From our first president, George Washington, to Bush 2, who was/is the BEST American president of all time?

Question

Why?

Answer 1

Thomas Jefferson... and if Alexander Hamilton got to become president he would easily knock all other presidents on their ***. They both were of different parties but they were brillant. Something i yet to see today.....

Answer 2

Some people would say James K. Polk was the BEST President, because it was under him that the US won the Mexican War, and added Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, etc. to the Union. There is a case to be made for that, but most historians don't give him credit as BEST President.

Most would say FDR.

The reason is this. In American history there have been good times and bad times. There have only been a handful of times when it was actually an open question as to IF the United States would survive or not.

Most historians agree 4 times in history, (maybe 5 if you count the Cold War) there have been times when the guy who was President might have wound up being the LAST President of the United States.

The first time would have been at the initial founding, would we win the Revolutionary War? Would the Constitution work or not? George Washington saw us through that. If things had turned out differently we wouldn't have a USA. He could have easily been the last President.

The second time was the Civil War. Had the South won the Constitution would have had little meaning anymore. I mean how powerful would the Federal Government be if it couldn't even keep the States in the Union? What was left of the USA probably would have broken up over time, perhaps some of the States would have joined the British Empire, some might have become independent (California probably would have gone back to being an independent republic) and some might have continued using the name United States of America, but it would not have been the same nation we see today. Abraham Lincoln saw us through that. If he hadn't he could have been the last President too.

The third time the future existance of the USA was in danger was the early part of the Great Depression. The unemployment rate was something like 30%. People were STARVING. They couldn't feed their kids. They couldn't find work for anything. People were hungry and desperate, and when you are hungry and frustrated and desperate and your kids don't have food and you can't pay the rent... well that socialist revolutionary down the block that you always thought was a nutcase... he starts to sound like he is makes a lot of sense. (Go Google "Bonus March" to find out more.) FDR was aware when he got elected that if he didn't do something BIG, and FAST he might just wind up being the LAST President of the USA. FDR got us though it though.

The next time the USA was on the line was WW2, also under FDR. If we had stayed out of it, Hitler would have taken England and Russia, and South America, Japan would have taken India and Australia, and by the late 1950s it would have been the USA (and mabey Canada) against the rest of the planet... and we would not have won. FDR got us through WW2 as well. He had more than one chance to be the last President.

The Cold War was probably a fight we could not afford to loose too, but that was fought under a lot of Presidents. Some did better than others at it. Reagan, and Nixon were the best Cold Warriors, Bush, Eisenhower, Truman, JFK and LBJ were very good Cold Warriors. Carter was a disaster of the first magnitude as a Cold Warrior. Ford tried, but he had a Democratic Congress and couldn't do a lot. Reagan is generally considered to have "won the cold war" with his policies, but he didn't win it alone. (Aside from the other Cold War Presidents there was Prime Minister Thatcher, Lech Walesa in Poland, even the Pope played a big role in winning the Cold War). You can't give one President credit for that, the way you can give Lincoln credit for seeing us through the Civil War.

So most historians would give the title of BEST President to FDR, simply because if he hadn't been President when he was, there probably wouldn't be a USA to be President of anymore.

Answer 3

There have been several worthy and impressive presidents -which is where I'd rank Truman and TR, for example (and Eisenhower's stock has been going up lately), a few disasters (Buchanan, Pierce), a number of so-so's . . . Some were important (Jefferson, Jackson) but their actual presidential legacy may be more mixed.

I'm also figuring FDR and Reagan will end up ranked as the two best of the 20th century .

But there are only TWO who can be placed in the top tier -- Washington and Lincoln. It's almost impossible to judge between them, since their circumstances were so different (though both faced something unprecedented and handled it well).

I tend to give the nod to Lincoln. Did he make mistakes? Sure.... who wouldn't in his impossible situation? But (very unlike the two just before him) he learned from them, was a political master, and knew how to corral bring the best out of his cabinet members (many of them his rivals who at first thought themselves more worthy than he. . but changed their minds). And he saw before most what sort of effort would be needed to win the war, and stuck with it. An important part of his leadership was his SPEECHES. No other President even comes close here. (His Second Inaugural, which has never been approached, can move you to tears.)

Answer 4

Harry S. Truman was the kind of man that made me want to grow up and become president. He was courageous, honest, intelligent. He ended WWII with a very difficult decision, he relieved McCarthur of his command when McCarthur didn't want to follow orders from his commander-in-chief. He was a hard worker, rising at 5am for brisk walks before going to work, so brisk that reporters could not keep up with his pace. And he was also a loving husband and father. There have been one or two that have come close to his stature, but all of them were before his time -- Abraham Lincoln, both Roosevelts, John Adams -- but none have even approached his integrity since then. JFK was popular but ineffective; young and good-looking, but stared down by Castro, and running around on Jackie with Marilyn Monroe. Nixon's foreign policy legacy will always be overshadowed by Watergate. Carter was sidled by the hostages in Iran and boycotted the Russia Olympics -- no wonder he wasn't re-elected. In fact, Carter has been more effective as a goodwill negotiator SINCE he left office and won a Nobel Peace prize for his efforts. And Bush 2 is a moron. He is the perfect example of a well-oiled political machine being able to get a trained chimp into office. Check out the biography on Truman by David McCullough and see if you don't agree with me by the end.

Answer 5

Washington, he was one of the few leaders in history who led a successful revolution, founding a new country and stepped down after his second term. He accomplished the most in the shortest amount of time, and he had enough faith in the citizens to step down and allow the next guy his turn.

Lenin, Castro, Ho Ch Min, Mao and countless others can not say that. It is easier to win a war than to give up the power.

Next would be Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt.
And I would say that the M.L.King brought forward the civil rights movement and not JFK.

Answer 6

Franklin Delano Roosevelt! He lead us through the great depression and WWII and was the only one to serve 3 terms. He rocks!!!

Answer 7

President George W. Bush is our best President so far.

Answer 8

i would have to say bush2, cause since the begining of his presidency he has been scrutinized and literally every word he said put under a microscope and he is still standing strong with what he believes// and doesnt care what comedians or talk show hosts say about him or his policies

Answer 9

JFK because he helped minorities and started the civil rights movement! no other president would.