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Oh if we’re going by today then I’d pick Eisenhower. Everything was mostly going good during his terms and he’s a national hero, except without the slavery/overt discrimination baggage Washington and some of the others have.
Eisenhower is a good pick, the only thing I’ll say about the discrimination is he didn’t have the greatest responses to the Lavender Scare but I get that saying that has a very modern bias and look on the issue.
That’s actually why I said overt. Executive Order 10450 was really bad, but no one other than people who have a history interest will know about it. It sure as hell ain’t taught in schools.
I’m glad you paid some recognition to it and didn’t just block it out. And you’re right, it isn’t taught in schools, the whole Lavender Scare was barely talked about in AP US history.
I mean, if we're looking at it today, a modern bias and look is appropriate. I still think he is the least controversial positively viewed president of our time, factoring in his response to the lavender scare.
However, I posit that Nixon is the least controversial president. Nobody disagrees that he was a bastard.
Idk man, Roger Stone has a tattoo of him. The Right’s response to the pushback against Nixon could honestly be considered the start of all our issues we’re dealing with now.
Except Roger Stone is an outlier, and the modern right finds him too liberal for their tastes. He caused the EPA, he killed the termination policies, and regardless of his vehemently racist beliefs, he enforced the civil rights act.
Stone was a Nixon supporter when there still were Nixon supporters. The overall view of Nixon is that he was a crook.
Nixon is 100% more responsible for the modern Republican Party than Ronald Reagan. It was his cast of stooges that ran the Bush White House. His corruption of free and fair elections with his break in at watergate. Most importantly it was his belief that when a president does something it cannot be unlawful, that is a hallmark of the Republican authoritarianism.
The thing is Nixon was an outsider in the similar manner Obama was an outsider. Both held ideological beliefs within the accepted dnc and rnc establishment however they were not on any insider lists and not selected for grooming while in the university education system like Ford, Bush, Hillary, Bill, Carter, Eisenhower, John Kerry, etc.
So, here’s my thing about Nixon: He was elected to be a rejection of 60s liberalism. His supporters thought they were getting “Law & Order” and all that jazz. And I’d argue that his presidency was about as conservative as one could expect from him. He didn’t care all that much about domestic policy and Congress at the time was quite liberal, so he went along with them. And some of the stuff he did (like creating the EPA) was the conservative compromise on the *really* liberal stuff Ted Kennedy and the lot were pushing in the Senate. He was not a liberal, but he didn’t push through the old-school, hardcore conservative stuff the people who voted for him wanted. He didn’t undo the 60s. He just slowed its roll.
I mean, look at the guy’s Supreme Court picks. He put in Warren Burger as a total rebuke of Earl Warren. Harry Blackmun was pretty liberal (the guy wrote Roe v. Wade), but he was a compromise candidate. His first choice was a guy who’d made decisions favoring segregation! And then he put in Lewis Powell (social centrist, but definitely the main supporter of the “corporations deserve First Amendment rights” spiel) and William Rehnquist! This dude was not a liberal.
Nixon didn't cause the EPA ..the Congress did. The law was veto proof. Pollution was absolutely terrible..rivers would burst into flames and the chemical dumps under and near suburb neighborhoods were enormous.
Roger stone is mainstream in the Republican Party and has been part of every winning republican presidential campaign inner circle except Bush W. When his co-worker from Atwater’s office, Karl Rove engineered the victory.
The hippies didn’t like him. He made pit a class 1 drug putting it up with heroin. He invaded Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam war. He tried to cheat his way for re-election by having his hoodlums break into the Democratic headquarters. The tapes clearly implicated him in this.
Maybe among the wider public but I’ve seen him catch plenty of flak even here for foreign policy, lavender scare, insertion of god in the pledge, etc. Even the interstate highway system is criticized for cutting through primarily poor and/or ethnic neighborhoods
Driving through and around southern cities on the interstate and it’s ridiculously noticeable. Z patterns J patterns and all kinds of Werid curves and turns to go around no obvious barrier, just property of non whites being expropriated.
Eisenhower signed off on [Operation Wetback](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Wetback), the largest mass deportation in US history where both undocumented migrants & US citizens were deported. It is still remembered bitterly among Latinos in the American Southwest.
My South American friends, especially an old Guatemalan pal from middle school, would highly disagree with you on that one. But it’s hard to find a clean one for this question.
Eisenhower normalized politicians mixing religious prayer and beliefs into their political discourse. He was the first mainstream president to do this. Before him it was totally taboo in both parties to openly discuss policy and your sect of Christianity being incorporated into policy.
The candidate William Jennings Bryan was the last to use it openly and be nominated but he lost.
Also he let the military intelligence and the cia and fbi run absolutely lawless and wild all over the world causing problems we are still dealing with today.
He's personally not my favorite (church and state reasons mainly), but I fully acknowledge that he did a great job as president, and was a national hero before and after his term.
I mean, era of good feelings is a misnomer. While the national level is deceitful because of the decline of the Federalist Party, you had multiple factions within his own party going at each other and notable large events such as the Missouri Compromise, friction over federal funding, and the panic of 1819.
While I think he can be a runner for the least controversial; I don’t think he can win since he’s generally gets some mixed reviews in his assessments.
I'd put Coolidge up there too but every POTUS had some degree of controversy and if you have a better answer than those three then I'd be interested in hearing it.
Your correct! Hoover didn’t usher in the policy that caused the Great Depression, de-regulation and tax cuts for the rich. Hoover was just in power when the crash happened.
I guess Coolidge is not thought about or even known by a lot of people, but people familiar with Coolidge and that time period have very mixed opinions on him.
Today? You could argue there is a slightest tremor of controvery between people who don't think JQA is anything special, and those stand who adore him for his progressive views. I know one videk claimed he was one of the best presidents ever.
But when it comes to full-termers, he might be the one. With Monroe there's Missouri Compromise and even the Monroe Doctrine itself is sometimes questioned.
This. He didn’t give up the opportunity to be dictator. He gave up the opportunity to face regulation by congress. So he could go home and be a petty tyrant king. With a
Iife style like a tyrant king of Persia with their own lot of slaves to dictate over.
He did free his slaves when he died, just not in a straightforward way and also made Martha free hers. On his explicit instructions the young, old and sick freed slaves were given funds to survive for 30 years after his death. That's not to shield him from the criticism he's due, but the reality is much more interesting.
The Whiskey Rebellion and First National Bank would like a word with you.
Pretty low on the controversy scale but there were a few. The Jeffersonians definitely had a bad taste for his Hamiltonian policies.
Most of that controversy was aimed at Hamilton, to be fair. It really wasn’t until well into Washington’s second term that Jeffersonians started calling *him* out directly. Even in 1793 Jefferson was still imploring GW to serve another term.
I would say the biggest controversy of Washington’s presidency for which he, not Hamilton, got the most flak was the Jay Treaty.
Modern days yeah I definitely see JQA. He just kinda chilled and didn’t do much because he was blocked by Congress. At the time of presidency he was full of controversy.
At time of presidency the 3 presidents who just weren’t controversial are, Monroe, McKinley, and Coolidge. At the time of their presidencies they were universally loved and mostly controversy free
I’d actually say Chester A. Arthur. He did nothing during his presidency. Therefore nothing controversial. I’m counting him bc he served 99% of Garfield’s term
Not super controversial now, but it was extremely controversial at the time. Lots of party machines hated it because they couldn't put party loyalists into government jobs just willy-nilly any more. *Plunkitt of Tammany Hall* includes a humorous speech about how former American patriots allegedly started joining foreign militaries to fight against the U.S. because of it. Even Arthur was against it until he actually became President, and it very possibly only got the support it needed because Garfield's assassination was caused by his civil service reform agenda.
He assumed office with the lowest possible expectations, and so being non-controversial was a huge improvement. It helped that he burned all his personal records immediately before death, so no posthumous scandals either.
Nothing major by today's standards, but he was *more* conservative (though still progressive) than many in his party was expecting, which made them pushing their more progressive agendas more difficult. I mean, Taft's presidency is what led to TR running 3rd party. If Taft governed exactly as TR wanted him to, I doubt he would've felt so great a need to run again at all. Maybe would've wanted into the administration because he was itching to do *something*, but I think he would've been satisfied enough with Taft.
Monroe prolly the most obvious answer, the whole era of good feelings type shi and winnin unopposed for his 2nd term n shi, but yall sleepin on William Henry Harrison
If we’re going by their time as president, my picks would be Washington and Monroe since they’re the only two presidents to run unopposed. If we’re going by today’s standards, my picks would be Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, and Eisenhower since these three presidents tend to be extremely popular with both the left and the right. Ten years ago I would’ve also put Kennedy on the list but as time continues to pass and more people learn about him I’m starting to see more progressives show an open and growing distaste for him outside of his stance on Civil Rights. Kennedy now tends to lean towards being a conservative and classical liberal icon in today’s world rather than a centrist or moderate president that both sides can support.
In modern times looking back, Tricky Dick Nixon. There is no controversy over him. He is never considered a good president, and everybody agrees he was, despite his protests, a crook. Everybody agrees that Nixon was a crook and a bad president.
I disagree, he’s very controversial.
For example, i like his domestic policy, and, while i hate his foreign policy, i think that without Watergate he’d be a B president
But that's just it. You don't say he was a good president without the qualifier that if he didn't betray the trust of the American people, he'd be alright.
Everybody doesn't like Nixon. They can find in his policies good points, but nobody will say he did good without saying "but for this crime he committed."
No disagreement that he was a shithead.
Read is post again. There is controversy. Everyone universally agrees that Nixon is a crook. With controversy, you at least have some people on your side.
Exactly. Nobody will unequivocally say that Nixon was a good president. Almost everybody will say he was a crook and a bastard. It's not controversial to say it.
That's the point. Nobody is on Nixon's side here. He did Watergate, and that followed him forever. He's not controversial today. Everybody remembers him as a crook and a bastard.
Probably not JQA,Jackson and his supporters gave him a hard time in both Senate and Congress….also the tariff of abominations,so then probably either Taft or Bush Sr and honourable mention to Coolidge
George H.W Bush by modern standards. He would have won a second term if it wasn’t for a lagging economy. He presented himself as an experienced leader, and the only controversial thing I could think of in his first term is the vomiting incident.
All around a good president, but faltered with his campaign promise of not raising taxes on the American people.
Millard Fillmore, POTUS 13, 1850-53. Last President to NOT be affiliated with either the Republicans or Democrats (he was a Whig), but known for doing absolutely NOTHING productive while in office.
https://preview.redd.it/nth1k0g9zy8d1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d43c7abc66471cc820a97fdef86ca90470d99b07
I tend to agree, but there was a Prime Minister from Japan that didn’t appreciate dinner one night in 1992. Not necessarily controversial, but that created quite a stir in the media.
Oh man, you must not have been around in 1980. The Iranian hostage crisis had this country going crazy and a lot of people thought it was because Carter was weak. People in bars were spontaneously singing "Bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann."
I feel like Martin Van Buren works here. He was Jackson’s VP in his second term and ran a campaign based on continuing Jackson’s legacy. While that sounds bad Jackson’s policies were popular and changed the political landscape for the time. He didn’t do much, and Harrison beat him in his reelection bid so overall he’s just known as Jackson’s less popular and less successful successor ( Polk is the other).
I think the least co teovwrsial has to Garfield and Taylor. Simply no conversation surrounding their actual presidencies occurs because they were pretty inconsequential. JQA is a strong contender, but his Tariff of Abominations is reason for the Nullification Crisis, and the Corrupt Bargain is talked about a lot as well
Hoover got absolutely waxed in his reelection bid in 1932, won like two states? I’d say even at the time he was universally considered a failure. He had even received a letter during the 1932 campaign imploring him to “Vote for Roosevelt, make it unanimous”
I’d argue it would be Buchanan or Johnson. Both aren’t controversial by definition since they’re generally disliked by literally everyone. I think Buchanan would take the cake as he was unpopular during his presidency, following his presidency, and even now across the board while Johnson had a bit of a honeymoon period before assessments of the mid 20th century.
He wasn’t even particular popular before his nomination within the Democratic Party and was largely seen as the right candidate because he was away from the bleeding Kansas scandal and Ostend manifesto fallout domestically. He was more seen as a person with enough qualifications, acceptable between enough factions within the party, and no ties to the leadership of Pierce. Many of his votes during the election were drawn from fear over Fremont rather than the appeal of Buchanan himself and its one of the first campaigns where fear tactics were the primary strategy of a presidential campaign.
Benjamin Harrison? I kinda feel like he's the epitome of vanilla. Not a slave owner, and I think one of the most dramatic things that happened was some kind of fishing rights negotiation with the UK.
I feel like the only 2 “real” answers would be Washington and Monroe. I can’t think of anyone else who was close to their stability and lack of controversy. Maybe William Henry Harrison because he didn’t have time to do anything? Just going thru my head and I can think of plenty of controversy for each person to hold the presidency.
1. Andrew Jackson: Participated in numerous duels, including one where he killed Charles Dickinson over an insult to his wife.
2. Richard Nixon: Resigned from office due to the Watergate scandal, involving a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and a subsequent cover-up.
3. Bill Clinton: Impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice related to his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
4. Thomas Jefferson: Authorized the controversial Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which doubled the size of the United States but was seen as an overreach of executive power.
5. Abraham Lincoln: Suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War, allowing for the arrest and detention of suspected Confederate sympathizers without trial.
6. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Attempted to pack the Supreme Court by proposing the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, which would have added more justices sympathetic to his New Deal policies.
7. George W. Bush: Initiated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 based on the belief that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction, which were never found.
8. John F. Kennedy: Ordered the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, an attempt to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
9. Woodrow Wilson: Segregated federal offices and supported policies that reinforced racial segregation and discrimination.
10. James Buchanan: Widely criticized for his inaction and ineffective leadership leading up to the Civil War, including his failure to address the secession of Southern states.
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Monroe probably he ran unopposed the 2nd time
The weird thing is that the Federalists nominated a vice presidential candidate but not a presidential candidate
It wasn’t called the Era of Good Feelings for nothing!
This is it! We can shut down Reddit for the day.
True, the era of feelings was good enough that Monroe’s political party made net gains in the house in the 6th year itch midterm.
JQA? The guy whose presidency was defined by accusations of corruption that also cost him reelection?
I kinda meant who is the least controversial today but hey, that’s not a half bad point!
Oh if we’re going by today then I’d pick Eisenhower. Everything was mostly going good during his terms and he’s a national hero, except without the slavery/overt discrimination baggage Washington and some of the others have.
Eisenhower is a good pick, the only thing I’ll say about the discrimination is he didn’t have the greatest responses to the Lavender Scare but I get that saying that has a very modern bias and look on the issue.
That’s actually why I said overt. Executive Order 10450 was really bad, but no one other than people who have a history interest will know about it. It sure as hell ain’t taught in schools.
I’m glad you paid some recognition to it and didn’t just block it out. And you’re right, it isn’t taught in schools, the whole Lavender Scare was barely talked about in AP US history.
I mean, if we're looking at it today, a modern bias and look is appropriate. I still think he is the least controversial positively viewed president of our time, factoring in his response to the lavender scare. However, I posit that Nixon is the least controversial president. Nobody disagrees that he was a bastard.
Good point. People forget sometimes what the word controversial really means.
Genocide isn’t controversial anymore?
No, by the proper definition of "controversial", genocide would not qualify. Only a sick person would support genocide.
Nixon conducted the largest genocide of any president in his century.
Ok. Seems to be totally unrelated to my comment, but ok.
Wait…you might be on to something there…
Idk man, Roger Stone has a tattoo of him. The Right’s response to the pushback against Nixon could honestly be considered the start of all our issues we’re dealing with now.
Except Roger Stone is an outlier, and the modern right finds him too liberal for their tastes. He caused the EPA, he killed the termination policies, and regardless of his vehemently racist beliefs, he enforced the civil rights act. Stone was a Nixon supporter when there still were Nixon supporters. The overall view of Nixon is that he was a crook.
Nixon is 100% more responsible for the modern Republican Party than Ronald Reagan. It was his cast of stooges that ran the Bush White House. His corruption of free and fair elections with his break in at watergate. Most importantly it was his belief that when a president does something it cannot be unlawful, that is a hallmark of the Republican authoritarianism.
Nothing you say is wrong or controversial.
The thing is Nixon was an outsider in the similar manner Obama was an outsider. Both held ideological beliefs within the accepted dnc and rnc establishment however they were not on any insider lists and not selected for grooming while in the university education system like Ford, Bush, Hillary, Bill, Carter, Eisenhower, John Kerry, etc.
So, here’s my thing about Nixon: He was elected to be a rejection of 60s liberalism. His supporters thought they were getting “Law & Order” and all that jazz. And I’d argue that his presidency was about as conservative as one could expect from him. He didn’t care all that much about domestic policy and Congress at the time was quite liberal, so he went along with them. And some of the stuff he did (like creating the EPA) was the conservative compromise on the *really* liberal stuff Ted Kennedy and the lot were pushing in the Senate. He was not a liberal, but he didn’t push through the old-school, hardcore conservative stuff the people who voted for him wanted. He didn’t undo the 60s. He just slowed its roll. I mean, look at the guy’s Supreme Court picks. He put in Warren Burger as a total rebuke of Earl Warren. Harry Blackmun was pretty liberal (the guy wrote Roe v. Wade), but he was a compromise candidate. His first choice was a guy who’d made decisions favoring segregation! And then he put in Lewis Powell (social centrist, but definitely the main supporter of the “corporations deserve First Amendment rights” spiel) and William Rehnquist! This dude was not a liberal.
Nope. Not a liberal. But too liberal for the right wing today. Everything you say is true. It's also not controversial.
Nixon didn’t go along with congress. He had democratic veto proof super majority to accept. He didn’t have a choice.
Nixon didn't cause the EPA ..the Congress did. The law was veto proof. Pollution was absolutely terrible..rivers would burst into flames and the chemical dumps under and near suburb neighborhoods were enormous.
No, but unlike modern Republicans, he actually enforced the law.
Really...he resigned before the EPA was fully setup.
Roger stone is mainstream in the Republican Party and has been part of every winning republican presidential campaign inner circle except Bush W. When his co-worker from Atwater’s office, Karl Rove engineered the victory.
The hippies didn’t like him. He made pit a class 1 drug putting it up with heroin. He invaded Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam war. He tried to cheat his way for re-election by having his hoodlums break into the Democratic headquarters. The tapes clearly implicated him in this.
Nothing you've said is controversial. He was a class-A bastard. Hippies didn't like him then, and nobody likes him now.
Nixon…. The USA president with the highest genocide total of the last 100 years? That Nixon?
Yes. The one everybody hates. There's no controversy about that.
Maybe among the wider public but I’ve seen him catch plenty of flak even here for foreign policy, lavender scare, insertion of god in the pledge, etc. Even the interstate highway system is criticized for cutting through primarily poor and/or ethnic neighborhoods
Driving through and around southern cities on the interstate and it’s ridiculously noticeable. Z patterns J patterns and all kinds of Werid curves and turns to go around no obvious barrier, just property of non whites being expropriated.
He is a bit controversial because of his foreign policy and because he created the CIA
Eisenhower signed off on [Operation Wetback](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Wetback), the largest mass deportation in US history where both undocumented migrants & US citizens were deported. It is still remembered bitterly among Latinos in the American Southwest.
My South American friends, especially an old Guatemalan pal from middle school, would highly disagree with you on that one. But it’s hard to find a clean one for this question.
The more I learn about his presidency, especially his foreign policy, the less I like Ike
Eisenhower normalized politicians mixing religious prayer and beliefs into their political discourse. He was the first mainstream president to do this. Before him it was totally taboo in both parties to openly discuss policy and your sect of Christianity being incorporated into policy. The candidate William Jennings Bryan was the last to use it openly and be nominated but he lost. Also he let the military intelligence and the cia and fbi run absolutely lawless and wild all over the world causing problems we are still dealing with today.
He's personally not my favorite (church and state reasons mainly), but I fully acknowledge that he did a great job as president, and was a national hero before and after his term.
Unfounded accusations of corruption.
Monroe. So uncontroversial his Presidency is called the “era of good feelings.”
Yep, him, not Eisenhower.
I mean, era of good feelings is a misnomer. While the national level is deceitful because of the decline of the Federalist Party, you had multiple factions within his own party going at each other and notable large events such as the Missouri Compromise, friction over federal funding, and the panic of 1819. While I think he can be a runner for the least controversial; I don’t think he can win since he’s generally gets some mixed reviews in his assessments.
Isn't that just propaganda pushed by his administration?
No, the country as a whole was generally pretty unified with nationalistic fervor after the War of 1812.
I love JQA, but are you sure you didn’t mean to put up a picture of #5, Monroe?
Hoover and Buchanan. Pretty much everyone agrees that they were bad presidents.
And Wilson
Wilson is easily one of the most controversial
The same Wilson that signed the espionage and sedition acts to silence WW1 opposition?
Wilson was a good president imo, he was too racist but implemented many progressive policies
Washington and Eisenhower
I wouldn’t say Eisenhower. Nixon was one of the most controversial politicians at the time of their election.
I'd put Coolidge up there too but every POTUS had some degree of controversy and if you have a better answer than those three then I'd be interested in hearing it.
I don’t think Harrison had any scandals, makes me wonder why
Harrison was unfairly disqualified by the OP for requiring a "full" term president. He would have won this discussion easily
I know, it was a joke
Fair enough
Coolidge literally ushered in the Great Depression and one of the most corrupt administrations of the century.
That may be true but Hoover took most of the heat if I recall. Anyways, let’s hear your answer.
Your correct! Hoover didn’t usher in the policy that caused the Great Depression, de-regulation and tax cuts for the rich. Hoover was just in power when the crash happened.
Only in retrospect, the HUAC stuff was not in the least bit controversial at the time and the campaign finance scandal turned into a nothing burger.
I would say it was. Eisenhower wanted Nixon off the ticket prior to the checkers speech
Calvin Coolidge or James Monroe. Neither did a whole lot and just sort of kept everything going.
Opinions on Coolidge differ a ton between people who are economically left wing or right wing. Monroe I think is the best answer
I guess Coolidge is not thought about or even known by a lot of people, but people familiar with Coolidge and that time period have very mixed opinions on him.
Didn't Monroe almost double the size of the country during his term?
That wasn't a controversial thing at the time. Almost every American wanted it
I agree. I was disagreeing with the "didn't do a lot" part.
Fair enough. I forgot that the Missouri Compromise came during his presidency, and I'd forgotten about the Adams-Onis treaty, giving us Florida.
Polk as well. Fulfilled his campaigns promises, eliminated the national debt, won the Mexican-American War decisively, and peaced out
It wasn’t very peaceful at the end for him unfortunately.
Isn't really for any of us
I hear euthanasia is the bee’s knees in Oregon, so maybe there’s a chance?
Mexican War itself was controversial, notably opposed by Abraham Lincoln
Definitely Monroe
James Monroe probably, both in his time and now.
Monroe was president during the Era of Good Feelings.
Wasn’t FDR almost universally loved? Teddy was pretty popular too.
FDR was also deeply hated by Conservatives
Japanese Americans would like a word
Obviously, but everybody else.
Definitely not FDR, many people hated him. Ask any Japanese American. Maybe Teddy, but he had his critics as well.
Today? You could argue there is a slightest tremor of controvery between people who don't think JQA is anything special, and those stand who adore him for his progressive views. I know one videk claimed he was one of the best presidents ever. But when it comes to full-termers, he might be the one. With Monroe there's Missouri Compromise and even the Monroe Doctrine itself is sometimes questioned.
Washington easily
By a mile.
He’s not without controversy though - this sub regularly debates the impact of his slave ownership on his legacy.
Not freeing his slaves when he died and his mouth of slave teeth would probably beg to differ tbh.
This. He didn’t give up the opportunity to be dictator. He gave up the opportunity to face regulation by congress. So he could go home and be a petty tyrant king. With a Iife style like a tyrant king of Persia with their own lot of slaves to dictate over.
He did free his slaves when he died, just not in a straightforward way and also made Martha free hers. On his explicit instructions the young, old and sick freed slaves were given funds to survive for 30 years after his death. That's not to shield him from the criticism he's due, but the reality is much more interesting.
He also forbid his slaves from being sold off or transported out of Virginia
Definitely not, he was tyrant authoritarian.
Washington was elected unanimously twice and had no scandals while in office.
The Whiskey Rebellion and First National Bank would like a word with you. Pretty low on the controversy scale but there were a few. The Jeffersonians definitely had a bad taste for his Hamiltonian policies.
Most of that controversy was aimed at Hamilton, to be fair. It really wasn’t until well into Washington’s second term that Jeffersonians started calling *him* out directly. Even in 1793 Jefferson was still imploring GW to serve another term. I would say the biggest controversy of Washington’s presidency for which he, not Hamilton, got the most flak was the Jay Treaty.
Probably Monroe.
James Monroe, during his presidency the entire country was united, the economy mostly did good, and there weren’t any bad things that happened.
Modern days yeah I definitely see JQA. He just kinda chilled and didn’t do much because he was blocked by Congress. At the time of presidency he was full of controversy. At time of presidency the 3 presidents who just weren’t controversial are, Monroe, McKinley, and Coolidge. At the time of their presidencies they were universally loved and mostly controversy free
Coolidge
Coolidge
Eisenhower. There's even leftists I know who I have respect for him due to the military industrial complex speech
I’d actually say Chester A. Arthur. He did nothing during his presidency. Therefore nothing controversial. I’m counting him bc he served 99% of Garfield’s term
Nothing during hie presidency? You mean the Pendleton Act wasn't him? Good to know.
I literally had to google that lol. But that’s his only accomplishment. Other than that he did nothing. And the Pendleton Act was not controversial.
Not super controversial now, but it was extremely controversial at the time. Lots of party machines hated it because they couldn't put party loyalists into government jobs just willy-nilly any more. *Plunkitt of Tammany Hall* includes a humorous speech about how former American patriots allegedly started joining foreign militaries to fight against the U.S. because of it. Even Arthur was against it until he actually became President, and it very possibly only got the support it needed because Garfield's assassination was caused by his civil service reform agenda.
He assumed office with the lowest possible expectations, and so being non-controversial was a huge improvement. It helped that he burned all his personal records immediately before death, so no posthumous scandals either.
Calvin Coolidge.
James K Polk. Objectively great presidency and no one even knows.
On this sub a lot of people know. But the Mexican War was controversial even then.
I actually feel that Polk would be in the top ten most controversial, both at the time and in retrospect.
Calvin Coolidge. He was honest. The economy was good. Favored civil rights. Advocated arms control. The Roaring Twenties.
Taft.
Taft? I haven't read as much about him as some others, but I don't recall any major controversies during his term.
Nothing major by today's standards, but he was *more* conservative (though still progressive) than many in his party was expecting, which made them pushing their more progressive agendas more difficult. I mean, Taft's presidency is what led to TR running 3rd party. If Taft governed exactly as TR wanted him to, I doubt he would've felt so great a need to run again at all. Maybe would've wanted into the administration because he was itching to do *something*, but I think he would've been satisfied enough with Taft.
The only way that would have been possible is if Taft was a mere figurehead and Teddy was doing the actual governing.
Monroe in the Era of Good Feelings.
Wa Shing ten
Washington
Henry Waters Taft because all anybody knows of him was getting stuck in a bathtub 😆
I would say Monroe. Some minor bumps in there, but he basically ran for re-election unopposed.
Controversial to whom? History? Or the voting public when they were in office?
Either Benjamin Harrison, Martin Van Buren or Chester Arthur (if you count Arthur as having served a full term) just because nobody’s heard of them.
Monroe prolly the most obvious answer, the whole era of good feelings type shi and winnin unopposed for his 2nd term n shi, but yall sleepin on William Henry Harrison
If we’re going by their time as president, my picks would be Washington and Monroe since they’re the only two presidents to run unopposed. If we’re going by today’s standards, my picks would be Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, and Eisenhower since these three presidents tend to be extremely popular with both the left and the right. Ten years ago I would’ve also put Kennedy on the list but as time continues to pass and more people learn about him I’m starting to see more progressives show an open and growing distaste for him outside of his stance on Civil Rights. Kennedy now tends to lean towards being a conservative and classical liberal icon in today’s world rather than a centrist or moderate president that both sides can support.
Monroe was reelected without real opposition, so...
Whoever the president was when we had the fewest people.
As it happened, Monroe, but in retrospect it’s gotta be Ben Harrison. Total nothing man
In modern times looking back, Tricky Dick Nixon. There is no controversy over him. He is never considered a good president, and everybody agrees he was, despite his protests, a crook. Everybody agrees that Nixon was a crook and a bad president.
I disagree, he’s very controversial. For example, i like his domestic policy, and, while i hate his foreign policy, i think that without Watergate he’d be a B president
But that's just it. You don't say he was a good president without the qualifier that if he didn't betray the trust of the American people, he'd be alright. Everybody doesn't like Nixon. They can find in his policies good points, but nobody will say he did good without saying "but for this crime he committed." No disagreement that he was a shithead.
Pretty sure finding both good things and bad things about someone is exactly what makes them controversial.
May I remind you of Watergate? Ahem…
Read is post again. There is controversy. Everyone universally agrees that Nixon is a crook. With controversy, you at least have some people on your side.
Exactly. Nobody will unequivocally say that Nixon was a good president. Almost everybody will say he was a crook and a bastard. It's not controversial to say it.
That's the point. Nobody is on Nixon's side here. He did Watergate, and that followed him forever. He's not controversial today. Everybody remembers him as a crook and a bastard.
Except his foundation who pushes revisionism on YouTube and TikTok.
Probably not JQA,Jackson and his supporters gave him a hard time in both Senate and Congress….also the tariff of abominations,so then probably either Taft or Bush Sr and honourable mention to Coolidge
Eisenhower. Mr. Excitement personified. I think there may have been some controversy over his golf swing— or was it his putting? Hmm…
George Washington
George Washington
Washington and Monroe for sure. Arguably Ike (except for his VP I guess), Madison, and Coolidge.
James Polk. Ran on doing five specific things. Did the five specific things. Didn’t run again.
Outside of some incredibly easy to deconstruct arguments? George H.W Bush.
Lying to the USA into the Iraq war…
Herbert Walker Bush
HW Both & W Bush used now exposed lies to push the USA into their Iraq wars.
Eisenhower
Other than how the British felt (quite a bit of controversy) George Washington was pretty non-divisive
George H.W Bush by modern standards. He would have won a second term if it wasn’t for a lagging economy. He presented himself as an experienced leader, and the only controversial thing I could think of in his first term is the vomiting incident. All around a good president, but faltered with his campaign promise of not raising taxes on the American people.
Millard Fillmore, POTUS 13, 1850-53. Last President to NOT be affiliated with either the Republicans or Democrats (he was a Whig), but known for doing absolutely NOTHING productive while in office. https://preview.redd.it/nth1k0g9zy8d1.jpeg?width=300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d43c7abc66471cc820a97fdef86ca90470d99b07
He blocked and delayed the South’s secession with the Compromise of 1850.
George W. No, not 43. The OG George W.
I tend to agree, but there was a Prime Minister from Japan that didn’t appreciate dinner one night in 1992. Not necessarily controversial, but that created quite a stir in the media.
Not that George W. either. The original George W. 
D’oh! My bad! 
He lied us into the first gulf war.
Past 50 years Bush maybe. Don't think Carter was too controversial, can't think of major scandals.
Oh man, you must not have been around in 1980. The Iranian hostage crisis had this country going crazy and a lot of people thought it was because Carter was weak. People in bars were spontaneously singing "Bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann."
Guess I'm thinking controversial rather than unpopular. Maybe pardoning the draft dodgers was the most controversial.
Washington
Benjamin Harrison probably
I feel like Martin Van Buren works here. He was Jackson’s VP in his second term and ran a campaign based on continuing Jackson’s legacy. While that sounds bad Jackson’s policies were popular and changed the political landscape for the time. He didn’t do much, and Harrison beat him in his reelection bid so overall he’s just known as Jackson’s less popular and less successful successor ( Polk is the other).
None since times the only thing making em not controversial
I'll argue Buchanan, since no one thinks he was a good president
I think the least co teovwrsial has to Garfield and Taylor. Simply no conversation surrounding their actual presidencies occurs because they were pretty inconsequential. JQA is a strong contender, but his Tariff of Abominations is reason for the Nullification Crisis, and the Corrupt Bargain is talked about a lot as well
Hoover got absolutely waxed in his reelection bid in 1932, won like two states? I’d say even at the time he was universally considered a failure. He had even received a letter during the 1932 campaign imploring him to “Vote for Roosevelt, make it unanimous”
I’d argue it would be Buchanan or Johnson. Both aren’t controversial by definition since they’re generally disliked by literally everyone. I think Buchanan would take the cake as he was unpopular during his presidency, following his presidency, and even now across the board while Johnson had a bit of a honeymoon period before assessments of the mid 20th century. He wasn’t even particular popular before his nomination within the Democratic Party and was largely seen as the right candidate because he was away from the bleeding Kansas scandal and Ostend manifesto fallout domestically. He was more seen as a person with enough qualifications, acceptable between enough factions within the party, and no ties to the leadership of Pierce. Many of his votes during the election were drawn from fear over Fremont rather than the appeal of Buchanan himself and its one of the first campaigns where fear tactics were the primary strategy of a presidential campaign.
Benjamin Harrison? I kinda feel like he's the epitome of vanilla. Not a slave owner, and I think one of the most dramatic things that happened was some kind of fishing rights negotiation with the UK.
Hayes or Taft probably
One full term? I would say Taft.
William Henry Harrison
James K Polk.
George Washington. Most unanimously liked. Left because he wanted to go back to the simple life. Lived the good life. Died early of pneumonia
I feel like the only 2 “real” answers would be Washington and Monroe. I can’t think of anyone else who was close to their stability and lack of controversy. Maybe William Henry Harrison because he didn’t have time to do anything? Just going thru my head and I can think of plenty of controversy for each person to hold the presidency.
Eisenhower.
Eisenhower maybe
Monroe
Calvin Coolidge?…
William Henry Harrison
Coolidge because he had not really done anything that is worth a controversy.
Maybe FDR.
Harry S. Truman
Answer: Whoever is sitting in the White House at the moment someone asks
Bush
I hope you’re not trying to say Junior!
1. Andrew Jackson: Participated in numerous duels, including one where he killed Charles Dickinson over an insult to his wife. 2. Richard Nixon: Resigned from office due to the Watergate scandal, involving a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and a subsequent cover-up. 3. Bill Clinton: Impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice related to his affair with Monica Lewinsky. 4. Thomas Jefferson: Authorized the controversial Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which doubled the size of the United States but was seen as an overreach of executive power. 5. Abraham Lincoln: Suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War, allowing for the arrest and detention of suspected Confederate sympathizers without trial. 6. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Attempted to pack the Supreme Court by proposing the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, which would have added more justices sympathetic to his New Deal policies. 7. George W. Bush: Initiated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 based on the belief that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction, which were never found. 8. John F. Kennedy: Ordered the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, an attempt to overthrow Cuban leader Fidel Castro. 9. Woodrow Wilson: Segregated federal offices and supported policies that reinforced racial segregation and discrimination. 10. James Buchanan: Widely criticized for his inaction and ineffective leadership leading up to the Civil War, including his failure to address the secession of Southern states.