"Best U.S. President (pre 1960)" Topic

With today being Presidents Day here in the U.S.
I thought this might be a good idea for a poll
about who was our best president. And to keep it
from turning into CA territory lets keep it pre 1960.

My vote would be Abe Lincoln, He led us through the
Civil War, kept the country intact, Kept England and
France out of the war, & freed the slaves.

Teddy Roosevelt, baby.

Washington peacefully established the concept of terms
Lincoln saved the Union
FDR the Great Depression & World War II
T Jefferson Louisania Purchase
Teddy Roosevelt Panama Canal for the century we needed it

in that order.

Buchanan is the worse in any list.

Dan

Peacetime and prosperity: Calvin Coolidge. Mostly because to me, the best president is the one who does the least…

Crisis and War: Lincoln and maybe FDR.

FDR gets my vote for absolute worst in peacetime and prosperity.

Buchanan gets my vote for worst in crisis and (coming) war.

(edit) Oops, forgot the pre-1960 part.

I like the list Dan, I'd only switch Washington with Lincoln . Not to sure about T Jefferson, but can not
think of anyone else to replace him.

I mostly agree with you Keith, except that I would have limited myself to the original posters intent of keeping it <1960. :)

Which of the ones mentioned would be post 1960???

Lincoln.

Dave

Washington. Without him we likely wouldn't have the system or country we have now. Then Lincoln.

Thanks,

John

Washington.

William Henry Harrison did less damage than any of the others.

Here's how 60 historians have rated our Presidents. Abe wins.

link

Historians don't count. They're biased.
They actually expect them to accomplish something.
I also like Cheser Arthur, since he restrained himself from the habits of a lifetime of corruption, and was HONEST while in the White House.

I agree with TR but most of these men were 'of their times' and it is really hard to compare men 100 or more apart.

Sorry IronIvan Keith but I would have to disagree with Collidge. I have been led to beleive that His policies contributed heavily to the market collapse .

Teddy Roosevelt all the way!

Horatio Gates

Washington, after all he is the father of our country, for good reason.
Lincoln, wins civil war, frees slaves, good jokester.
Roosevevelt, Teddy, Personal courage, great naturalist.

Washington because he created the whole darn thing.
Lincoln a close second. For good or bad, he kept it together in a time of enormous crisis.
TR for style and personality.

Lincoln-he faced the greatest crisis in our history and managed to hold the country together while freeing the slaves, creating land grant colleges, authorizing the transcontinental railroad and helping to pass the Homestead Act.

Washington is also deserving but is second for me. He helped us to figure out what the presidency is about and kept us out of a European conflict at a very difficult time.

Like TR as president, but have personal issues with him.

FDR is the man, in my view. Well, the third or the fourth man.

Lincoln

Washington

FDR

John Adams, our second president.
When he lost his re-election bid, he retired peacefully. For the first time, the US had an orderly transition of power even though the loser of the election had the means to retain the office.
He proved that the American system worked.

Rudy: It has been my impression that that was caused by Hoover more than anything else, despite being known as as a "hands off the economy" president.

But this is probably blue fez territory and I don't have the time or energy for that.

We will have to agree to disagree.

Washington first based on his accomplishments in uniform and as the first Chief Executive. Hard to see how anyone could top his Cabinet:Hamilton, Knox and Jefferson and their work in Treasury, War and State make today's circus look lame. And Washington set the precedent of two terms.
Second would be Lincoln, and not just because I am a Lincoln on my Dad's side. The man was simply amazing. And I dare anyone to top him as a speechwriter. Both Inaugural Addresses and the Gettysburg Address are masterpieces of political oratory.
Third would be FDR. True he put the country on the path of entitlements, but he steered us through the Depression and World War II and set the stage for the US to become a superpower. And he was the first Chief Executive to effectively use mass media to communicate with the public, which in many ways makes him a prototype for the modern era President.
Lance/Corsair

Perhaps you might tell us in what regard.

This is just a left handed way of asking for political preferences.

mjc

Teddy Roosevelt, our last renaissance president -- successful politician, war hero, naturalist, and historian (his book on the US Navy in the War of 1812 is still a classic). There's a reason his face is on Mount Rushmore with Lincoln, Washington, and Jefferson. Not to mention he was a man who put his "money where his mouth is." He was the undersecretary of the Navy when war broke out with Spain. Rather than sit in that cozy position, and because he supported the war, he went into the Army to do his part – when was the last time you saw a politician do that or anything similar? His sons also served in WWI, where one was killed, and another in WWII, who was the most senior officer to land at Normandy on D-Day.

King George III

does that count?

:-)

Nope, he was German!

Wow Mathion, I like the thought on John Adams. I never would have thought of it that way.

Theodore Rex.

Washington: Turned down the offer of kingship.

Lincoln: The Emancipation Proclamation.

T. Roosevelt: Naturalist and preservationist

FDR: His untiring efforts led to the eradication

of polio and, like Lincoln, fought for the

rights of the working man, the weak, poor

and disenfranchised.

JW

Washington--founder of a nation
Lincoln---Forged the nation Washington founded
FDR---saved the nation Lincoln forged…..

Just my opinion as a Limey!!!

Incidentally, if you go to Wikipedia and type in "James Pol", you know, as an unfinished 'I'm still in the process of typing my search choice….' kind of thing, the number one suggestion is James Polehinke, the survivor of a 2006 airplane crash, rather than James K. Polk. This pops up under the search input bracket as you're typing.

It's pretty bad when you were actually, uh, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and then your entire first and last name minus one letter leads to the first officer on a random Comair crash in Kentucky.

Search: John Kenned….

'Oh, you mean John Kennedeski, lead organist in the polka-punk fusion band, Oompah-Oi?'

'No, I mean John -ing Kennedy!'

Still, Polk did come in just ahead of the guy who established the famed First National Bank of Tekamah, so he is not wholly without notariety.

Iron Ivan Keith wrote:

Peacetime and prosperity: Calvin Coolidge. Mostly because to me, the best president is the one who does the least…

While I'm all in favour of politicians doing as little as possible, I'd go with "Silent Cal" because he has the best one-liner.

"Dad Wins"… classic!

Barmy Flutterz wrote:

Still, Polk did come in just ahead of the guy who established the famed First National Bank of Tekamah, so he is not wholly without notariety.

Also, he is the president with the best "They Might be Giants" track about him.

All the best,

John.

FDR

President James Madison, "the Father of the Constitution."