Bourbon and History

Zachary Taylor’s brief time in the White House came at a turning point in the countries history. With the US victorious in its war with Mexico, new territories were added to the Union, reigniting the contentious issue of slavery. Taylor, a slave owner, but also a nationalist, believed slavery should not be extended into the West, but also believed the president lacked any authority to interfere with what he deemed a “state issue.” 

As the first accidental president in American history, Tyler’s administration was hindered from the start from a perceived lack of legitimacy.  His stubborn refusal to work with Whig Party leaders only further estranged Tyler from the party, preventing him from enjoying any meaningful accomplishments during his four years in office. 

This supplemental episode to episode 1.6 briefly discussed Martin Van Buren’s Vice President, Richard Mentor Johnson, and the controversy surrounding him during the Election of 1836. 

Martin Van Buren could be considered America's first political science. Through his efforts the Democratic Party was born and emerged as the dominant political party of the mid-19th century. But Van Buren's one term as president was rocked by financial turmoil, which doomed any chance the "Little Magician" had at winning a second term in office.  

Millard Fillmore’s two years as president brought the nation into the turbulent and transformative decade of the 1850s. Though effectual in staving off civil war for another ten years, Fillmore’s time in office was largely uneventful and left no significant lasting impact on the nation. 

Warren Harding’s promise of a “return to normalcy” helped usher in a decade of economic prosperity in the post-war United States.
But scandals, combined with a general unwillingness to lead on important issues, ultimately doomed Harding’s presidency to irrelevancy in the annals of American history.

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Franklin Pierce's inaction and failure to lead as president in the mid-1850s helped propel the nation closer to civil war.

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If not for Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan would easily rank as America's worst president. From his tacit support for southern slave owners to his failure to exert any kind of executive leadership on the eve of the civil war, Buchanan failed to live up to the expectations of the presidency, which not only doomed his legacy but the nation as well.

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How do you become the worst president in U.S. history? Obstructing civil rights legislation for newly freed African Americans and pandering to ex-Confederate leaders, all while earning the contempt of a majority of Congress is a good way to start.  And that’s exactly what Andrew Johnson would do in the years following the civil war, leading to the first ever impeachment of a U.S. president.