Best President. Period.

[St. Jarvitude]

Republican or Democrat, who was the greatest President of the United States of America?

George Washington
Washington set all of the precedents that every President (with a few notable exceptions) has followed to this day. Perhaps his most important achievement was his stepping down after eight years and the unusually peaceful transfer of power that followed. The federal government's firm response to the "Whiskey Rebellion" (which included Washington leading Federal troops himself... imagine * doing that on the battlefield! :D) showed that this new Federal government with stronger power was more effective than the weak confederacy that existed before the Constitution.

Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson's legacy lies in the Louisiana Purchase and the ensuing Land Act of 1804, which essentially set the borders of the eventual Trans-Appalachian states. Plus, the funniest bill in American history, the "Non-Intercourse Act" was passed.

Abraham Lincoln
He needs no explanation. Lincoln set the gears of the emancipation of slaves in motion and brought the country back from its greatest test yet - dissolution of the Union. The only knock on this guy people can come up with was his suspension of Habeas Corpus and violation of other civil rights.

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
The Square Deal is Teddy's legacy as President. These reforms in business, increasing government regulation of business practices, and his unprecedented environmentalist/conservationalist policies set the Golden standard by which all American presidents should be judged.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Like Lincoln, FDR needs no explanation. He singlehandedly ended the Great Depression with his New Deal, and helped bring perhaps the greatest threat to humanity ever to its knees. However, Executive Order 9066 (which established internment camps for Japanese-Americans) is one of the worst violations of civil rights in American history.

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower successfully ended the Korean War, and took a huge step forward in the fight for civil rights by sending Federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to ensure integration. Eisenhower also had a (unfortunately, private) disgust for McCarthy and his rabid witchhunt, and it is widely believed that he was responsible for McCarthy's eventual downfall. His greatest achievment is the U.S. Interstate system, which revolutionized American culture, while unfortunately holding us back from any real, effective nationwide mass public transportation system.

John F. Kennedy
Had his term not ended so tragically and abruptly, he might be remembered as the greatest President after World War II. Despite Bay of Pigs, Kennedy pulled off perhaps the greatest and most important diplomatic success in American history, avoiding nuclear war with the USSR over the Cuban Missile Crisis. Kennedy also raised the morale of the country with his unrelenting optimism and immense support of NASA's race to the moon.

LBJ
If it were not for one of the worst foreign policy debacles of the 20th century, LBJ would be remembered as one of the greatest Presidents of all time, if only for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. LBJ also stepped down from the race for the Democratic nomination in 1968 to devote all of his energy towards achieving peace in Vietnam.

William Jefferson Clinton
He's kind of the token guy on this list, but he was a great President devoted to progressive policies before he sold out around 94-96.

[bossfish]

1. I'm giving a vote for TR...

A lot of what he was about is ringing true now. You couldn't accuse him of being some weak-kneed pantywaist.

But I'd go for Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln or FDR pretty easily, too.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. Maybe during his Bull Moose years...certainly not during his presidency

They played him on Panama big time

[TwentyFive]

2. Hard choice. I could have picked at least 3. Both Roosevelts & Jefferson

Clinton and Lincoln too....but then I feel bad for leaving JFK and Washington out. I ended up giving the nod to Teddy.

[fortyfeetunder]

3. George W. Bush

JUST KIDDING! I knew I'd rile up the string...

Seriously, FDR

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. The only one to reign in capitalism..FDR

[Maddy McCall]

6. LBJ - the only TRUE liberal of all that you mentioned.

[DireStrike]

7. Had to give my boy Jefferson some love

He could be me in a past life.

[catzies]

8. I liked your commentary but I think your Clinton quote is missing somethin

"...devoted to...before he sold out."

You've got me scratching my head there.

[St. Jarvitude]

9. Oopsie, fixed.

That's what happens when you're doing 87.4 things at once.

:hi:

[Zomby Woof]

10. Washington was Hamilton's puppet-boy

I sometimes suspect the reason he really stepped down after 8 years was because the doddering old retreater was tired and just wanted to go home to Mt. Vernon and bang some of his slaves. Worthless old turd.

Jefferson - the Embargo Act was the single stupidest piece of crap legislation between the ratification of the Constitution and the Missouri Compromise of 1820. He should have just stayed at the Monticello and banged Sally Hemings some more.

FDR? Charlatan. Ask any elderly Japanese-American what they think of him. Trying to pack the SCOTUS was the dumbest thing any president tried until Reagan took the oath and began 8 years of unmitigated dumbness.

JFK - his legacy was made by the assassin's bullet.

LBJ - how many kids did you kill today?

Fuck all of 'em!

ZW - Historian with an attitude

[St. Jarvitude]

11. So I guess you voted for Clinton?

;)

[Zomby Woof]

13. I said FUCK ALL OF 'EM

[MrModerate]

16. So, anybody meet your standards for adequacy, or

"Fuck all of 'em?"

As a policy, "fuck all of 'em" has its limitations.

[hoosierblue]

20. lol

I don't know about that. I say, "Fuck all of 'em," to the B*sh Admin every day.

[rndmprsn]

12. FDR

gets my vote...for all the right reason's.

[Hippo_Tron]

14. The Whiskey Rebellion is a SHAME on Washington's presidency

Hamillton passed the Whisky tax to provoke the rebellion so that the government could put it down and show thier might.

It's too hard to pick because the greatest presidents had the greatest flaws. Lincoln, FDR, LBJ all did great things. At the same time, they all did horrible things.

Carter, Clinton, Jefferson, Eisenhower never did anything incredible but never did anything as horrible as Lincoln, FDR, or LBJ. It's really hard to define greatness.

[tinrobot]

15. Gotta go with Lincoln

...with FDR a close second.

[FM Arouet666]

17. FDR the real deal

Unlike the chimp who would like to believe that his foray into the middle east is analogous to the peril which faced the free world in the forties, FDR was president at probably the most crucial time in U.S. history. Lincoln is a close second, but had the south won the war, the world would not have been as mortally wounded as if Hitler had won. On top of this, add getting America out of a GOP administered depression and FDR is truly the new deal.

[El Biggo Doggo]

18. FDR got my vote, but I love, love, LOVE my Big Dog!

charm, grace, brains. he was just 'cool' in the classic 1950s sense of the word.

[Bush was AWOL]

19. FDR

liked how he stood up for the little guy economically and guided our country through some of its darkest hours. The guy had to make some tough decisions and left the country in much better shape after he was out of office than it was when he came in.