US Presidents, Ranked By Who Deserves To Be Canceled
Vote up the most cancellable US presidents; vote down the presidents worth keeping around.
Cancel culture is alive and well. Whether it's a celebrity, politician, or some other known figure who says something in poor taste, commits a gaffe, or takes a roundly criticized action, a career can be broken in an instant.
Of course there are incredibly offensive and heinous acts that people - even US presidents - have committed that are undeniably cancelable. But, people don't always get canceled for what they've recently done. A cultural cancelation may come from a past statement, activity, or egregious offense. Modern standards dictate whether or not a deed comes roaring back to bite someone in the a**.
Cancel culture isn't about who's the best or worst person, it's about who simply needs to be removed from the larger conversation. For politicians, cancel culture is about what they did while in office and how it looks through a modern lens.
So, when it comes to politics and US presidents, who do you think deserves to be canceled once and for all?
- 1
After Dred Scott sued for his freedom in 1847, the matter dragged on until it reached the US Supreme Court in 1857. Two days before the ruling came down, Buchanan said in his inaugural address that he supported whatever they decided. This, in the end, endorsed its determination that Scott was not a citizen because he was Black.
- Presidency: 15
- V.P.: John C. Breckinridge
- Profession: Politician, Diplomat, Lawyer
- 2
Johnson's mishandling of Reconstruction allowed for “Black Codes” to take effect across the American South. He was also the first US president to be impeached by Congress.
- Presidency: 17
- Profession: Politician, Tailor
- 3
In 1850, Millard Fillmore signed the Compromise of 1850. This included the Fugitive Slave Act, which compelled the apprehension of runaway slaves.
- Presidency: 13
- Profession: Politician, Lawyer
- 4
Franklin Pierce was president when the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in 1854 , which opened the American west to slavery by repealing the Missouri Compromise. The ensuing violence of “Bleeding Kansas” that took place under Pierce's watch was essentially a precursor to the Civil War.
- Presidency: 14
- V.P.: William R. King
- Profession: Politician, Lawyer
- 5
The Wounded Knee Creek massacre in 1890 took place after President Harrison sent troops to intimidate Lakota Sioux peoples on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Over 250 Lakota men, women, and children died as a result.
- Presidency: 23
- V.P.: Levi P. Morton
- Profession: Politician, Lawyer
- 6
Martin Van Buren was president at the height of the “Trail of Tears” - the journey of tens of thousands of indigenous people from ancestral lands to territory in Oklahoma. Van Buren even called in extra soldiers to make the process of relocation go more quickly.
- Presidency: 8
- V.P.: Richard Mentor Johnson
- Profession: Politician, Lawyer
