I will nominate Theodore Roosevelt as our most amazing President. No President was more accomplished as a person and few come close to his positive accomplishments.
Of course George Washington gets huge points for being first but more importantly being willing to step down and not becoming another petty military dictator. Not even a charismatic and beloved one. He did so much to forge this country and give it a good start.
Abraham Lincoln of course is overrated but only as he is lauded and worshiped beyond his accomplishment. The North had huge advantages in the fight and Lincoln while a great man took a long time to find the right Generals to fight the war and was slow to marshal the advantages of the northern industrial machine and chose not to foment rebellion among the slaves. Now all that said, not many Presidents get to prove their worth by holding the country together despite terrible Generals and unrest from the poor rightfully not liking a system where the rich just bought themselves out of the draft. He was a great President that rose to the occasion but I do not feel he is the equal of Theodore or Washington.
Worst Presidents are tricky.
George W. Bush appears to be among the worst but at this point I still have to give the nod to …
James Buchanan was terrible. He was a poor compromise candidate and a terrible President that if anything accelerated the civil war.
I will allow his own words to convict him:
Speech before Congress (3 December 1860)The course of events is so rapidly hastening forward that the emergency may soon arise when you may be called upon to decide the momentous question whether you possess the power by force of arms to compel a State to remain in the Union. I should feel myself recreant to my duty were I not to express an opinion on this important subject.
The question fairly stated is, Has the Constitution delegated to Congress the power to coerce a State into submission which is attempting to withdraw or has actually withdrawn from the Confederacy? If answered in the affirmative, it must be on the principle that the power has been conferred upon Congress to declare and to make war against a State. After much serious reflection I have arrived at the conclusion that no such power has been delegated to Congress or to any other department of the Federal Government. It is manifest upon an inspection of the Constitution that this is not among the specific and enumerated powers granted to Congress, and it is equally apparent that its exercise is not "necessary and proper for carrying into execution" any one of these powers. So far from this power having been delegated to Congress, it was expressly refused by the Convention which framed the Constitution.
That’s right; he saw no right to hold the country together. Any State was free to leave.
Warren G. Harding is my other candidate for worst three. He was the original George W. Bush. He appointed his cronies and got a thoroughly corrupt administration. Most famous is the Teapot Dome affair but that was only the biggest scandal. Harding was also another compromise candidate like Buchanan.
Both Nixon and Carter need to be considered. Nixon was a nasty, scheming asshole of a man but he did much good. Carter is a wonderful man but did little that succeeded or helped the country and seemed completely ineffective at the job.