So every president has greatly contributed to the shaping of what we now call the great U.S. of A. But not every president had the best track record, public opinion, and long-term political influence. History is never black and white and 45 men (from George Washington to Donald Trump) have had their hands on the steering wheel (or horse and buggy depending on the era), driving into potholes and maneuvering hairpin turns.

All presidents have committed atrocities and positively influenced the world as we know it. Just because they are on the worst list does NOT mean they haven’t done some pretty amazing things for this great country. It’s just that their horrendous choices outweigh those benefits and still have pretty major negative implications for the United States as we know it (whether it be laws or warmongering). Presidents on the best list have also committed some heinous acts, but have overwhelmingly positively shaped the country (and no they are not all founding fathers).

Let’s start with the 10 worst presidents in U.S. history and then go on to the 10 best presidents in U.S. history, focusing on both major policy implications for the country and the global impact of American policy.

19. Worst Rank 9: James Monroe (5th President) 

James Monroe is most famous for the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that foreign dignitaries better leave the U.S. alone but coincided with notions of Manifest Destiny. Although separate ideas, Americans actually believed they had a God-given right to move westward, taking land from native peoples who had lived in those parts of the U.S. for centuries. Ultimately, he allowed Missouri to enter the Union as a slave state in exchange for Maine as a free state. This was supposed to prevent any more slave states and territories as history continued, but 20 years later Texas, New Mexico and California would cause tension over the expansion of slavery in the U.S. Despite all this, Monroe was ranked as the 16th most successful U.S. president in history on aggregate by groups of scholars.

18. Worst Rank 8: James “Jimmy” Carter (39th President)

Although Jimmy Carter’s presidency saw a massive decrease in unemployment and the budget deficit, it also saw a major increase in inflation and interest rates, creating a minor recession. His foreign policy was a bit shaky as well with the Soviet Union – his push for human rights was poorly received. The Soviet Union then invaded Afghanistan and U.S. embassy officials in Iran were taken as hostages. These events ultimately led to his defeat in a reelection bid against Ronald Reagan (he literally lost to an actor). Since leaving office, he has been an activist for human rights. Essentially he is better at being an ex-president than he was in office. Carter was ranked as the 27th most successful American President according to scholars.

17. Worst Rank 7: William Howard Taft (27th President)

Regardless of what William Howard Taft did as president, he lives on in popular media as the president who got stuck in a bathtub. What a legacy. Unlike his predecessor, he believed that executive power was limited and should be used legally. He literally spent all of his time in office trying to ensure that he did not infringe on the rights of the presidency. This resulted in the alienation of political parties and the inability to form trade deals with Canada. Suffice to stay, he only served one term as president. He was later appointed as a Supreme Court Justice, which probably better suited his strict adherence to Constitutional Law and checking the powers of the presidency. In general, historians list Taft near the middle of their rankings of American presidents.

16. Worst Rank 6: William Henry Harrison (9th President)

Poor William Henry Harrison never had a chance of escaping the list of the worst presidents in U.S. history. His only act as president was his inaugural address… He promptly developed a cold and died of pneumonia a month after assuming office, creating a constitutional crisis of succession. Not only did his death cause this crisis but he also completely destroyed any chances the Whig Party had in government, allowing for the slow dwindling into the current two party system. Had he lived, who knows what would have happened in the U.S., but based on his history as Governor of Indiana, it probably would have focused around taking lands from the native population. Harrison was the first  of eight U.S. presidents to die in office.

15. Worst Rank 5: James K Polk (11th President)

James K Polk had bad timing in the era of Manifest Destiny (the God given right of Americans to expand further west). Ultimately he ended up annexing parts of Mexico, which are now New Mexico, Texas, and California. Although you may be thinking that this is awesome, it created a ton of tension about whether these new territories should be slave states or free states, further straining relations between the North and the South. He also risked war with England over Oregon, but luckily no one actually thought Oregon was worth fighting over. He did establish the 49^th parallel, legally separating Canada and the U.S., which resulted in a bunch of trees being cut down across the U.S. to mark the border. Polk has been known as the “least known consequential president.”

14. Worst Rank 4: Richard Nixon (37th President)

So Nixon’s place on the list of worsts should come as no shock: he resigned after being caught wiretapping his opponent during the 1972 presidential campaign, fondly known to everyone across the world as Watergate. Like seriously, cheating is not cool and one of the most undemocratic things he could have done. Because of Watergate, we often do not hear about the decent things he did, like working to end the war in Vietnam or improving diplomatic relationships with the Soviet Union and China. One bad thing can scar a president’s reputation for life, and Watergate has become the political scandal to beat. Nixon became the only president to resign from office in 1974 and he spent the next 20 years trying to rebuild his reputation until his death in 1994 at the age of 81.

13. Worst Rank 3: Andrew Jackson (7th President)

Although a decorated war hero during the War of 1812, Jackson takes the cake as one of the worst presidents in U.S. History. He is known as the first president to step into the affairs of Congress and consistently veto legislation. He was so pissed off at Congress for vetoing his selected ambassador to England (Martin Van Buren) that he made Buren his VP. Despite his hot head and disregard for the legislative branch of the government, he is best known for his role in the Trail of Tears, the forced removal of the Cherokees east of the Mississippi River in which approximately 4,000 people died of hunger, disease and exhaustion. Even in his retirement Jackson remained active in Democratic Party politics. He died in 1845 at the age of 71.

12. Worst Rank 2:  Ronald Reagan (40th President)

Placing Reagan on the worst presidents list probably has you thinking that this is some gushy liberal sap piece because he’s a conservative wet dream. Although a lot of his policies have positively influenced the world, he perpetrated some pretty horrible things to a fair amount of U.S. citizens. First, he instituted the War on Drugs, further criminalizing substances like Marijuana. This resulted in major incarcerations of U.S. citizens, mainly Black Americans, for weed possession. At the same time, the AIDS epidemic was in full swing, mainly in the male gay community. Reagan refused to spend funding on drug research. An estimated 21,000 Americans died from AIDS during his presidency. History is not black or white, but his disregard for all U.S. citizens’ lives and liberty has earned him this spot. A president’s main responsibility is to care for all citizens of America, and Reagan missed the mark.

11. Worst Rank 1: Harry S. Truman (33rd President)

Harry Truman was never supposed to be president, but upon Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s death he took office. Truman became president towards the end of World War II. After our allies had declared peace in Europe, he continued to fight the Japanese, who had bombed Pearl Harbor. In an attempt to end the war swiftly, Truman dropped not one, but two nuclear bombs (Little Boy and Fat Man) on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He remains the only world leader to use nuclear warfare (maybe North Korea is headed that way but they can’t seem to get any of their missiles to work). Speaking of North Korea, remember U.S. intervention in Korea where we started and ended a war at the 39^th parallel? That was all Truman. Oh yeah, because there was never a formal treaty ending the war, North Korea still thinks we are at war with them.

10. Best Rank 10: Grover Cleveland (22nd and 24th President)

Grover Cleveland is a good example of one of the rare times you should get back together with an ex. He served one term from 1885 to 1889, won the popular vote but lost the electoral college to Benjamin Harrison, then became the comeback king winning re-election after Harrison’s term (during the 1892 election). After inheriting a minor depression from Harrison, he was able to stabilize the Treasury’s reserve. In fact, he remains the only president on record to get married while in office. During his tenures as president, he created the Interstate Commerce Act, in turn creating the Interstate Commerce Commission, which regulated railroads.

9. Best Rank 9: Barack Obama (44th President)

Obama did a decent job in office considering that the recession was in full swing during his inauguration. He somehow managed to turn around the economy with a $787 million stimulus package that resulted in a positive GDP. But let’s get past the economy. He introduced the Affordable Care Act (adapted from MassHealth initially instated by Governor Mitt Romney) which provided healthcare coverage to millions of Americans and ensured that anyone under 26 years old can remain on their parent’s insurance. Although the ACA is flawed (with issues such as increased premiums and deductibles), it’s the first federal act that recognizes health care as a right of all citizens rather than a privilege reserved for those who can afford it. This is the first successful step towards a comprehensive health care for all plan in the United States.

8. Best Rank 8: John F. Kennedy “JFK” (35th President)

John F. Kennedy has claimed presidential fame for his inauguration address, his assassination, and winning a Pulitzer Prize in history. He won the 1959 election marginally beating Richard Nixon. In his inauguration address, he is famously known for saying, “Ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.” JFK pushed for civil rights in the U.S. and had a dream of America becoming the capital of human rights. Much like his predecessor Dwight D. Eisenhower, JFK sought to create a world without war and coercion. JFK was assassinated in Texas, two years into his presidency. It was later reported that the sole assassin was Lee Harvey Oswald, but to this day conspiracy theories rage on claiming that there must have been a second gunman.

7. Best Rank 7: Franklin Delano Roosevelt “FDR” (32nd President)

For one, FDR is the only president in history to have four terms in office. He became president at the height of the Great Depression, creating the New Deal program. This program stimulated the economy, including heavy taxes on the wealthy, the creation of Social Security, regulations on banks, and a relief program for unemployed Americans. He also worked to transform the Monroe Doctrine to include a “good neighbor” policy, which resulted in the U.S. sending aid to England during World War 2. He has been bumped down a few ranks for his use of Japanese Internment camps in the U.S. and the firebombing of Tokyo. Roosevelt’s health rapidly declined during his fourth term as president and he passed away in office on April 12, 1945.

6. Best Rank 6: George Washington (1st President)

Who wouldn’t love our first president of these Great U.S. of A? What really distinguishes George Washington from everyone who followed him was his service to the U.S. prior to becoming our first president and his psychic abilities. He won the first election in a landslide majority. He stayed out of Congress’s way and mainly focused on U.S. diplomatic relations, staying out of the politics of the French Revolution. He was pretty against two party systems saying in his farewell address, “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge… which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.” Pretty much the two-party system ends democracy because it becomes about one group beating the other. Special thanks to the founding father for calling the current political situation.

5. Best Rank 5: James Madison (4th President)

James Madison seems like an unlikely pick for a top 10 list about anything, but his work ratifying what became the current political system cannot be surpassed. Along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, he wrote the federalist essays, which shaped the Constitution and Bill of Rights (the Constitution we all know and love today exists in part because of this man right here). He was also president during the War of 1812 (you know, the one when we declared war on the British because they limited our trading capabilities) and we won causing a surge of nationalism which completely destroyed the federalist party. Madison is routinely ranked by historians and scholars as one of the top 10 presidents in U.S. history.

4. Best Rank 4: Thomas Jefferson (3rd President)

Many of you are probably thinking back to your high school history class and thinking “well no duh, the dude who wrote the declaration of independence better be on this list.” Other than authoring what is the most important document in U.S. history, he reduced the national debt, cut spending on military, and made whisky an untaxed item. Yes, you read that correctly: YOU DID NOT HAVE TO PAY TAX ON WHISKY. Other than that, he purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon, greatly expanding the land in the United States. Jefferson’s term as president wasn’t without controversy as he did own several plantations and had hundreds of slave workers, but political historians consistently rank him among the greatest American presidents.

3. Best Rank 3: Dwight D. Eisenhower (34th President

Do you like driving on the highway and think it’s convenient for traveling? Well then you have Dwight Eisenhower to thank for this lovely innovation. Because of Dwight Eisenhower, we have highways connecting Maine to California. Eisenhower was a commander in World War II during D-day. At the beginning of his presidency, he ended U.S. involvement in Korea and strived to maintain world peace. His presidency occurred during the famous Brown vs Board of Education decision, and Eisenhower supported the desegregation of public schools, sending in the Armed forces to ensure that Little Rock, Arkansas complied with the court ruling. He has been considered by many scholars and historians to be among the greatest U.S. presidents in history.

2. Best Rank 2: Abraham “Honest Abe” Lincoln (16th President)

I mean come on, how could Abraham Lincoln not be on this list? He made slavery illegal in the United States. He was the head of the Union, that fought to abolish people’s ability to own someone based on race. Although this did not diminish racial tension, it took the first crucial step towards equity and equality regardless of race. Unfortunately, all Lincoln did was lead the Union during the Civil War– he was promptly assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865 one month before the war officially ended. Who knows what amazing things he could’ve accomplished while not fighting a Civil War. Both scholars and the public regard Lincoln as one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history.

1. Best Rank 1: Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (26th President)

Teddy Roosevelt is probably one of the most contentious presidents in U.S. history. It’s been over 100 years since his presidency and he could be considered one of the best AND worst presidents of all time. But looking back on his personal history, it’s a sad story. His first wife and mom died on the same day, creating a sorrowful man who spent some time dealing with his grief and catching an outlaw. His motto, “Speak softly and carry a big stick…” allowed for the construction of the Panama Canal and he received a Nobel Peace Prize for mediating a resolution for the Russo-Japanese War. Also, if you are a fan of National Parks, you have this awesome dude to thank. He was in office from 1901-1909 and considered dunning again in 1920, but his health began to deteriorate and he passed away in 1919.

Sources: whitehouse.gov, theguardian.com, history.com, thebalance.com, independent.co.uk