Top 10 Most Controversial American Presidential Candidates

Aside from Goldwater, Wallace was the presidential candidate who was all for the segregation of whites and people of color, which obviously didn't go well with some Americans at the time. A committed segregationist, he tried to block the entrance of the University of Alabama to prevent black people from enrolling. He was quite successful in several southern states in 1968.

A Reform Party candidate in 2000, his over-the-top campaign promises included barring non-whites from entering America, and he was openly homophobic as well. We had Dubya win the election, but at least he was marginally better than this bigot.

Barry Goldwater was NOT a racist and should be revered by everyone. He supported racial equality but only opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for constitutional reasons. He himself said this was his greatest regret.

Your stereotypical Republican: anti-big government, laissez-faire capitalist, and all that stuff. An opponent of LBJ, he was against the Civil Rights Act, which earned him the support of the Ku Klux Klan. Fortunately, LBJ won the elections, and America didn't have a literal racist in office, possibly exacerbating race tensions.

He was involved in a controversy where he fathered a secret love child, which nearly cost him his re-election bid. Certainly, this didn't sound well in America back then. His opponent's unpopularity was the only thing that made him win.

It was only in 1930s America that a communist could contend in elections. Earl Browder did just that, and he was no saint either. A pro-Soviet Stalinist and anti-capitalist, obviously this didn't sound too appealing for Americans at that time.

Of course, a black man wouldn't possibly win in racist America in the 1900s, which made him a rather controversial figure for his time.

"Ex" Klan member. Former Grand Wizard of the Klan. "Former" member of the American Nazi Party. He was a candidate in the 1988 presidential primaries as a Democrat and in 1992 as a Republican.

Granted, Long attempted to run for the presidency in 1936 before being assassinated, but I'll count him in anyways. Known as a populist demagogue and for his intimidation policies to further his agenda, his policies helped the state of Louisiana a lot, especially in the fields of infrastructure and education.

There are more things to list about him, but for his time, he was a de-facto "benevolent" dictator of an American state.

He had virtually no chance to win against an incumbent George H.W. Bush until third-party candidate Ross Perot entered the race and siphoned off almost 20 million Republican voters.

A brave adventurer and millionaire, John Frémont was the first Republican candidate. The only problem surrounding him was his association with cannibalism, which cost him his chances of winning.

A socialist candidate, he was the Bernie Sanders of the 1900s. This gave him a lot of appeal for workers back then. But his most controversial act was to dodge the draft, which landed him in prison during WWI.

In the 1870s, a woman like Victoria obviously stood no chance during an era of traditionalist sexism, which made her a controversial figure at the time. She won only a few thousand supporters along the way.

The first woman to run for president. She actually had a lot of good morals, unlike some female politicians we see today.