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Star-Spangled Men: America's Ten Worst Presidents
Picking America's best presidents is easy. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt usually lead the list, But choosing the nation's worst presidents requires more thought. In Star-Spangled Men, respected presidential biographer Nathan Miller puts on display those leaders who were abject failures as chief executive. With pointed humor and a deft hand, he presents a rogues' gallery of the men who dropped the presidential ball, and sometimes their pants as well.
Miller includes Richard M. Nixon, who was forced to resign to escape impeachment; Jimmy Carter, who proved that the White House is not the place for on-the-job training; and Warren G. Harding, who gave "being in the closet" new meaning as he carried on extramarital interludes in one near the Oval Office. This current edition also includes a new assessment of Bill Clinton -- who has admitted lying to his family, his aides, his cabinet, and the American people.
Miller includes Richard M. Nixon, who was forced to resign to escape impeachment; Jimmy Carter, who proved that the White House is not the place for on-the-job training; and Warren G. Harding, who gave "being in the closet" new meaning as he carried on extramarital interludes in one near the Oval Office. This current edition also includes a new assessment of Bill Clinton -- who has admitted lying to his family, his aides, his cabinet, and the American people.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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About the author
Nathan Miller
71 books14 followersNathan Miller received his bachelor's and master's degrees in history from the University of Maryland before becoming a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He spent more than 15 years as a journalist, including a three-year tour as the paper's chief Latin American correspondent, based in Rio de Janeiro, before becoming an investigator and speechwriter for Sen. John L. McClellan on the permanent subcommittee on investigations and later the Senate Appropriations Committee. Miller left the congressional staff in 1977 to be a full-time freelance writer.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 30, 2014
There are some interesting stories in the book, but there is also some truly bad history. There is no doubt that the presidents highlighted here
were bad. The corruption and inability to make decisions or set a vision are rightly condemned. However, a number of presidents were faulted for not knowing things that would only be understood or known decades later. It is easy see the slide to the Civil War or the long term ramifications of the first protests in Iran from the distance of 30 years. The author should have left omniscience off of his requirements for the presidency.
were bad. The corruption and inability to make decisions or set a vision are rightly condemned. However, a number of presidents were faulted for not knowing things that would only be understood or known decades later. It is easy see the slide to the Civil War or the long term ramifications of the first protests in Iran from the distance of 30 years. The author should have left omniscience off of his requirements for the presidency.
November 9, 2021
Audible.com 9 hours 35 min. Narrated by Andy Cape (A)
Author Nathan Miller has selected this subjective list of the ten worst presidents from his own studies and his work as a journalist and Capitol Hill staffer. He presents a well-rounded brief biography of each man and then presents documentation from his presidency to show failures. Published in 1998, this eliminates a number of great candidates. Miller treats the subject soberly but he is also witty and often humorous. This book was quite enjoyable reading even though it shows that men whose moral character and critical desicion making (or lack) are far from what I would expect from a position of such importance. I agreed with his choices. He also includes opinions on four presidents who missed the list, one of whom is Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson himself did not acclaim any laurels for his own presidency on his gravestone. If you're interested in some of the lesser known presidents' histories this is a good start and IMO a balanced account.
Author Nathan Miller has selected this subjective list of the ten worst presidents from his own studies and his work as a journalist and Capitol Hill staffer. He presents a well-rounded brief biography of each man and then presents documentation from his presidency to show failures. Published in 1998, this eliminates a number of great candidates. Miller treats the subject soberly but he is also witty and often humorous. This book was quite enjoyable reading even though it shows that men whose moral character and critical desicion making (or lack) are far from what I would expect from a position of such importance. I agreed with his choices. He also includes opinions on four presidents who missed the list, one of whom is Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson himself did not acclaim any laurels for his own presidency on his gravestone. If you're interested in some of the lesser known presidents' histories this is a good start and IMO a balanced account.
October 25, 2012
This is an interesting book by Nathan Miller, who claims impartiality by indicating that he has voted Democrat 7 times, Republican 4 times, and minor party twice. I don't know if I agree with his choices or not--I'm certainly no historian. But it was very interesting for the historical and biographical information. I also learned that I never want to be president--what a job! I actually already knew that, though. I'll list his 10 worst presidents in reverse order with brief comment:
10. Jimmy Carter. Many of the presidents on his list were basically good, successful men who were not well suited to be president of the United States. Carter's one of them.
9. William Howard Taft. Taft is another one of them. It seems that he didn't really want to be president, but his wife wanted it and he could get elected easily because he was a good pal of Teddy Roosevelt. Later on he became chief justice, though.
8. Benjamin Harrison. I actually don't remember much of what I read about him and I'm not interested enough to go back and look.
7. Calvin Coolidge. I enjoyed reading about Coolidge. He was noted as a man of few words. A white house guest pleaded with him to talk to her because she had made a bet that she could get more than two words out of him. Coolidge replied, "You lose."
6. Ulysses S. Grant. Say what you will about the man, he has quite a remarkable success story. He was completely broke and going nowhere in the 1850s and then somehow became a Civil War hero and then a two-term president. And if he was so bad, then how did he get on the $50 bill?
5. Andrew Johnson. Raleigh's own. He was interesting because he was a stalwart pro-Union guy, but was also by all accounts a racist, which led to him botching post-Civil War reconstruction.
4. Franklin Pierce. Also interesting is how some of these men became president. You imagine them as the best America has to offer and their election is the culmination of a great political career. The reality is that Pierce was nominated as a lowest common denominator candidate--he had no enemies.
3. James Buchanan. The whole thing with Buchanan sending an Army out to Utah earned a paragraph in the book as one of his great blunders because he would stand up to Momons but not to the Southerners.
2. Warren G. Harding. The most entertaining chapter of the book is Harding's. A few of the highlights of his brief presidency: the secretary of the interior turns the nation's petroleum reserves over to the oil companies for personal gain, the head of the Veterans bureau loots government warehouses for personal gain, Harding is discovered choking the head of the Veterans Bureau because of it, Harding himself carries on an affair with a married woman for a decade, the RNC gives her money and sends her on a boat to Japan before the election, Harding has a child with a woman 30 years younger, the mistress frequently "visits" him in a White House closet, and it has been suggested that Harding was poisoned by his own wife to spare him from public disgrace once the details of his corrupt administration started to come out. Whew!
1. Richard Nixon. I wrote a history fair paper in junior high school on Richard Nixon. I think that my basic conclusion was that even considering the Watergate scandal, Nixon was still a pretty good president. You know, because he was the first president in office to visit China. I may have been a little off base. Reading about Nixon was actually probably the most depressing chapter in the book.
As a side note, one of my favorite Growing Pains moments is when Mike Seaver wins student body president with Boner as his running mate. Upon hearing the news, Boner announces, "Me, vice-president, Richard Milhous Stabone!" And then he says, "They ain't gonna have Boner to kick around no more!" Then he's immediately knocked down by students rushing into the room. I learned from reading this book that the "kick around" quote is a real Nixon quote after he lost the governor race in California in 1962. Cool.
In the last part of the book, the author also lights up John F. Kennedy and Thomas Jefferson as the country's two most overrated presidents. This is getting long, so I'll spare you the details, but if you don't like JFK, reading it will make you feel justified.
The most interesting part of the ranking is that the presidents on the worst list were sort of grouped together in their times of service. Harding and Coolidge presided over most of the 1920s, right before America went off the cliff. Nixon and Carter presided over most of the 1970s, which as far as I understand was sort of a depressing time.
But what about the 10 worst list including the two presidents who immediately preceded Abraham Lincoln (Pierce, Buchanan) as well as the two who immediately followed him (Johnson, Grant)? That pretty much confirms that Lincoln was America's greatest president. I also learned that America was messed up during this time. For all the tensions about the Iraq now, it must have been 10 times worse during the Civil War. People had some major hostilities going on. . .
10. Jimmy Carter. Many of the presidents on his list were basically good, successful men who were not well suited to be president of the United States. Carter's one of them.
9. William Howard Taft. Taft is another one of them. It seems that he didn't really want to be president, but his wife wanted it and he could get elected easily because he was a good pal of Teddy Roosevelt. Later on he became chief justice, though.
8. Benjamin Harrison. I actually don't remember much of what I read about him and I'm not interested enough to go back and look.
7. Calvin Coolidge. I enjoyed reading about Coolidge. He was noted as a man of few words. A white house guest pleaded with him to talk to her because she had made a bet that she could get more than two words out of him. Coolidge replied, "You lose."
6. Ulysses S. Grant. Say what you will about the man, he has quite a remarkable success story. He was completely broke and going nowhere in the 1850s and then somehow became a Civil War hero and then a two-term president. And if he was so bad, then how did he get on the $50 bill?
5. Andrew Johnson. Raleigh's own. He was interesting because he was a stalwart pro-Union guy, but was also by all accounts a racist, which led to him botching post-Civil War reconstruction.
4. Franklin Pierce. Also interesting is how some of these men became president. You imagine them as the best America has to offer and their election is the culmination of a great political career. The reality is that Pierce was nominated as a lowest common denominator candidate--he had no enemies.
3. James Buchanan. The whole thing with Buchanan sending an Army out to Utah earned a paragraph in the book as one of his great blunders because he would stand up to Momons but not to the Southerners.
2. Warren G. Harding. The most entertaining chapter of the book is Harding's. A few of the highlights of his brief presidency: the secretary of the interior turns the nation's petroleum reserves over to the oil companies for personal gain, the head of the Veterans bureau loots government warehouses for personal gain, Harding is discovered choking the head of the Veterans Bureau because of it, Harding himself carries on an affair with a married woman for a decade, the RNC gives her money and sends her on a boat to Japan before the election, Harding has a child with a woman 30 years younger, the mistress frequently "visits" him in a White House closet, and it has been suggested that Harding was poisoned by his own wife to spare him from public disgrace once the details of his corrupt administration started to come out. Whew!
1. Richard Nixon. I wrote a history fair paper in junior high school on Richard Nixon. I think that my basic conclusion was that even considering the Watergate scandal, Nixon was still a pretty good president. You know, because he was the first president in office to visit China. I may have been a little off base. Reading about Nixon was actually probably the most depressing chapter in the book.
As a side note, one of my favorite Growing Pains moments is when Mike Seaver wins student body president with Boner as his running mate. Upon hearing the news, Boner announces, "Me, vice-president, Richard Milhous Stabone!" And then he says, "They ain't gonna have Boner to kick around no more!" Then he's immediately knocked down by students rushing into the room. I learned from reading this book that the "kick around" quote is a real Nixon quote after he lost the governor race in California in 1962. Cool.
In the last part of the book, the author also lights up John F. Kennedy and Thomas Jefferson as the country's two most overrated presidents. This is getting long, so I'll spare you the details, but if you don't like JFK, reading it will make you feel justified.
The most interesting part of the ranking is that the presidents on the worst list were sort of grouped together in their times of service. Harding and Coolidge presided over most of the 1920s, right before America went off the cliff. Nixon and Carter presided over most of the 1970s, which as far as I understand was sort of a depressing time.
But what about the 10 worst list including the two presidents who immediately preceded Abraham Lincoln (Pierce, Buchanan) as well as the two who immediately followed him (Johnson, Grant)? That pretty much confirms that Lincoln was America's greatest president. I also learned that America was messed up during this time. For all the tensions about the Iraq now, it must have been 10 times worse during the Civil War. People had some major hostilities going on. . .
January 19, 2016
Enlightening book about this author's list of the worst presidents. Even if you disagree, you'll learn something, and he makes good arguments for his inclusions of the worst, and adds two whom he considers overrated.
April 5, 2023
"Sure I had a crooked vice-president, but I'm not the only chief executive to do so. President Eisenhower had one too."---Richard M. Nixon, UCLA graffiti
In your anger or shame at former president Donald Trump being indicted today, brought low by a pair of fake ta-tas, you will want to plunge into this book, a humorous and enlightening look at the worst men to occupy the White House. Of course, picking the ten worst American presidents is akin to choosing the ten worst films starring Elvis Presley (I can do that too, if you like) but Nathan Miller pushes the envelope for the sake of hilarity and history. He starts with a strange qualifier, one that I find odd and enraging: "I am omitting presidents who usually make such a list, from Millard Fillmore to Franklin Pierce, on the grounds that they were not bad presidents; it's just that few Americans know anything about them". (He also adds, quaintly, "George H.W. Bush barely misses appearing on this list Only his coalition-building during the Persian Gulf War excludes him from worst of all time). Whoa, Nate. I think the real reason is that they were crappy nebbishes. Now, on with the show. What makes for "presidential badness" a la' Miller? "First, how much damage did they do to the country, and second, how far short did they fall of their own expectations after being sworn in?" By this criteria, Miller ranks Jimmy Carter at number Ten (this is a countdown) and Richard Nixon at number One. Since some of us were around for the Jimmy Carter catastrophe I think we can agree with Miller that "the Carter administration was an oxymoron". Re Richard M. Nixon: He came closer to destroying the American republic more than any other president in history. (He might also have destroyed the world had it not been for the scrutiny of his Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, who told the Pentagon to pass on to him directly and personally "any unusual presidential orders", such as nuking China or the USSR. Ulysses S. Grant and Warren Harding also show up for having financially corrupt men around in their cabinets, but not being personally involved in putting their hands in the till. (The U.S. is such a rich nation that its presidents don't have to rob while in office, although Lyndon Johnson may have been an exception.) Finally, Miller attaches an Appendix on the two men he rightly calls "America's most over-rated presidents", Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy. The first broke the Constitution by illegally making the Louisiana Purchase and tried very hard to get the U.S. involved in a war with England. The second stupidly green-lighted the Bay of Pigs invasion and then was shocked, really shocked, when Khrushchev retaliated by placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. The second edition of STAR-SPANGLED MEN includes some musings on Bill Clinton, liar and sexual acrobat, but then we knew that about him before he reached the White House. The shame is on us.
In your anger or shame at former president Donald Trump being indicted today, brought low by a pair of fake ta-tas, you will want to plunge into this book, a humorous and enlightening look at the worst men to occupy the White House. Of course, picking the ten worst American presidents is akin to choosing the ten worst films starring Elvis Presley (I can do that too, if you like) but Nathan Miller pushes the envelope for the sake of hilarity and history. He starts with a strange qualifier, one that I find odd and enraging: "I am omitting presidents who usually make such a list, from Millard Fillmore to Franklin Pierce, on the grounds that they were not bad presidents; it's just that few Americans know anything about them". (He also adds, quaintly, "George H.W. Bush barely misses appearing on this list Only his coalition-building during the Persian Gulf War excludes him from worst of all time). Whoa, Nate. I think the real reason is that they were crappy nebbishes. Now, on with the show. What makes for "presidential badness" a la' Miller? "First, how much damage did they do to the country, and second, how far short did they fall of their own expectations after being sworn in?" By this criteria, Miller ranks Jimmy Carter at number Ten (this is a countdown) and Richard Nixon at number One. Since some of us were around for the Jimmy Carter catastrophe I think we can agree with Miller that "the Carter administration was an oxymoron". Re Richard M. Nixon: He came closer to destroying the American republic more than any other president in history. (He might also have destroyed the world had it not been for the scrutiny of his Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, who told the Pentagon to pass on to him directly and personally "any unusual presidential orders", such as nuking China or the USSR. Ulysses S. Grant and Warren Harding also show up for having financially corrupt men around in their cabinets, but not being personally involved in putting their hands in the till. (The U.S. is such a rich nation that its presidents don't have to rob while in office, although Lyndon Johnson may have been an exception.) Finally, Miller attaches an Appendix on the two men he rightly calls "America's most over-rated presidents", Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy. The first broke the Constitution by illegally making the Louisiana Purchase and tried very hard to get the U.S. involved in a war with England. The second stupidly green-lighted the Bay of Pigs invasion and then was shocked, really shocked, when Khrushchev retaliated by placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. The second edition of STAR-SPANGLED MEN includes some musings on Bill Clinton, liar and sexual acrobat, but then we knew that about him before he reached the White House. The shame is on us.
March 18, 2024
This is a list of the worst American Presidents. Bill Clinton did not make the list since he hadn't yet been impeached at the writing of this book. I'm not sure if he would have made the list, but Nixon made the list and if he made it, then certainly Clinton would have.
This book is essentially an excuse to do a biography of various Presidents one might not devote an entire book to understand. The writing was reasonable. I disagreed with a few of the choices the author made. Given the criteria the author used, I found it surprising that Nixon made this list. The other presidents seemed to be led around by the nose. Nixon was not like that. He also had a number of major accomplishments he could attribute to his presidency. One might not like him, but this wasn't a popularity contest. This was a competency contest, and while Nixon was a mixed bag in that department, he did manage to do a few important things.
So... author's choice. He can write about whoever he wishes. He did a reasonable job.
I doubt I will read this book gain.
This book is essentially an excuse to do a biography of various Presidents one might not devote an entire book to understand. The writing was reasonable. I disagreed with a few of the choices the author made. Given the criteria the author used, I found it surprising that Nixon made this list. The other presidents seemed to be led around by the nose. Nixon was not like that. He also had a number of major accomplishments he could attribute to his presidency. One might not like him, but this wasn't a popularity contest. This was a competency contest, and while Nixon was a mixed bag in that department, he did manage to do a few important things.
So... author's choice. He can write about whoever he wishes. He did a reasonable job.
I doubt I will read this book gain.
March 1, 2021
I rather suspect if this book were written today rather than in the 90s, the line-up would look a little different. Whether one agrees with the author's selection or not (and quite frankly I can't be bothered to sufficiently acquaint myself with the records of all 39 US presidents before my lifetime to have much of an opinion on the matter), the book provides some interesting anecdotes about some lesser known presidents that make for entertaining enough reading.
January 31, 2021
I mostly agree with his assessment. His criteria is similar to mine. I don't think I would have put Grant on the list. I would probably replace him with Andrew Jackson. I think 45 would have topped his list based on his criteria.
November 28, 2024
Good collection of the Worst and Overrated Presidents.
February 15, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. It showed the history behind the names we all know by rote and the blemishes forgotten by most history books. I particularly enjoyed learning more about Coolidge, Buchanan, and Harding. Warren G is my new fave prez. I also really enjoyed the epilogue where the author related who he thought were the 2 most overrated POTUS, Jefferson and Kennedy. I could have read a whole book just on that. All in all, I think this is a good read for those wanting to know more about the hits and misses of the office. It would also enlighten those who keep bitching ignorantly about our current administration.
June 14, 2012
This book is a fast read and well worth the time. Great to read on lunch hour while reading other books. It is great because little is written about these presidents as opposed to Lincoln, Washington, Kennedy etc...
August 17, 2012
Contains some interesting anecdotes about ten of our presidents. A different tact from the usual "10 greatest presidents" angle.
May 31, 2014
Calvin Coolidge is the best. I kind of want to marry him just because the chapter on him made me laugh so much.
August 6, 2011
The funniest book on the presidency I have ever read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews