I don't remember, if I answered this one before (and too lazy to check). But, assuming no benefit of hindsight, starting w/ 1860:
1860 Lincoln (stick it to those SOBs)
1864 Lincoln (we are at war)
1868 Grant (who else?)
1872 Greeley (Grant was better at the battlefield, and Greeley is my type)
1876 Tilden (New Yorker, and, anyway, we need both parties)
1880 Hancock (we need a two-party system, and I won't ever vote R after they stole 1876)
1884 Cleveland (time for a Dem)
1888 Cleveland (competent)
1892 Cleveland (still angry about 1888)
1996 McKinley (the alternative is too horrible to comprehend)
1900 McKinley (you don't suggest I could vote Bryan, do you?)
1904 T. Roosevelt (quite a star, this young guy, isn't he?)
1908 Taft (looks competent)
1912 Wilson (I like academics)
1916 Wilson (I still like him)
1920 Harding (tired of it all)
1924 Coolidge (he is ok and times are good)
1928 Smith (tough choice, but the wet migrant New Yorker in me would, probably, win in the end)
1932 Hoover (in the time of a disaster, he is superbly qualified
)
1936 F. Roosevelt (what else there is?)
1940 F. Rooselvelt (war's coming)
1944 Dewey (too long)
1948 Truman (he seems to be doing the right thing)
1952 Eisenhower (need a general in war - though sympathetic to the other guy)
1956 Eisenhower (same)
1960 Kennedy (NE bias in me, and a scary opponent)
1964 Johnson (landslide, anyway)
1968 Humphrey (civil rights)
1972 Nixon (he hasn't been as bad as I feared, and his opponent is too far off the deep end)
1976 Carter (kick the bastards out)
1980 Carter (I, actually, like the poor bastard)
1984 Reagan (good against the Soviets)
1988 Bush Sr. (NE bias in me is strong, but would Dukakis be strong enough against the Soviets?)
1992 Bush Sr. (competent)
1996 Clinton (personally an idiot, but the guy is brilliant!)
2000 Bush Jr. (his dad's advisors aren't a bad lot)
2004 Kerry (this is easy: another 4 years of Bush? you must be kidding me. And, anyway, I like Kerry a lot)
2008 Obama (apologies to McCain, but kick the bastards out)
