James Buchanan Jr. was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. Historians and scholars generally rank Buchanan as the worst president in American history. Unfortunately, he was also the only president to come from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
But I believe his rank will change as historians assess the full impact of our 46th president. President Joe Biden gave an inspirational inaugural address on January 20, 2021, which shot his approval rating through the roof. That turned out to be the high point of his presidency.
After the inaugural address, President Biden began to make changes. On Day One, he restored U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, revoked the permit for the Keystone pipeline, and halted funding for Trump’s border wall.
What the upside of these actions was is hard to imagine, as the open border would bring millions of unregistered migrants into the country. This resulted in overcrowded cities and increased crime.
The dysfunctional government was evident by the very poor responses to tragedies such as the derailment of a Norfolk Southern train carrying tank cars with hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio, in February of 2023.
There were many complaints over the government’s response to the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century that devastated the Hawaiian island of Maui in August 2023, claiming 102 lives.
And the most recent was the dreadful response by FEMA in the states hammered by Hurricane Helene, even denying help to those with Trump signs in their yards.
The one that could have been completely avoided was the poorly designed military exit from Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. Almost 60 percent of Americans wanted us to get out of Afghanistan, but the way it was done was a disaster. Approximately $7 billion in military equipment was left to the Taliban, and thirteen U.S. service members were murdered by a terrorist attack on the day of the pullout. It was the deadliest day for our military in Afghanistan in nine years.
Billions in taxpayer funds wasted, negative impacts, damage to the economy and America’s international credibility…
In fact, pick any area: crime, border security, economics, energy policy, government operations, national security, international affairs. It is hard to find any bright spots.
But now, to add insult to injury, the landmark event that took place on Sunday night, December 1st, when President Joe Biden issued a statement from the White House declaring that he had just signed a “full and unconditional pardon” for his son, Robert Hunter Biden.
No president has issued such a pardon since Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon a “full, free, and absolute pardon” on September 8, 1974. That was fifty years and eight presidents ago.
Experts who had served as pardon attorneys for the Justice Department were shocked by it. Biden’s pardon for his son will shut down the charges that have been in the works, such as bribery, illegal lobbying, or other crimes stemming from Hunter Biden’s foreign business activities and drug addiction. He is now forgiven of ANY and ALL federal crimes he committed from 2014 to 2024.
Why does the pardon start in 2014? It was in April of 2014 that Hunter Biden joined the board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma Holdings. Would he have gotten the position had his father not been the Vice President under President Obama at the time? Given that he did not speak Ukrainian or Russian and had a salary of $1 million/year for no particular work, there is strong evidence Hunter Biden was illegally profiting off his position on that board.
Why is this more than just a father looking out for his son? Very simply, because it is not justice. In the United States, justice is to be blind (think of the mask over the eyes of Lady Justice). The purpose of a president’s pardon authority, as well as a governor’s, for that matter, is to do justice when the system itself needs adjustment to acquire justice. For example, when evidence is found of a person who was falsely convicted, they should be released immediately, and that is what the pardon does. That would be the just thing to do.
But it is not meant to be used like a monarch would — to be above the law simply because of position. What makes this even more disgusting is that President Biden stated numerous times that he would NOT pardon his son. He stated more than once, “I’ll abide by the jury decision, and I will not pardon him.”
Yeah, right.
Well, the Democrats cannot continue to claim that Donald Trump will break decades of “norms.” They can no longer cry, “No one is above the law!”
The one good thing that came out of this administration is that James Buchanan is no longer the bottom of the barrel.
