It could be worse

From Gene Weingarten:

The worst choice Americans were ever asked to make occurred in 1852. The candidates were Democrat Franklin Pierce and Whig Winfield Scott. Pierce was a senator from New Hampshire who was often derided for having obtained his fame through nepotism, his father having been governor of that state. Pierce, incidentally, is also said to be distantly related to Geo. W. Bush. ( I do not state this for partisan purposes; there was plenty in the dismal election of 1852 to find parallels to both candidates today. For example, Pierce also was a totally non-consequential senator, never authoring any piece of important legislation.) Pierce was a tepid nobody, a drooling drunk chosen on a very late ballot after several deadlocks among worthier candidates who actually had coherent positions on important subjects. That made them controversial to one faction or the other; hence, the deadlock. In the end, they chose Pierce because he had never said anything that had offended anyone, and because - this is the key - he was horribly, historically, evilly wrong on the biggest issue of the day. He was a northerner who was pro-slavery. The north tolerated him because he was one of them, and the south tolerated him because he was, well, one of them. His opponent, Scott, was a genuine war hero, as culpable as any for the shameful Trail of Tears that destroyed and emasculated the Cherokee nation. He was nicknamed "Old Fuss and Feathers" because, despite being 6 foot five and approaching 300 pounds, he dressed like a fop and a dandy. He also was a real stickler for protocol. And a self-important blowhard. The pix of him are hilarious. The best measure of how awful this election was is that historians pretty much agree that the reason Pierce won is that he didn't campaign at all. Scott, unfortunately for Scott, did. His speeches put people to sleep with his long-winded, pompous oratory. Cleverly, Pierce managed to hide his ickyness by remaining indoors. Bad choice? Add to this that the election of 1852 was probably the most important election in the country's history, to that date. It still ranks among the most important, ever. It was probably the last chance to elect someone who might have avoided the civil war. The loser, Scott, pretty much finished off the Whig party. It would never be a factor in politics again. Scott would go on to be a failed military leader in the war that Pierce could not avert. Scott eventually was fired by Lincoln for incompetence. Near the end he was so fat he could no longer mount his horse. And the winner? He went on to preside over what historians generally rank the second worst presidency in history (after the man who succeeded him.) I consider it the worst. Where to begin? How about that Pierce became the only president to be arrested while in office? He ran over a woman in his carriage, almost certainly while driving drunk. He did sober up enough to squire through passage of his pet legislation, the Kansas-Nebraska act. That's the one that pretty much gave the federal imprimatur to the virtue of slavery; it is considered the single most important catalyst of the Civil War. Pierce was so disliked even his wife didn't talk to him. He ended his presidency as the only president ever to be denied re-nomination by his own party.