Jamison Bryant is right. I've looked at code from Microsoft Publisher and it is a giant mess. It isn't even close to standards-compliant.
You are talking about three different ways to design websites:
1.) Software like Dreamweaver and Microsoft Publisher let you design a website by "point-and-click." This sounds great, and some of the sites designed with this software even looks cool, but it is almost never completely standards-compliant. It often ends up creating messy code that is difficult to fix, and even harder for search engines to database or query.
2.) WordPress is a little different than the software I discussed above, because it usually ends up with clean, valid code. Many people don't "design" websites with WordPress from scratch. They usually pick a template, and insert content like images and paragraphs into the template. I know this sounds like the other software, but it really isn't. It has websites already built basically, and you just add content/tweak it. WordPress is a content management system (CMS) and it allows you to edit/add to the site without diving into code.
3.) HTML and CSS are the two basic internet languages. There are many other languages used in web design, but most static sites only require HTML and CSS. Options #1 and #2 above do their best to "edit" the code for you, so that you can change things visually without having to know the languages.
You can always use a mix of CMS and pure HTML coding to get the results you desire, or just try one or the other.
If you are really serious about web design, you are going to need to know HTML and CSS inside and out. Luckily, they are two relatively simple languages to learn.
Cheers,
Tim