10 Best U.S. Presidents

[W in 2004]

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Ronald Reagan
4. Thomas Jefferson
5. George W. Bush

[Akno21]

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Ronald Reagan
4. Thomas Jefferson
5. George W. Bush

This is exactly why we shouldn't count presidents after 1945 in these lists. Partisan Politics clogs our vision of a president's accomplishments. A Democrat's list would look like that except JKF at 3 and Clinton at 5.

[PBrunsel]

After reading several biographies on several presidents over the last few months, my list now stands:

1. William McKinley (1897-1901)

2. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

3. George Washington (1789-1797)

4. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

5. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)

6. James K. Polk (1845-1849)

7. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909}

8. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)

9. Herbert C. Hoover (1929-1933)

10. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

[7,052,770]

after some thought, I have come up with this top 15:
1   Abraham Lincoln
2   Theodore Roosevelt
3   James Polk
4   Thomas Jefferson
5   Harry Truman
6   James Monroe
7   Franklin D. Roosevelt
8   George Washington
9   Andrew Johnson
10   Woodrow Wilson
11   Dwight D. Eisenhower
12   John F. Kennedy
13   Bill Clinton
14   James Madison
15   Richard Nixon

[Akno21]

After reading several biographies on several presidents over the last few months, my list now stands:

1. William McKinley (1897-1901)

2. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)

3. George Washington (1789-1797)

4. Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)

5. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)

6. James K. Polk (1845-1849)

7. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909}

8. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)

9. Herbert C. Hoover (1929-1933)

10. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

What made you put Hoover behind FDR? If you've done one thing on this forum, it is advocating Hoover and his policies, and picking apart FDR's.

[PBrunsel]

Despite my favor towards Hoover, I have to admit that FDR was the president who inspired Americans more while being president. FDR was also the president who appointed Ike commander of Allied Forces.

I read several books on FDR, and I could not, except for partisan reasons, place him below Hoover. I am a historian, and as such can not let my partisanship cloud my historical judgment.

[ijohn57s]

1. Ronald Reagan
2. George Washington
3. Thomas Jefferson
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. James Monroe
6. William McKinley
7. James K. Polk
8. Franklin Roosevelt
9. John F. Kennedy
10. John Tyler

[Akno21]

Despite my favor towards Hoover, I have to admit that FDR was the president who inspired Americans more while being president. FDR was also the president who appointed Ike commander of Allied Forces.

I read several books on FDR, and I could not, except for partisan reasons, place him below Hoover. I am a historian, and as such can not let my partisanship cloud my historical judgment.

Good for you, PBrunsel. It would be nice if more people on both sides would put common sense ahead of partisanship.

[PBrunsel]

Despite my favor towards Hoover, I have to admit that FDR was the president who inspired Americans more while being president. FDR was also the president who appointed Ike commander of Allied Forces.

I read several books on FDR, and I could not, except for partisan reasons, place him below Hoover. I am a historian, and as such can not let my partisanship cloud my historical judgment.

Good for you, PBrunsel. It would be nice if more people on both sides would put common sense ahead of partisanship.

Partisanship should not interfere with choosing the more efective president.

[Akno21]

Despite my favor towards Hoover, I have to admit that FDR was the president who inspired Americans more while being president. FDR was also the president who appointed Ike commander of Allied Forces.

I read several books on FDR, and I could not, except for partisan reasons, place him below Hoover. I am a historian, and as such can not let my partisanship cloud my historical judgment.

Good for you, PBrunsel. It would be nice if more people on both sides would put common sense ahead of partisanship.

Partisanship should not interfere with choosing the more efective president.

That's why I think we should only count those presidents up to 1945, otherwise it gets unaviodidly partisan.

[JohnFKennedy]

My 10 top Presidents would consist of an order of ten of the following 15:

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S Truman
John F. Kennedy
Theodore Roosevelt
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
James K. Polk
Ronald Reagan
James Monroe
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
William McKinley
Dwight Eisenhower

Also the possibility of James Madison making it in there.

[dazzleman]

My 10 top Presidents would consist of an order of ten of the following 15:

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S Truman
John F. Kennedy
Theodore Roosevelt
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
James K. Polk
Ronald Reagan
James Monroe
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
William McKinley
Dwight Eisenhower

Also the possibility of James Madison making it in there.

Interesting list.  Few people include Nixon on the list of best presidents, but Nixon had a much better image abroad than he did in the US.

It's also unusual in the current US political climate to include both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.  In most cases, liking one precludes liking the other.  I happen to think that history's estimate of Bill Clinton will fall as time goes by.

Why did you put John Kennedy on the list?  In the US, he is often considered great for emotional reasons.  I have nothing in particular against him, but I don't think he was in office long enough to accomplish that much, so I'm not sure what makes him great.

[JohnFKennedy]

My 10 top Presidents would consist of an order of ten of the following 15:

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S Truman
John F. Kennedy
Theodore Roosevelt
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
James K. Polk
Ronald Reagan
James Monroe
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
William McKinley
Dwight Eisenhower

Also the possibility of James Madison making it in there.

Interesting list.  Few people include Nixon on the list of best presidents, but Nixon had a much better image abroad than he did in the US.

It's also unusual in the current US political climate to include both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.  In most cases, liking one precludes liking the other.  I happen to think that history's estimate of Bill Clinton will fall as time goes by.

Why did you put John Kennedy on the list?  In the US, he is often considered great for emotional reasons.  I have nothing in particular against him, but I don't think he was in office long enough to accomplish that much, so I'm not sure what makes him great.

Well, I suppose I have a bit of an objective view being outside the USA so partisanship doesn't plague me as much.

I think Nixon was a good President, foreign policy was good, he began communications with the Chinese again, was an all-round good President and would have been remembered as such if not for Watergate.

Bill Clinton obviously won't be remembered as well as Reagan but I still think he was a good President.

I have always liked Kennedy, he was a good man and a good President, he got the economy rolling well by not balancing the budget. He increased minimum wage and began urban renewal. He was a good guy, was strong on foreign policy, a good hawk. He was also responsible, he took responsibility for the Bay of Pigs Fiasco despite the fact it had been being planned under Ike and he didn't know as much about it as he probably would have if it had started under him.

I think he was a good President, even if he only served for three years.

[dazzleman]

My 10 top Presidents would consist of an order of ten of the following 15:

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S Truman
John F. Kennedy
Theodore Roosevelt
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
James K. Polk
Ronald Reagan
James Monroe
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
William McKinley
Dwight Eisenhower

Also the possibility of James Madison making it in there.

Interesting list.  Few people include Nixon on the list of best presidents, but Nixon had a much better image abroad than he did in the US.

It's also unusual in the current US political climate to include both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.  In most cases, liking one precludes liking the other.  I happen to think that history's estimate of Bill Clinton will fall as time goes by.

Why did you put John Kennedy on the list?  In the US, he is often considered great for emotional reasons.  I have nothing in particular against him, but I don't think he was in office long enough to accomplish that much, so I'm not sure what makes him great.

Well, I suppose I have a bit of an objective view being outside the USA so partisanship doesn't plague me as much.

I think Nixon was a good President, foreign policy was good, he began communications with the Chinese again, was an all-round good President and would have been remembered as such if not for Watergate.

Bill Clinton obviously won't be remembered as well as Reagan but I still think he was a good President.

I have always liked Kennedy, he was a good man and a good President, he got the economy rolling well by not balancing the budget. He increased minimum wage and began urban renewal. He was a good guy, was strong on foreign policy, a good hawk. He was also responsible, he took responsibility for the Bay of Pigs Fiasco despite the fact it had been being planned under Ike and he didn't know as much about it as he probably would have if it had started under him.

I think he was a good President, even if he only served for three years.

Kennedy did help ignite the economic boom of the 1960s with his tax cuts, much as Reagan did in the 1980s.  He was also the last Democrat (with the partial exception of LBJ) to unabashedly follow a foreign policy that was designed to protect US and western interests.  I have to disagree with you about urban renewal, though.  It was well-intentioned, but for the most part turned out to be a disaster.

It's ironic that Kennedy has become a liberal icon when most of his policies were not particularly liberal.  I think that says a lot more about the direction of the Democratic party since his death than it does about Kennedy himself.

[JohnFKennedy]

My 10 top Presidents would consist of an order of ten of the following 15:

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S Truman
John F. Kennedy
Theodore Roosevelt
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
James K. Polk
Ronald Reagan
James Monroe
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Richard Nixon
Bill Clinton
William McKinley
Dwight Eisenhower

Also the possibility of James Madison making it in there.

Interesting list.  Few people include Nixon on the list of best presidents, but Nixon had a much better image abroad than he did in the US.

It's also unusual in the current US political climate to include both Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.  In most cases, liking one precludes liking the other.  I happen to think that history's estimate of Bill Clinton will fall as time goes by.

Why did you put John Kennedy on the list?  In the US, he is often considered great for emotional reasons.  I have nothing in particular against him, but I don't think he was in office long enough to accomplish that much, so I'm not sure what makes him great.

Well, I suppose I have a bit of an objective view being outside the USA so partisanship doesn't plague me as much.

I think Nixon was a good President, foreign policy was good, he began communications with the Chinese again, was an all-round good President and would have been remembered as such if not for Watergate.

Bill Clinton obviously won't be remembered as well as Reagan but I still think he was a good President.

I have always liked Kennedy, he was a good man and a good President, he got the economy rolling well by not balancing the budget. He increased minimum wage and began urban renewal. He was a good guy, was strong on foreign policy, a good hawk. He was also responsible, he took responsibility for the Bay of Pigs Fiasco despite the fact it had been being planned under Ike and he didn't know as much about it as he probably would have if it had started under him.

I think he was a good President, even if he only served for three years.

Kennedy did help ignite the economic boom of the 1960s with his tax cuts, much as Reagan did in the 1980s.  He was also the last Democrat (with the partial exception of LBJ) to unabashedly follow a foreign policy that was designed to protect US and western interests.  I have to disagree with you about urban renewal, though.  It was well-intentioned, but for the most part turned out to be a disaster.

It's ironic that Kennedy has become a liberal icon when most of his policies were not particularly liberal.  I think that says a lot more about the direction of the Democratic party since his death than it does about Kennedy himself.

Yes, by the way, I am not particularly liberal, my political compass score was:

Economic Left/Right: 2.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.05

He also raised the minimum wage by .25$ which helped the poor obviously.

[dazzleman]

I think a raise in the minimum wage is a short-term solution at best, and can be a double-edged sword.

The real solution is to help people get skills that increase the value of what they have to offer the job market.

I recognize that this is impossible with some people, and there does need to be some type of minimum wage.

But practically speaking, it can't be a living wage, since there are many menial jobs that can be filled by people like teenagers who don't need to support themselves, and that people would simply not hire for if they had to pay a living wage.

Ideally, nobody who needs to support himself/herself should be working in a minimum wage job.

[© tweed]

In my opinion, a raise in the minimum wage would do more harm than good.  An argument by Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming totally changed my position on it.  A minimum wage is still necessary however.

[gorkay]

I don't think anyone who served in the last 25 years should be included, because it takes about that long to begin to consider a President's record objectively. So:

1. FDR
2. Lincoln
3. Washington
4. TR
5. Jefferson
6. Truman
7. Polk
8. Monroe
9. Wilson
10. Kennedy

[Reignman]

9. Herbert Hoover

LMAO

Hoover wasn't responsible for the crash, he just didn't do much about it.  Now...who does that remind me of?

[??????????]

1. Adams
2. Jefferson
3. Washington
4. Monroe
5. Madison
6. Buchanan
7. Polk
8. Hoover
9. McKinley
10. Kennedy

[Akno21]

1. Adams
2. Jefferson
3. Washington
4. Monroe
5. Madison
6. Buchanan
7. Polk
8. Hoover
9. McKinley
10. Kennedy

Adams? The guy made the Alien and Sedition Acts! Anyone who wants to jail members of the media for opposing him isn't the greatest President ever.

[??????????]

1. Adams
2. Jefferson
3. Washington
4. Monroe
5. Madison
6. Buchanan
7. Polk
8. Hoover
9. McKinley
10. Kennedy

Adams? The guy made the Alien and Sedition Acts! Anyone who wants to jail members of the media for opposing him isn't the greatest President ever.

Yes, though I think they should be revised (they were a little tough). I think they should be brought back in some form in our current enviroment.

[Akno21]

1. Adams
2. Jefferson
3. Washington
4. Monroe
5. Madison
6. Buchanan
7. Polk
8. Hoover
9. McKinley
10. Kennedy

Adams? The guy made the Alien and Sedition Acts! Anyone who wants to jail members of the media for opposing him isn't the greatest President ever.

Yes, though I think they should be revised (they were a little tough). I think they should be brought back in some form in our current enviroment.

So you think we should limit what journalists can say, even more than we already do?

[??????????]

1. Adams
2. Jefferson
3. Washington
4. Monroe
5. Madison
6. Buchanan
7. Polk
8. Hoover
9. McKinley
10. Kennedy

Adams? The guy made the Alien and Sedition Acts! Anyone who wants to jail members of the media for opposing him isn't the greatest President ever.

Yes, though I think they should be revised (they were a little tough). I think they should be brought back in some form in our current enviroment.

So you think we should limit what journalists can say, even more than we already do?

More then we do? We barely restrict journalists at all and that is half the problem. We need to get back to WW2 standards of journalism.

[Schmitz in 1972]

I don't think anyone who served in the last 25 years should be included, because it takes about that long to begin to consider a President's record objectively.

It takes much longer than that actually. How many historians do you know of who consider Richard Nixon objectively?