Who Was the Best American President?
82Who Were the Best Presidents? An Introduction
The debate about who was the best U.S. President continues to rage, and it can be difficult to answer this question. While Lincoln is still the President who stands out for many, the debate over the best U.S. President, or even the five best, still rages on. So here is a list of seven former Presidents who have all been considered among the best either by historians, political science professors, or the good old masses of common people.
There are three Republicans, three Democrats, and the only unaffiliated on the list, placed in chronological order. So enjoy, and please feel free to leave feedback, but keep it civil and factual in discussions: if you want to debate give positive reasons for your favorites, don't cut others down!
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My Life
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Lincoln
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Seven of the Best U.S. Presidents
George Washington, Federalist Party. The very first President, he definitely belongs on this list. During his time as President, the office of the Presidency actually had really little power during this time. Washington was President when the Bill of Rights was ratified, he refused to be king (the offer was there) and voluntarily stepped down after two terms, setting a precedent that helped democracy in the United States form and survive. Correction: The Federalist Party was started during Washington's first term, but when he took office he was not affiliated, making John Adams the only "true" Federalist President. Good catch by Tim.
Thomas Jefferson, Republican Party. Not only did Jefferson get a huge amount of land with the Louisiana Purchase, but he also saw the establishment of the U.S. Military Academy as well as the Lewis & Clark expedition. Jefferson was also quoted as saying: "The government is best that governs least," a sentiment that many Americans wish both parties would adopt. He was not repudiated to be a particularly nice man, but he was an excellent President.
Abe Lincoln, Republican Party. A major part of being remembered in history is being in the spot light during a historical crisis. The Civil War threatened to tear the nation apart, and Lincoln refused to allow this to happen. He was one of the least popular Presidents ever during his lifetime, but history has certainly vindicated him. Lincoln preserved the union, and his letters indicate his steadfastness came from a vision of the future that seemed almost prophetic. The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves, and the Union after a bloody war, held together as one. Lincoln is generally the most popular choice for best President ever, though critics do point out his suspension of habeus corpus and the first military draft.
Teddy Roosevelt, Republican Party. Teddy was known as a President who was gutsy and stubborn, and surprisingly progressive. He was the first President to be on a submarine or an airplane, and was a major conservationist. Over 125 million acres of nature were made into National Parks while also gaining a reputation as a trust buster, bringing the robber barons to their knees and forcing open and fair capitalism. The first laws were passed forcing a minimum quality for food. Teddy also won a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering peace between Russia and Japan, and stated unequivocally to European powers that they had no right to interfere with the Western Hemisphere. Not bad for a President only elected to one term.
FDR, Democratic Party. Beloved by Democrats and Independents, demonized by Republicans, FDR is nonetheless the only President to be elected to more than two terms, and saw the country through the Great Depression while deciding it was better to intervene and keep tens of thousands, or even millions, from starving to death rather than let the markets that caused the Depression simply "take their course." FDR founded the TVA, helping to bring the South (still being punished for the Civil War) into the 20th century, created Social Security to prevent severe or life threatening poverty among the elderly, and had the first form of welfare - one in which people worked to build roads and national parks to earn money.
FDR's WPA program, in fact, employed some 3.3 million people who were set to work on tasks that gave America lasting improvements. In 8 years the WPA built 40,000 buildings, 8,000 schools, built or improved 650,000 miles of roads, 124,000 bridges, 8,000 parks, 18,000 playgrounds, and over 2,000 swimming pools. This program was later referred to by President Ronald Regan as one of the best and most successful government social programs in history. Oh, yeah, they also built New York's La Guardia Airport.
He also repealed Prohibition, and brought America's industrial strength to full force before entering World War II and becoming a world power, although there was that shameful attempt to pack the Supreme Court.
JFK, Democratic Party. During JFK's tragically short time as President he created the Peace Corps, saw the first American sent to space, and gave residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote in Presidential elections. During the Cuban Missile Crisis his cabinet wanted to use nuclear weapons, the generals wanted to use nuclear weapons, and Kennedy refused to listen and brokered peace, averting nuclear war. Say what you want, any President who prevents nuclear war is automatically on my top five.
Bill Clinton, Democratic Party. Although his Presidency was full of controversy, it is hard to argue with the numbers. The lowest unemployment rate ever, the biggest economic boon in history, a five trillion dollar deficit paid off, budgets balanced, and minimum wage raised. The negatives were all the scandals, some which were definitely political witch hunts, others which appear very legitimate. He left office even after all the scandals with a 65% approval rating, the highest since FDR shortly after his death. Love him or hate him, there's no denying the economy of the 1990's was far superior to anything before or later.
Widely Considered the Greatest U.S. President Ever
Presidential Memorobilia
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President U. S. Grant Mint Medal 1879
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Ronald Reagan by Andy Thomas 40th U.S. President Framed
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Complete U.S PRESIDENTS-Easton Press-HISTORY Leather
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U.S. C-4 Freighter PRESIDENT BUCHANAN 1969 Ship Slide
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Who are your choices for the best U.S. Presidents?
I'm glad to see a lot of my favorite presidents here. Teddy Roosevelt can be awfully polarizing, but for the most part, he was popular :)
Thanks, guys. Yeah, it's amazing how many even popular presidents had some strong detractors. My brother says that about LBJ: many of his policies were amazing and progressive (especially civil rights) but then throw in the Vietnam War and that's the end of that. Eisenhower also just missed the list.
George Washington did not belong to any politcal party as incorrectly stated above as being a member of the Federalist Party. In fact, if you take the time to read Washington's farewell address, you will see that he railed against the idea of politcal parties being formed and would be appalled to see how childish the political wars are today between the Republicans and Democrats.
G Washington put his whole way of life at risk and set a standard that has yet to be equalled. Clinton, on the other hand, belongs in the bottom half. Gingrich's Contract with America led to the balanced budget and deficit reductions.
Lincoln was a war criminal his actions the deliberate targeting of civilans and his action toward the Sioux rebellion can not be frogiven. You do not Free the slaves then enslave the Free.
Washington and Jefferson are the best.
great choices this were the best presidents in usa..
A good list with some nice information, but you have another mistake as to party affiliation. Jefferson was the founder of the Democratic-Republican party, the first modern political party. It later dropped the Republican part of the name and was the direct ancestor of the Democratic party (some would say they are the same party). So while Jefferson can be considered either a Democrat, or a member of a now defunct party he was by no means a Republican. In fact the Republican party was not even founded until well after Jefferson's death.
where is Regan at...he is the one and only great president...REPUBLICAN FOR LIFE
Dude! You have Bill Clinton in a pantheon with George Washington? My goodness! Don't bogart that joint my friend; pass it over to me again . . .
Seriously, TR, FDR, Abe, Tom . . . not bad. JFK? Well loved—I loved him—but more for his persona than anything he accomplished.
Is this really Bill Clinton behind this screen name? Come on!!
How about, one Mr. Ronald Reagan? Berlin Wall, freedom for 400 million enslaved people, that guy. I don't know your age, but you would have to have lived through Jimmy Carter to understand what Reagn actually did because the word on the street at the time was—we were done, but a fork in us.
Here is my list of best presidents (so far). I'm not counting in Obama because he hasn't finished a term.
1) Abraham Lincoln - he managed to hold the Union together during the Civil War, and deal with slavery above that.
2) Franklin D Roosevelt - He got America out of the Great Depression and lead us to victory in World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
3) Harry Truman - He made one of history's hardest decisions: The Atomic Bomb. He also dealt well with Civil Rights. Too bad the whole senate was against his progressive ideals on civil rights.
4) John F Kennedy - He had to deal with Civil Rights, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Vietnam. It's a shame he was assassinated.
5) George Washington - he was the founding father.
6) Ulysses S Grant - he dealt very well with the KKK in the 1870's
7) Dwight D Eisenhower - He dealt with Little Rock, and the Korean War.
8) Bill Clinton - Did a lot for aid in Kosovo, and helped with the Education program
9) Lyndon B Johnson - Signed the Civil Rights Act. Brought America a lot closer to equality.
10) Thomas Jefferson - Expanded America's influence
Thanks for the further comments. My reasons for not having Reagan on this list are simple, and I'm glad to finally have non-profanity laced comments that allow me to address this: he is the spearhead of absolute propoganda.
Reagan had virtually nothing to do with the fall of Communism, and he did not single handedly free 400 million people. This is history, not a Super Man comic. He gave a great speech. The Germans tore down the Berlin Wall, not Reagan. Gorbachov might have had more to do with accelerating the fall than anything because of his progressive policies of Perestroika and Glasnost created a degree of free press and industry in Russia that could not be stopped. When a military coup was attempted, the Russian people stopped it - not Ronald Reagan, not NATO, not the U.S. military. The Soviet Union was doomed from the start because it was communism in a pre-industrial nation - and communism was meant as a form of government for industrialized nations. The Soviet Union didn't qualify, and add in the lack of recovery aid after World War II, the lack of healthy males due to war casaulties, the lack of infrastructure and a world wide embargo, they were finished from the start. The Pope's visit to Poland causing hundreds of thousands of closet Catholics to come out in Poland around the fall of the Berlin Wall had far more of a direct effect than Reagan.
Reagan also ballooned budget deficits, put the nation nearly $6 trillion into debt, and started what became an accepted practice of running the government on deficits, pushing the tax burden to future generations.
He also armed Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban (and the beginnings of Al Qaeda) in Afghanistan, as well as giving arms and training (look up the infamous School of the Americas) to roving death squads who ethnically cleansed tens of thousands of innocent people and strengthened dictatorships across Central and South America. He also all but completely ignored AIDS and once mused about Martin Luther King Jr. being a Communist.
This isn't even going into his support of McCarthy's witch hunts in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which has nothing to do with the actual Presidency.
People claiming him as one of the best ever give him credit for single handedly taking down Communism - a claim that isn't supported by fact, only propoganda, and anyone who has studied Communism, history, and the Soviet Union without a biased eye would not give Reagan the level of credit he receives from the far right.
So what did he do? What balances out the budget deficits, the supporting of genocides, and arming the people who would become our enemies for the next twenty years and counting?
That's why he's not on the list. Granted, if I was going to re-do this list I'd remove JFK for LBJ and add Esienhower, but without the propoganda, there's no way I could put Reagan on here.
I appreciate the different points of view, but I only care about results. And before all the liberal cussing out, 2 of the last 3 Presidential campaigns I've worked on were Republican.
That's all I have left on that. I'll publish any comments without swearing or personal attacks, as always.
Only one real standout. George Washington. The prsidency was formed with him in mind for his integrity and leadership qualities. He very easily could have become our first monarch and also he was the one to tell them to refer to him as Mr. President, not Your Excelency or Your Majesty, etc. He also willingly stepped aside as you pointed out. His biggest problem I think was the Whiskey Rebellion. Lincoln would be my 2nd choice as he really had the hardest time of all of our leaders and was not so well loved until after his death.
I would say Washington, he was the first and therefor had no other to model his presidency after. In fact he set precedent for all Presidents that followed on what the Presidency was and what kind of power the office should have. He was in a unique position being the first, he was offered what in effect was kingship, and turned it down, thereby solidifying forever that the office is seved by a civilian. He demonstrated what it meant to be the Commander in Chief, when he personally led a military contigent as President to put down the Whiskey Tax Rebelliion. Understanding the need for the young country to raise revenue, and the fact that unlike the tea party, these people were being taxed with representation. This is not to diminish the role and great challenges that Presidents that followed faced, certainly Lincoln faced the challenge that no president before or after has faced, saving the union. Still Washington provided the model for all Presidents. The Shark
I will disagree with Jerry G2 on Regan. It is easy to forget recent history, but in 1979 we had stagflation, extremely high credit interest rates, (20%) and skyrocketing inflation. Let's not let the facts get in the way here, you can argue cold war stuff all day, but economics don't lie. Just go to the web and look up a macro economics chart for growth in the 20th century. You see the moderate ups and downs. The downs are steeper during the depression and again in the 70's. Then there is an unprcedented climb like no other period that was sustained for twenty years. If we are going to blame Presidets when things go bad, then we need to give credit when things go well. In addition to economics there was the general feeling in the country that the great days of our country was behind us. Carter had said Americans need to learn to live on less. He had even gone so far as to suggest we should cordon off our homes with plastic in summer and put an ac in one room. Regan said he not only did not accept America's greatest days being behind her, but that her greatest days were still to come. Instead of seeing events on TV like Americans held hostage and being paraded blind folded every night for eager cameras and seeing US War ships crippled in the Gulf after being attacked by missiles, (USS Stark), we saw strength. While Regan was being sworn in, the hostages were quickly scuttled to an aircraft and were in German airspace by the time the inauguration was over. Libya learned quickly too and the threats from that country stopped when the F15's took out the Presidential palace. Under Carter we saw our military strength slip to second in strength to the Russians for the first time ever .Regan rebuilt our military strength and we have never looked back. I know we are in a new reach out to our enemies and negotiate by getting them to like us era, but peace has never been won through weakness. Just look at the Great Seal of the US, it was crafted to clearly send a message. First an Eagle, a bird of great strength and pride, second an olive branch in the right claw signifying the desire for peace, third the cluster of arrows in the left claw signifying weapons and strength and the willingness to use them if necessary for peace. In other words, peace through strength. Whenever we have a weak president our enemies become emboldened. Just look at No. Korea, with this new reach out diplomacy, they are not only developing nuclear missiles, but have promised a launch toward Hawaii on the 4th of July. Can you imagine No Korea threatning a launch at a US State if Regan was President? In addition to the anti missile ship being sent to Hawaii there would be a warning to No Korea. I am sure we ould say, if you launch a missile at US territory we will take that as an act of hostility and a require a respone.
No, I am sorry. regan belongs on that list. Put you personal feelings aside and do some reading on him and the Regan years. I know about these things, I was there, I saw them. The Shark
I agree with The Shark, you can't discuss GREAT Presidents without Ronald Reagan. My only disagreement with your list (Reagan aside) Is JFK and FDR. I don't think either one did anything extraordinary! Just one last thing, I can see why you are not a Reagan fan. Being from Austin Texas does not lend itself to rational thought concerning conservatives! I was born there and moved North about 20 miles just as soon as I could, now you know where I'm coming from! Other than those 3 items your list was good.
Just kidding about Austin, maybe.
the Shark: Reagan under reagan that ceo salaries skyrocketed and he raised taxes six times and the Iranian Release was secured before Reagan was president Economy is not the responsibility of the president and surely the policies of the previous president have no impact on economy during the first term in office. Also I think we can all agree that funding an giving weapons too Iraq and the Mujahadeen were bad ideas. And the whole Iran problem can be largely placed on president Eisenhower sin he approved operation Ajax which ousted a popular democratically elected leader whom though his countries resources should line the pockets of his country and not of anothers. And I really don't see how the Russians ever truly had the upper hand MAD was on and all that mattered was that we had launch nukes to Nuke them and we had the capability to use those nukes when we found out that they had used nukes. And the Soviets never had a good navy we've had a first line Navy since Teddy Roosevelt.
Ronald Reagan should be on this list; definitely ahead of everyone there except maybe George Washington. Reagan secured the release of our American hostages from Iran. Khomeini knew Reagan would retaliate... Abe Lincoln is crediting with ending slavery - his only aim was to preserve the Union. He really didn't care if there was slavery or not. During Clinton's presidency, we saw an economic boom. Unfortunately, a lot of the boom was due to dot.com/internet businesses that subsequently went under and contributed more to hurting the economy... FDR did help propel the US out of the Great Depression; however, his policies gave rise to our current "welfare" and "entitlement" society. FDR only intended to use many of the fixes to do just that - FIX the economy after the Depression (regulating the stock market and banking insurance, etc., were good). Making the US a welfare state was not.
I agree with Austin's comments... Don't blame you for moving North of there. Nice place to visit, though.
I admire and I respect to President George Washington for keeping the country together. Having Democratic leadership and steping down volontary after second terms. He left great example for all presidents of the world. God bless him and keep him in heaven........
FDR should be on that list.
REGAN should not. And I firmly stand by it.
And please, don't say "Well I was there and he did great things" blah blah blah.
I lived in Poland and the US during his time, and trust me, he didn't have anything to do with the fall of the USSR, Berlin Wall, etc. Sure he got hostages out, but so did Bill Clinton- a couple of months ago!
Jefferson was in my opinion the best President. Clinton and Reagan were Popular Presidents, not the same thing as a great President. Not saying either were horrible either. However I would include FDR, LBJ, Carter and Nixon on my list of horrible Presidents.
Jerry G2 this is a very good post. Thanks for the info. I will become a fan.
No mention of Andrew Jackson! While his Indian removal policies surely seem harsh by todays standards, they were intended to improve the welfare of the "common man." He helped win the War of 1812, gained Forida, balanced the U.S.budget and extended the voting rights to many.
So what if Andrew Jackson had good intentions? Everyone has those. He gained Florida at the cost of the Mexicans and massacred Indians. He may not have been a horrible president, I admit I don't know a lot about him, but I know enough to say I wouldn't consider him one of the best.
Jimmy Carter is my favorite President. I don't know why people don't like him, but he seemed to me to be more for peace than any other President.
Carter? A good president? Go get some fresh air! I'll give Carter credit for one thing, I think he did what he felt was right. The problem was we was wrong.
THOMAS JEFFERSON WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Personally, I would replace Bill Clinton with Ronald Reagan.
DJ Funktual says:
18 months ago
Great Choice. I liked them all. Anybody but you know who.