt to get rid of Stanton, Johnson suspended him and placed General Ulysses S. Grant in his place. The Senate however disapproved of the action saying the president violated the Tenure of Office Act and Grant stepped down voluntarily to have Stanton reinstated. Johnson did not give up and had Stanton suspended and replaced again but Stanton refused to leave and Johnson was impeached for intentionally violating the Tenure of Office Act.
President: Lyndon Johnson
Number: 36th
Political Party: Democrat
Time in Office: November 22, 1963-January 20, 1969
Controversy: In 1971, two years after Johnson left office, the New York Times released the “Pentagon Papers” to the public. The papers were a comprehensive study from 1945-1967 about the United States involvement in Vietnam. They revealed Johnson along with previous presidents before him had underlying motives in the war. It was learned Johnson planned to expand the war even though he told the public “we seek no wider war”. There were plans to bomb North Vietnam before the 1964 election while Johnson campaigned against doing so.
President: Abraham Lincoln
Number: 16th
Political Party: Republican
Time in Office: March 4, 1861-April 15, 1865
Controversy: Abraham Lincoln was the first president of the Republican party to be elected. During the election he won only two counties of the 996 in the southern states and only five of the 15 southern states voted for him. During his presidency the south succeeded from the Union and formed their own confederacy. He was controversial at the time because of his party's stance on abolishing slavery. In 1861 war broke out between the two parties and ended in 1865 with over a million casualties. Five days after his second inaugural address on April 14, 1865 President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head while watching a play in the Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. He died the next day.
President: Richard Nixon
Number: 37th
Political Party: Republican
Time in Office: January 20, 1969-August 9, 1974
Controversy: Nixon was the only president to quit his job. The reason came after what became known as the “Watergate Scandal”. In June of 1972, five men were caught breaking into the Watergate complex in Washington, DC. It was discovered they were sifting through files and trying to plant listening devices. Nixon denied the accusations the men were working for his administration. It later became known Nixon had ordered his aides to plant listening devices on people his administration deemed suspicious. During Court hearings it was also discovered Nixon secretly taped conversations held in the Oval Office. At first Nixon refused to release the tapes but when he finally did, many were missing or destroyed. After months of court hearings and accusations, Nixon admitted to knowing of the incident soon after it happened. On August 9, 1974 Nixon broadcasted his resignation speech to the public.
President: Barack Obama
Number: 44th
Political Party: Democrat
Time in Office: January 20, 2009-Present
Controversy: This year has a been hard on the Obama Administration. It was learned the administration had evidence of the terrorist attack in Benghazi last year on September 11. After the attacks, the administration first called the attack a result of the riots over a video portraying the Prophet Muhammad on Youtube but it was later found through emails the administration knew it was a terrorist attack. Some compared Benghazi incident to Watergate and even talked about impeachment.
More recently a former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden released documents to the public detailing the Obama administration's secret spying on American citizens deemed as terrorist. The program was called PRISM. The files showed the government used 9 top tech companies servers to gather information ranging from videos to emails.
source http://www.manofthehourmag.com
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