Top 10 U.S. Presidents Accused of War Crimes

We've had some great presidents and some not-so-great presidents. Here they are.

The Top Ten

  1. George W Bush

    George Walker Bush is an American politician and businessman born on July 6, 1946. He served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and previously as the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000. He is the eldest son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara... read more

    Blatantly lying about WMDs in Iraq, torturing people, and occupying the nations of Afghanistan and Iraq among other countries, are just some of the reasons this man is the biggest war criminal in American history.

    The Invasion of Iraq was offensive and blatantly illegal. The subsequent killing of nearly a million civilians, and the torture of prisoners held without due cause, and further blatant war crimes.

    George W. Bush started the War on Terror in response to the 9/11 attacks. Because of this war, thousands of civilians have died from drone strikes. Also, captured enemy combatants were brutally tortured, which defies international law.

  2. George H. W. Bush

    George Herbert Walker Bush (June 12, 1924 - November 30, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Before becoming president, he served as the 43rd Vice President under Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989. He also held several other major roles... read more

    A former member of the CIA (which is also responsible for many war crimes and human rights violations), Bush aided Reagan's efforts in aiding genocidal dictatorships in Nicaragua and Guatemala. Bush also helped Reagan in illegally selling arms to Iran. He helped Reagan support Iraq, and later did a 360 and invaded the country. Thousands of civilians were killed, and vital infrastructure was destroyed.

    Bush ordered the Invasion of Panama to arrest their leader for drug crimes, which isn't a legal reason to invade a sovereign country.

  3. Richard Nixon

    Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. He is the only U.S. president to have resigned from office. Nixon had previously served as the 36th Vice President from 1953 to 1961, and prior to that, as a U.S. Representative and Senator... read more

    Nixon expanded the Vietnam War, which saw the deaths of thousands of civilians. While most of these deaths were unintentional, some were actually purposeful. On top of this, he deployed chemical weapons.

    Nixon's War on Drugs laid the groundwork for the mass incarceration of minorities and poor people.

  4. Ronald Reagan

    Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Prior to his presidency, he served as the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and maintained a career as a Hollywood actor and... read more

    Reagan illegally sold weapons to Iran. He secretly supported Iraq. He helped fund brutal South American dictatorships in order to prevent the flow of communism. On top of all that, Reagan actually was charged for war crimes, just never prosecuted.

    Secretly funded genocidal governments and Contras in Latin America. All those governments and the Contras were accused of war crimes. He also offered CIA help to intentionally bomb certain areas to make it look like the Contras did it.

  5. Lyndon B. Johnson

    Lyndon Baines Johnson, often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He assumed the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Johnson is known for his Great Society domestic programs and signing the Civil... read more

    Johnson also expanded the War in Vietnam, which saw the deaths of thousands of civilians. Again, he deployed chemical weapons.

    Vietnam. Do I really need to say anything else?

  6. Barack Obama

    Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, becoming the first African-American to hold the office. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005 to 2008) and as an Illinois state senator... read more

    He was such a failure at many aspects of governing. He created tremendous racial division within America, particularly during his second term when he never missed an opportunity to play the race card, while knowing full well his messaging was propaganda. He was unqualified but a masterful speaker who could sell ice to an Eskimo.

    He frankly had no foreign policy strategy at all and simply did the bidding of the elite class (of which he aspired to become) and the military-industrial complex by actively causing chaos in Middle Eastern countries with endless drone strikes. It is amazing how this man was able to influence by his ability to talk, but sadly, it was also very disappointing how unaccomplished and frankly damaging and divisive he was.

  7. Harry S Truman

    Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 - December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States and an American politician from the Democratic Party.

    Truman was the only president to ever authorize the use of nuclear weapons. While the necessity of the attacks on Japan is still debated today, there is no doubt that the attacks constitute war crimes. I mean, they were intentionally used against civilians. Necessary or not, this defies international law.

    Dropped two atomic bombs on innocent children, causing genocide. He murdered millions of innocent people. He should have had a trial.

    Arguably, the firebombings of Japan would also constitute as war crimes due to the indiscriminate killings as a result of Operation Meetinghouse.

  8. Donald Trump

    Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York) is an American businessman, television personality, politician, and the 45th and 47th President of the United States.

    Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Donald J. Trump received an economics degree from the Wharton School of the... read more

    The Saudi government funneled nearly $300,000 to Trump through his hotel in D.C. In return, Trump signed the U.S.-Saudi arms deal, supported Saudi Arabia's genocide in Yemen, and looked the other way when the Saudi government had journalist Jamal Khashoggi brutally assassinated in Istanbul.

    Assassinated another country's general. And, if you thought Obama's drone war was bad, Trump ordered more drone strikes than his two predecessors combined.

    He used 10x more bombs and drones than his two predecessors combined in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iraq. He also killed Iraqi General Soleimani, which almost sparked WW3.

  9. Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was an American politician and military leader who served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe.... read more

    Ordered the overthrow of a plethora of democracies in Central America, instating dictators in the democratically elected leaders' place. His administration was also the mastermind of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

    Eisenhower authorized the overthrow of the government of Guatemala, which caused the deaths of civilians. He was also a major proponent of the War in Vietnam.

  10. Bill Clinton

    William Jefferson Clinton (born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Before that, he was Governor of Arkansas. As a Democrat aligned with the "New Democrat" centrist movement, he enacted policies reflecting a "Third Way" governance... read more

    Knowingly bombed Sudan's main pharmaceutical plant, killing thousands, bombed Kosovo under false pretexts, also killing thousands, and sanctions in Iraq and Afghanistan combined with sporadic bombings killed as many as two million, as well as paving the way for invasion.

    Clinton placed crippling sanctions on Iraq, which was estimated to kill around half a million Iraqi children. He also continued Bush's policies of bombing Iraq, and even accidentally ordered the bombing of a hospital.

    11. The Newcomers
  11. ?

    Abraham Lincoln

    Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War and succeeded in preserving the Union, abolishing slavery,... read more

  12. ?

    Joseph Biden

    Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under President Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the... read more

    Vetoed humanitarian aid in Gaza in October 2023 and continued to heavily fund the Israeli Zionists in their continued occupation of Palestine and the bombing of innocent civilians.

    He was complicit in, and funded, the genocide in Gaza with U.S. tax dollars and bombs.

    13. The Contenders

  13. John F. Kennedy

    John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963), commonly known as JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from January 1961 until his assassination. His presidency was marked by the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962), the Bay of Pigs Invasion (April 1961), the signing of... read more

    Kennedy started the Vietnam War, which would cause the deaths of thousands of civilians.

    Sprayed toxic chemicals on Vietnamese children, burning their skin and killing thousands.

  14. Woodrow Wilson

    Thomas Woodrow Wilson was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th President of the United States from 1913 to 1921. Born in Staunton, Virginia, he spent his early years in Augusta, Georgia, and Columbia, South Carolina. Before his presidency, he served as president of Princeton University... read more

    U.S. armed forces committed mass killings of thousands of civilians during the Occupation of Haiti, claiming they were "auxiliaries" of the rebel forces.

  15. William McKinley

    William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States. He served from March 4, 1897, until his assassination on September 14, 1901. McKinley led the nation during the Spanish-American War and was succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt after his death.

    Had extremely aggressive foreign policy. After obtaining the Philippines following the Spanish-American War, U.S. forces marched across the newly obtained territory and killed thousands.

    Acted as judge, jury, and executioner in regards to foreign policy. (Annexed the Kingdom of Hawaii, intervened in Spanish Cuba which sparked a war).

  16. Franklin D Roosevelt

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 - April 12, 1945), commonly known by his initials FDR, was an American statesman and the 32nd President of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. A Democrat, he was elected to an unprecedented four terms and led the nation through the... read more

    He put Japanese Americans in camps.

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