Ranking the worst of worst presidents

Re “POTUS, schmotus,” Opinion, Feb. 19

George Pendle’s Op-Ed on Millard Fillmore makes me think about contenders for the worst president of all time. Fillmore might be joined on Mount Rushless by Warren G. Harding, Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan. Richard Nixon’s dirty deeds might land him a spot. But he did a lot of good things too.

But would I rather have a president like Fillmore, who was afraid to make decisions, or a president who calls himself “the decider” and makes wrong decisions?

Harding’s worst offense was giving away government oil lands to his cronies. But President Bush started a war to enrich his oil cronies. Buchanan brought the country closer to civil war, and Johnson failed to bring us together after the Civil War. Bush has does done more to divide this country than any president since Johnson.

RUSSELL STONE

Westchester

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It’s good to read that the presidency survived Fillmore, who can best be described as mediocre. The current occupant of the office raises mediocre to an art form. Fillmore was not in office long enough to do lasting damage to the country. We can only hope that the damage being done by Bush -- in terms of loss of lives and international standing and misplaced spending priorities -- can be repaired in time.

IRENE GUIMERA

Manhattan Beach