Top 5 GREATEST American Presidents ???

[nickshepDEM]

I have always had an interest in who other people view as the greatest Presidents in US history. In strict particular order who are the top 5 Greatest Presidents in US History? (if you can try to take a non partisan point of view when answering, LOL...)


1.) ???
2.) ???
3.) ???
4.) ???
5.) ???

[Cuban_Liberal]

1. My 5.

1.) Lincoln
2.) FDR
3.) Washington
4.) Jefferson
5.) Truman

:)

[nickshepDEM]

3. A sentence or two why for each?

:shrug: ......... B-)

[saltpoint]

2. They'd be:

Thomas Jefferson
Theodore Roosevelt
Abraham Lincoln
James Madison
FDR

[Ron Green]

4. My list:

1) Lincoln
2) FDR
3) Washington
4) Jefferson
5) T. Roosevelt

[indepat]

5. My five:

1. Bush II
2. Harding
3. Reagan
4. Bush I
5. Nixon

[orpupilofnature57]

8. what are you high? biggest group of misanthropes, ever to manage u.s

1(F.D.R
2(J.F.K
3(Jefferson GREAT PRESIDENTS
4(lincoln
5(Washington

[indepat]

12. Oops, sorry for the right answer to a different question: my revised list:

1. Lincoln
2. Washington
3. FDR
4. Jefferson
5. TR

[Idioteque]

22. Hey hey hey

You forgot Grant :P.

[indepat]

26. There would be a few more on my list ahead of Grant, but he's up there

[Botany]

6. James K Polk waz DAAA man!

Why has history forgotten Polk? Harding, Buchanan, W, and Calvin Collidge.
Now there is a list

[Deja Q]

7. Okey dokey... Does #5 count? I'd say so, in a way...

1) Kennedy
2) Carter
3) Lincoln
4) FDR
5) Al Gore

[orpupilofnature57]

13. Makes me think of best that should have been

1(R.F.K
2(Al Gore
3(Arron Burr
4(T.R -As bull moose
5(Frank Zappa -In a well informed world

[lancdem]

9. My list is

Lincoln
FDR
Jefferson
TR
Washington

Truman is a close 6th.

[saltpoint]

10. On the five...

Jefferson -- because his personal library became the Library of Congress and because he was an enlightenment thinker, reviled by hellfire Christians;

Teddy Roosevelt -- because he was engaged in politics as the apotheosis of public service, and he met its rigors with more self-respect and clarity than a certain current resident of the White House, for example;

Abraham Lincoln -- as much for his administrative abilities as for is psychic stamina against personal unhappiness -- his personal family AND his political nation were both under great strain;

FDR -- because he was one smart cookie, despite flaws, and set the now-threatened notion of central government as an entity of, for and by U.S. citizens which must operate in the public interest;

and

Madison -- because he is the spirit who haunts the U.S. Constitution, a document Dubya must not have read at all.

[intheflow]

11. In no particular order:

Jefferson, because he was brilliant and wise, if limited by his time in history (Sally Hemmings, specifically).

Washington, because he stepped down, away from power.

Carter, because he's smart and has a conscience. With the exception of the botched rescue, he has been a man of peace, plus he's a veteran, a humanitarian, and a humble guy.

Lincoln, because he led during a civil war with cajones and compassion.

FDR for the New Deal and the WPA.

[Itchinjim]

14. my 5

Lincoln
FDR
Jefferson
Washington
Tied @ #5;
TR and HST

[Annus Horribilis]

15. My Top 5

1) Lincoln
2) Washington
3) FDR
4) Jefferson
5) Truman

[Nothing Without Hope]

16. I'm so relieved this wasn't about some MSM listing Bush at top

I resisted looking at this thread for a while but then just had to peek. I'm relieved that you're actually ASKING for opinions on great presidents instead of reporting another MSM Kool Aid ad for the cartel in which * is praised as a glorious leader that the whole world should be grateful to follow.

My own grasp of presidential history is not fine-tuned enough to choose the top 5 accurately. The stuff I had to read in school was so biased, and I haven't replaced all of it with more balanced accounts as yet.

[spooked]

17. Someone different on my list

1. Jefferson
2. Lincoln
3. Washington
4. Carter
5. Lyndon Baines Johnson

[greendog]

18. I don't think we've had five great presidents...

...most of those listed above were forced to acquire their reputations by the rabble of their time.

TR's personal vision of conservation makes him one of the few to do something great purely on his own initiative.

[barb162]

19. Washington, John Adams, FDR, Lincoln, Truman

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

20. Mine, and why.

Lincoln. Although, freeing the slaves wasn't his top priority, it's hard to imagine happening without him.

Washington: The best thing he did was to step down, thus insuring that this would be a democracy (of sorts).

Jefferson: He was a revolutionary through and through. He had his faults, but a great mind.

Madison: The framer of the constitution and Bill of Rights. Mistakes were made, compromises led to the civil war, but, given the times it was a great achievement.

FDR: My father, a Socialist, hated his guts for watering down socialism but, despite that, he shoved the country to the left as no one has since.

And, 5 that should have been:

Adlai Stevenson
Eugene McCarthy
George McGovern
Michael Dukakis
Bill Bradley

[BamaGirl]

21. My list

1. Jefferson
2. Lincoln
3. Teddy R.
4. FDR
5. LBJ

[OhioBlue]

23. my top 5

This is on impression and inspiration solely based on their presidency and public service
Jefferson - for his mind
JFK - for his inspiration
TR - for his populism and conservation
FDR - for his courage to introduce new ways of thinking about society
Washington- setting precedence in not allowing the executive office to have the feel of a monarchy (sadly being ignored at present)

(just my impressions - I'm no great historian)

[Hippo_Tron]

24. As pointed out above, they all have flaws, nonetheless

1) George Washington - he shaped the institution of the presidency and much of the federal government.

2) Lincoln - Won the civil war, preserved the union and the concept of democracy.

3) Jefferson - Established the idea of rival political parties and challenged the federalists for violating the constitution.

4) FDR - Moved the country to the left, won World War II

5) Teddy - First genuine reformer in the white house for decades.

Would've been good...

1) Ben Franklin

2) Henry Clay (if anything, he certainly deserved the job)

3) William Jennings Bryan

4) Robert Kennedy

5) Michael Dukakis.

[ZombieNixon]

25. My 5:

1. FDR - New Deal, got us through WWII, awesome dude all around
2. JFK - charisma, inspiration, and any guy who schtupped Marilyn Monroe and got away with it has to be respected ;)
3. Jefferson - Wrote the most important dadgum documents in our history without which we would even be here.
4. LBJ - Civil Rights Act, made JFK's vision into reality
5. Washington - Dad, 1, el primero, need I say more?