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Dennis Kucinich and Elizabeth Kucinich Take Action to Defeat a Dangerous Expansion of the National Security State, Military Power Over Civilian Government, Foreign Policy Entrenchment, and the Erosion of Constitutional Self-Government Dennis Kucinich and Elizabeth Kucinich June 22, 2026 The United States Congress, on the very eve of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence from […]

Zohran Mamdani goes three for three with his Congressional endorsements in the New York Democratic primaries. Plus: a UN commission says Israel is deliberately targeting Palestinian children.

The White House’s Iran negotiations rely on the dollar’s leverage, but Tehran has blunted that weapon by using alternative financial architecture.

Farrokh Neghadar and Goudarz Eghtedari  for Middle East Monitor The recent war involving Iran has revived a longstanding debate about the nature of Iranian power and the future of the Middle East. For decades, discussions of Iran in Western policy circles have oscillated between two assumptions: that the Islamic Republic is fundamentally ideological and irrational, […]

Tom Engelhardt That title of mine is certainly repetitive of me (me, me), but how can you not be repetitive in the distinctly repeated world of Donald J. Trump (Trumped, Trumped)? I mean, twice already and who really knows what’s to come? Here’s the question nobody seems to be asking right now, though: What country […]

The second Trump administration has made tearing down parts of the federal government a priority. And some of those efforts have been literal. In October, President Donald Trump ordered the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for the construction of a massive 90,000-square-foot ballroom. He’s also overseen a now-problematic overhaul of […]

1. Henry Clay“The Great Compromiser,” Clay held just about every major political job except president: senator, House speaker, and secretary of state at various times.2. William Jennings BryanA three-time nominee for president, Bryan mainstreamed populism in the Democratic Party with his soaring rhetoric and potent connection with the common man. While he never won the big prize, many of his policies eventually became law.3. John C. CalhounVice president under both John Quincy Adams and his nemesis/successor, Andrew Jackson, the father of secession is remembered for his pro-slavery stances, especially through his discredited nullification doctrine.4. Alexander HamiltonNot just a Broadway legend, Hamilton helped write the Constitution and then, as the nation’s first treasury secretary, helped establish the U.S. financial system.5. Barry GoldwaterThe Arizona Republican lost badly to Lyndon Johnson in 1964, but his campaign and embrace of conservatism transformed the GOP. A decade later, he was one of those who finally convinced Richard Nixon to quit.“[Barry Goldwater’s nomination] laid the groundwork for the right-wing takeover of the GOP. His campaign developed electioneering strategies such as direct mail that would contribute significantly to the success of Ronald Reagan and the ultraconservative politicians who followed him.”—Lizabeth Cohen, Harvard University6. Nancy PelosiThe first female speaker of the House was one of the most talented legislative leaders of any era. During her two tenures, she oversaw the passage the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd-Frank financial reforms, and the Inflation Reduction Act.7. Earl WarrenA conservative California governor, Chief Justice Warren “ended up forging a progressive consensus that ended the Red Scare and decided Brown v. Board of Education, Gideon v. Wainwright, Miranda v. Arizona, and Loving v. Virginia,” NYU’s Cristina Beltrán noted.8. Hillary ClintonSenator, secretary of state, and Democratic presidential nominee, Clinton is, Fordham Law’s Julie Suk wrote, “a brilliant woman whose flaws awakened the misogyny of American voters that contributed to Trump’s rise.” But she got a lot more votes than he did.T-9. Shirley ChisholmPeople laughed at a Black woman running to be president in 1972. But she made history, and someday, a Black woman will win, and no one will laugh.T-9. Jesse JacksonFor being on the Lorraine Motel balcony that fateful day; for his groundbreaking presidential campaigns, which gave voice to workers and farmers when doing so wasn’t cool.T-9 John MarshallThe fourth, and arguably most influential, chief justice of the United States, Marshall secured the judiciary’s role as a coequal branch of the fledgling U.S. government.T-9. George WallaceA pro-segregation Alabama governor, Wallace personified the split within the Democratic Party that led Southern conservatives to migrate to the GOP. He won 46 electoral votes (including five states) in 1968, running on a segregationist platform.T-13. Robert La FolletteA Wisconsin progressive, Fightin’ Bob La Follette pushed for reforms such as the direct election of senators and worker protections. And he was a Republican! He was named, in 1959, one of the chamber’s five greatest legislators.T-13. Charles SumnerMost famous for being beaten nearly to death on the Senate floor, he was also a man of unflinching principle (to a fault, according to some critics) and a passionate abolitionist.

1619 (PREDATES 1776)Establishment of slavery and Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)Some respondents focused on the original sin of the slave trade, others on the infamous Supreme Court decision that called enslaved people property, but they were all saying the same thing: Slavery, while not a single “moment,” was our greatest shame.1830–1850Indian removal/Trail of TearsThe forced removal and ethnic cleansing of some 60,000 Native Americans. Wrote one survivor: “Many days pass, and people die very much.” It was led by Andrew Jackson. Whose portrait now hangs in Donald Trump’s Oval Office.1861Firing on Fort Sumter/the Civil WarLincoln had just been elected. South Carolina had just seceded and insisted that the U.S. Army abandon its military installations in the state. It refused. South Carolina’s militia attacked. The Civil War was underway.1865Lincoln’s assassinationJohn Wilkes Booth vowed that a speech he heard Lincoln give on April 11 would be his last. And so it was. An act that felled our greatest president—and gave us one of the worst.1877Compromise of 1877 ending ReconstructionThe political deal that ushered in the era of the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws. Oh, and finagled the presidency away from the guy who got more votes. Sound familiar?1921Tulsa MassacreTwo days of mob violence that destroyed 35 square blocks and left 10,000 Black people homeless. And it took seven decades for the state to form a commission to acknowledge and study it.1941Pearl HarborJapan attacked a naval base in Hawaii and ended America’s neutrality in World War II. The “date which will live in infamy,” in FDR’s famous phrase. His first draft? “A date which will live in world history.” Most important speech edit in history?1942Japanese American internment in World War IIWithout question, FDR’s low point—120,000 Japanese Americans (80,000 of them citizens) sent to 10 camps. The Supreme Court defended this in 1944’s Korematsu v. United States, which has gone down in history as one of its worst decisions.1945Dropping atomic weapons on JapanHarry Truman said he never lost a night’s sleep over the decision to drop the bombs that ultimately killed nearly 200,000 people. It did shorten the war—but it launched a dark and paranoid era in human history.20019/11Three items on this list are not things the United States did, but things done to the United States. This one was awful: Four planes attacked the country, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring thousands more. It was made even worse by our government’s overreaction.2021January 6It’s still hard to believe that a sitting president led an insurrection against the United States of America and was at best indifferent to the idea of the mob killing his own vice president.2024Reelection of Donald TrumpFuture historians will ask how the hell the American people decided to do this. Let’s just hope those historians are still living in a democracy.

Best PresidentsT-1. Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865)The Great Emancipator and the savior of the Union. And he created the national railroad and the land-grant university system, all while fighting the war!T-1. Franklin Roosevelt (1933–1945)His steady confidence, “bold, persistent experimentation,” and optimistic mien guided the nation through the Great Depression and the Second World War, reimagining both the federal government role and the country’s place in the world.3. George Washington (1789–1797)His greatest achievement may have been something he didn’t do. “He could easily have become president for life and did not,” University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson noted.4. Lyndon Johnson (1963–1969)More than one expert placed LBJ both on this list and on the “worst” list. But with the passage of time, his accomplishments at home, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act, have come to overshadow Vietnam.5. Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909)An OG populist who used federal power for the general good. “When I am feeling blue or discouraged, I pick up a TR biography and read any random page—it gives a jolt of energy and hope!” said Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice.The best presidents used “the federal government to not only expand the American imagination of the ways in which the government can solve society’s biggest problems but also significantly and substantively improve the lives of millions.”—Candis Watts Smith, Duke University6. Barack Obama (2009–2017)Not only the first African American president but also the sole one since Eisenhower to twice win a popular vote majority. “Americans could believe that we were capable of living up to the promises of equality and liberty,” said University of Virginia media studies professor Siva Vaidhyanathan.7. Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809)“His pen inscribed the nation we still rightly dream of being,” said Richard Parker of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. More practically, the Louisiana Purchase was, as one of his successors might have put it, a big effing deal.8. Dwight Eisenhower (1953–1961)Using what has come to be known as a “hidden hand” leadership style, Eisenhower halted the Korean War, built the interstate highway system, and presciently warned against the burgeoning “military-industrial complex.”9. Harry Truman (1945–1953)Played a critical role in helping establish the postwar, rules-based international order that set the stage for decades of U.S. prosperity at home and leadership around the world. Not bad for a failed haberdasher.10. John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)One of the nation’s most rhetorically gifted presidents, Kennedy earned a place on this list for his inspirational words, and also for navigating the world’s moment of maximum peril, the Cuban Missile Crisis.Worst Presidents1. Donald J. Trump (2017–2021, 2025–present)Some experts voted for him twice—once for each term. “Much more corrupt and dangerous to the Constitution than all of the others on this list combined,” observed author and columnist Jonathan Alter. Thank you for your attention to this matter.“The most striking thing on evaluating this question is how much easier it is to fill the latter category [worst presidents] than the former [best presidents]! The worst president category overflows with possibilities.”—John Fabian Witt, Yale Law2. Andrew Johnson (1865–1869)He sought, in the words of Richard Parker of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, “to betray the sacrifice of 600,000 lives in combat, and the rights owed millions more.”3. James Buchanan (1857–1861)Pro-slavery, he successfully lobbied the Supreme Court on its odious Dred Scott decision. He was, one expert noted, the only president to finish his term with fewer states in the union than when he started.4. Richard Nixon (1969–1974)He was so much worse than the “second-rate burglary.” And despite his best efforts and those of his apologists, he is best remembered as the only president to resign his office—in a miasma of disgrace he could never shake.T-5. George W. Bush (2001–2009)His administration was a string of disasters and blunders, from 9/11 to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars to the Great Recession. He exhibited a deadly blend of self-assurance and incuriosity.T-5. Warren Harding (1921–1923)For a long time, Harding’s administration had a serious claim to the title of “most corrupt” (Google “Teapot Dome”). Harding’s ghost must be grateful to Team Trump.7. Andrew Jackson (1829–1837)Jackson “exhibited a fairly consistent disdain for law and established the pernicious tradition of presidents who viewed themselves as ‘tribunes of the people’ … entitled to behave as they wished,” University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson argued.T-8. Herbert Hoover (1929–1933)The Great Depression started on his watch, and he flailed in its face.T-8. Franklin Pierce (1853–1857)A pro-slavery Democrat who helped grease the nation’s slide toward Civil War with, among other moves, the 1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act. He was, Theodore Roosevelt later wrote, “a servile tool of men worse than himself ... ever ready to do any work the slavery leaders set him.”10. Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)“With an affable demeanor, he laid the foundations for what the current snarling GOP has become,” noted James Fallows, who worked for and then fell out with Reagan’s predecessor, Jimmy Carter.