president WHO

Worst Known For Constantly arguing over domestic and foreign policy with cabinet members Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, leading to division and factionalism

John Adams 1797 - 1801

Father of the American Navy

Best Known For Saying cool philosophical stuff

Worst Known For Whining about being Veep under Washington, calling it "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived"

Thomas Jefferson 1801 - 1809

Sage of Monticello

Best Known For Introducing french fries to the US after he tasted them as Ambassador to France in the 1780s

Worst Known For Owning hundreds of slaves and having an affair with a 16-year-old slave which produced six children

James Madison 1809 - 1817

Father of the Constitution

Best Known For Playing a central role in authoring the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the Bill of Rights

Worst Known For Underestimating the Canadians during his failed effort to invade and annex Canada in 1812

James Monroe 1817 - 1825

Era of Good Feelings President

Best Known For Crossing the Delaware with George Washington and being falsely portrayed in the famous painting as the guy behind Washington with the flag

Worst Known For Kicking the can on the slavery issue by signing the Missouri Compromise, a temporary fix that would need to be tackled by later generations

John Quincy Adams 1825 - 1829

Old Man Eloquent

Best Known For Skinny dipping in the Potomac as a daily health ritual

Worst Known For Refusing to compromise on foreign and domestic issues, resulting in a deadlocked Congress that blocked many of his proposals

Andrew Jackson 1829 – 1837

Old Hickory

Best Known For Fending off an assassination attempt with his cane in 1835

Worst Known For Killing a guy in a duel in 1806 and getting shot but surviving in a tavern fight in 1813

Martin Van Buren 1837 – 1841

Old Kinderhook

Best Known For Signing his nickname initials on presidential documents which spawned worldwide usage of the term "OK"

Worst Known For Rejecting a strong, centralized approach in his response to the Panic of 1837

William Harrison Mar 4, 1841 – Apr 4, 1841

Old Tippecanoe

Best Known For Beating the British in the Battle of the Thames, and running a captivating, inspiring campaign in 1840

Worst Known For Getting drunk on hard cider at one of his raucous rallies, although it could have been a rumor

John Tyler 1841 – 1845

Accidental President

Best Known For Having a custard pie named after him, called Tyler Pudding Pie

Worst Known For Failing to understand that regional politics doesn't work on a federal level

James Polk 1845 – 1849

Young Hickory

Best Known For Fulfilling his promise to annex Texas and sweeping large amounts of the West under US control

Worst Known For Failing to realize that the sudden impact of Manifest Destiny would lead to the Mexican-American War and Bleeding Kansas

Zachary Taylor 1849 – 1850

Old Rough and Ready

Best Known For Defeating general Santa Anna in the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War

Worst Known For Dying of a gastrointestinal illness after just one year in office when he ate cherries and iced milk at a Fourth of July celebration

Millard Fillmore 1850 – 1853

The American Louis Philippe

Best Known For Rushing from the White House to the Library of Congress to start a bucket chain to put out a fire, saving countless books from burning

Worst Known For Supporting the Compromise of 1850, which eased party differences at first, but quickly divided the country over states rights on the slavery question

Franklin Pierce 1853 – 1857

Handsome Frank

Best Known For Using his charm and political experience to form a coalition of New England and Southern Democrats in 1852

Worst Known For Drinking excessively, which impacted his character and presidency

James Buchanan 1857 – 1861

Old Buck

Best Known For Winning decisively in 1856 over John Fremont and the newly formed Republican Party, setting up high hopes for unity

Worst Known For Affirming his support for the Dred Scott decision, which complicated the slavery issue

Abraham Lincoln 1861 – 1865

Honest Abe

Best Known For Leading the nation through the Civil War, preserving the union, and freeing the slaves

Worst Known For Suspending Habeas Corpus in order to maintain public safety, resulting in thousands of suspects jailed without trial

Andrew Johnson 1853 – 1857

The Tennessee Tailor

Best Known For Purchasing Alaska from Russia with the Treaty of Cession in 1867, which added vast resources and provided a buffer against Russian influence

Worst Known For Drinking whiskey just before inaugural ceremonies in 1865 and delivering a slurry, mostly incoherent speech

Ulysses Grant 1869 – 1877

Hero of Appomattox

Best Known For Holding his ground and counterattacking at Shiloh, laying siege to Vicksburg, and breaking through Confederate lines at Chattanooga

Worst Known For Suffering a damaged reputation in the Whiskey Ring Scandal, where a close friend was implicated in a tax evasion scheme

Rutherford Hayes 1877 – 1881

Dark Horse President

Best Known For Banning wine and liquor from the White House upon request from his wife, "Lemonade Lucy"

Worst Known For Failing to predict that the sudden end to Reconstruction would result in the rise of Jim Crow laws, segregation, and disenfranchisement

James Garfield Mar 4, 1881 – Sept 19, 1881

Boatman Jim

Best Known For Driving the mules that pulled the canal boats on the Erie Canal, earning the nickname "Boatman Jim"

Worst Known For Maintaining an "open door policy" during his presidency, welcoming interaction with the public and refusing security detail

Chester Arthur Sept 19, 1881 – Mar 4, 1885

The Dude President

Best Known For Bringing a sophisticated, fashionable style to the White House during the opulent Gilded Age

Worst Known For Benefitting from the spoils system by accepting the role of Collector to the Port of New York from a political insider

Grover Cleveland 1885 – 1889 and 1893 - 1897

Uncle Jumbo

Best Known For Having a reputation as an honest, straightforward reformer who confronted government corruption and big business

Worst Known For Being listed as one of the least healthy presidents ever, weighing in at 275 pounds, and regularly enjoying beer and cigars

Benjamin Harrison 1889 – 1893

The Front Porch Campaigner

Best Known For Being well-liked by Californians, who appreciate his founding of Yosemite, Sequoia, and King's Canyon National Parks

Worst Known For Signing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which boosted currency supply in the short run but contributed to the Panic of 1893

William McKinley 1897 – 1901

Idol of Ohio

Best Known For Being the first guy to have his inauguration address and parade filmed in 1897, even though without sound

Worst Known For Failing to grant independence to the Philippines after its transfer from Spain to the US, leading to the Philippine-American War

Theodore Roosevelt 1901 - 1909

Teddy

Best Known For Refusing to shoot a bear cub on a hunting trip in 1902, which inspired a toy company to launch the Teddy Bear craze

Worst Known For Failing to run for president in 1908 and handing the nomination instead to William Taft, a mistake that Roosevelt later regretted and contributed to his loss to Wilson in 2012

William Taft 1909 – 1913

Big Chief

Best Known For Installing a special, extra-large bathtub in the White House to accommodate his 340-pound body size

Worst Known For Betraying his party by promoting conservative themes in a progressive era, and thereby bursting the Roosevelt bubble

Woodrow Wilson 1913 – 1921

The Schoolmaster

Best Known For Allowing a flock of sheep to graze on the White House lawn to save on gardening costs and set an example for rationing during World War I

Worst Known For Failing to gather a consensus in Congress for his Fourteen Points and the League of Nations

Warren Harding 1921 – 1923

Winnie

Best Known For Playing the tuba to celebrate his nomination at the Republican National Convention in 1920, and mastering the clarinet and trumpet

Worst Known For Refusing to acknowledge that friends and accomplices created the Teapot Dome and Veterans Bureau scandals

Calvin Coolidge 1923 – 1929

Silent Cal

Best Known For Being the first president to have his inaugural address broadcast on the radio in 1925, and regularly using radio addresses to communicate with the public

Worst Known For Vetoing the two McNary–Haugen farm relief bills in 1927, which worsened the farming crisis and caused a backlash of support among Republicans

Herbert Hoover 1929 – 1933

The Great Engineer

Best Known For Earning the nickname "The Great Humanitarian" by directing massive food relief efforts for starving Europeans during World War I

Worst Known For Failing to admit the severity of the Great Depression at an early stage, allowing unemployment and Hoovervilles to take hold across the US

Franklin Roosevelt 1933 – 1945

FDR

Best Known For Having his bust featured on the US dime in 1946 just after his death, replacing the Winged Liberty Head

Worst Known For Almost divorcing Eleanor after she discovered love letters from his mistress, Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, who left Roosevelt but then returned to him after her husband died

Harry Truman 1945 – 1953

Give Em Hell Harry

Best Known For Smiling and holding up the Chicago Tribune's "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline after his election win in 1948

Worst Known For Using profanity and his notoriously bad temper to solve both public and private disputes, earning him the moniker "Give Em Hell Harry"

Dwight Eisenhower 1953 – 1961

Ike

Best Known For Planning and directing the successful D-Day invasion of Normandy and serving as Supreme Commander of the Allies in Europe

Worst Known For Insisting on a "broad front" strategy during the Western European campaign of 1944 and rejecting General Patton's "armored thrust" into Germany, prolonging the war

John F Kennedy 1961 – 1963

JFK

Best Known For Earning a purple heart after his PT boat was sunk during World War II and towing a badly injured crewmate to safety by clenching his lifejacket in his teeth and swimming several miles to shore

Worst Known For Authorizing the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 but failing to properly train and equip the troops, resulting in a victory for Castro's forces

Lyndon Johnson 1963 – 1969

LBJ

Best Known For Establishing his Great Society agenda, which included Civil Rights legislation, the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, and the War on Poverty

Worst Known For Greatly expanding troop numbers in Vietnam which prolonged the war and divided Americans

Richard Nixon 1969 – 1974

King Richard

Best Known For Fulfilling a campaign promise to end the Vietnam War and bring "peace with honor"

Worst Known For Trying to use the CIA to cover up the burglary and wiretapping of the DNC during the Watergate scandal

Gerald Ford 1974 – 1977

Mr Nice Guy

Best Known For Winning two national championships while playing center for the Michigan Wolverine football team in the 1930s, and turning down NFL offers from both the Lions and the Packers

Worst Known For Being the only president who never won an election as either president or vice president

Jimmy Carter 1977 - 1981

The Peanut Farmer

Best Known For Being the longest-lived president at 100 years and having the longest marriage of any president at 77 years

Worst Known For Authorizing Operation Eagle Claw, a failed hostage rescue mission that Carter aborted after a US helicopter crashed in the desert, killing eight servicemen

Ronald Reagan 1981 – 1989

The Gipper

Best Known For Ending the Cold War with his "peace through strength" strategy which built up the military and confronted communism

Worst Known For Selling arms to Iran and funneling the profits to right-wing rebels in Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra scandal

George HW Bush 1989 – 1993

Bush Senior

Best Known For Piloting a torpedo bomber during World War II and getting shot down and bailing out into the Pacific Ocean. He floated for hours before getting rescued by a passing submarine

Worst Known For Campaigning in 1988 on "Read my lips, no new taxes" but then breaking that promise two years later in a budget deal that raised taxes to curtail the national debt

Bill Clinton 1993 – 2001

Bubba

Best Known For Presiding over the economic boom of the 1990s, resulting in tax cuts and the bipartisan Budget Agreement during his second term

Worst Known For Being accused of raping two women while he was governor of Arkansas and sexually harassing two others while president. He also had an affair with a White House intern and lied about it, and took numerous private jet trips with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

George W Bush 2001 – 2009

Best Known For Directing and managing the War on Terror following the September 11 attacks, resulting in a disruption of terror networks around the globe

Worst Known For Naively raising a "Mission Accomplished" banner on an aircraft carrier in 2003 and claiming the Iraq War was over, but the war actually intensified in 2004 and 2005 and required "the surge" of 2007 to restore order before the ending in 2011.

Barack Obama 2009 – 2017

Barry

Best Known For Authorizing the raid that killed Osama bin Laden after a decade-long manhunt, codenamed Operation Neptune Spear

Worst Known For Picking the bumbling Joe Biden as his running mate in 2008, who rode the Obama name into the White House before being ousted by party insiders for mental incompetence in 2024

Donald Trump 2017 - 2021 and 2025 - present

The Donald

Best Known For Sitting in the boardroom on The Apprentice and expressing his disapproval by bluntly announcing "You're fired"

Worst Known For Tweeting impulsive texts and selfish memes, and labeling himself the "Ernest Hemingway of 240 characters"

Joe Biden 2021 – 2025

Lunch Pail Joe

Best Known For Combatting corporate greed by cracking down on resort fees and junk fees in airlines, event ticketing, and banking. He also publicly admonished corporate practices like price gouging and "shrinkflation"

Worst Known For Spending about 40% of his days in office on vacation and rarely giving press conferences and media interviews

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