11 Former Presidents Who Revealed Their Worst Mistakes While in Office — From Nixon's Bombing Regret to Obama's Dictator Drama
Here are the biggest regrets our former presidents have had.
Dec. 29 2024, Published 7:30 a.m. ET
George Washington (First President)
The first president of the United States had regrets over one major fail.
George Washington had heartache as he grew older that he hadn't abolished slavery, saying it's "been the only unavoidable subject of regret." In his will, he freed the slaves who worked on his plantation.
Richard Nixon (37th)
Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.
Richard Nixon wished he'd started bombing North Vietnam earlier than 1972, believing if he'd attacked in 1969, the war would have ended sooner. Oh, and that Watergate scandal… little regret.
Ronald Reagan (40th)
Ronald Reagan served as the U.S. president from 1981 to 1989.
The Gipper Ronald Reagan was sorry for the Iran-Contra affair in which the U.S. sold arms to Iran, with the proceeds funding a rebel group in Nicaragua.
George W. Bush (43rd)
George W. Bush retired after his second term in 2009.
George W. Bush revealed: "The biggest regret has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. I wish the intelligence had been different."
Jimmy Carter (39th)
Jimmy Carter received the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize decades after his presidential term ended.
Peanut farmer Jimmy Carter rued about the failed Iranian hostage rescue in 1979: "I wish I had one more helicopter to get the hostages and we had rescued them."
George H.W. Bush (41st)
George H.W. Bush served from 1989 to 1983.
George H.W. Bush regretted not "getting" Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War in 1991 to avoid "some of the problems we had in the future with him." He also lamented saying: "Read my lips – no new taxes."
Barack Obama (44th)
Barack Obama was the first African-American president in history of the United States.
Barack Obama would change overthrowing dictator Muammar Gaddafi without a "plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya."
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in 2016: "The president has tried to apply this lesson in considering the use of military and other circumstances. That asking the question about what situation will prevail and what sort of commitments from the international community will be required after that military intervention has been ordered by the commander in chief."
Bill Clinton (42nd)
Bill Clinton was the first baby-boomer generation president.
Slick Bill Clinton wished he convinced Yasser Arafat to accept a peace plan "giving the Palestinians their state and creating a positive interdependence in the Middle East, not a negative one."
Andrew Jackson (7th)
Andrew Jackson died in June 1845.
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Old Hickory Andrew Jackson wished he'd resolved feuds with rivals, saying he regretted "that I didn't shoot Henry Clay and I didn't hang John C. Calhoun."
John Quincy Adams (6th)
John Quincy Adams also served as the U.S. Secretary of State.
John Quincy Adams hated that he signed the Treaty of Indian Springs, which forced the Creek Nation to surrender their land in Georgia and move west.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (34th)
Dwight D. Eisenhower served two terms from 1953 to 1961.
Conservative war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower was sorry he appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to lead the Supreme Court in a series of ultra-liberal decisions.
