AH: Top 5 Best Presidents

OOC: In response to the non-AH "Top 5 Best Presidents" thread.
IC:

With President Colin Powell declaring he will not run for a third term in 2012 some are already heralding him one of the United State's greatest Presidents. So, what do you think? What is your list of top 5 POTUS'?

Heres my list:

1. Alexander Hamilton (F-NY) 1796-1804: Democrats like to still call Hamilton the "President of Big Government" and for good reason. Hamilton is known for tacting great foreign policy, struck a temporary alliance with Napoleon and purchased Haiti from France in 1797, and then Lousiana in 1799, and got France's help during the British invasion in the War of 1804. Hamilton made the U.S economy the strongest it's ever been, creating a surplus that was solvent for over 90 years, relieved us from all of our debt, and created a National Bank.

2. Russel B. Long (D-LA) 1968-1976
Did he have a cheating scandal? Yep
Did he serve in the expectation of "What his father could have been"? Yep
Was he still one of the greatest Presidents of all time, who crossed the isle and worked with the Whigs to pass Civil Rights legislation, defeat the Cuban rebels, and strike the Arms De-Escalation Treaty to de-escalate the Cold War and slow down the arms race probably avoiding WW3.

3. John C. Fremont (W-CA) 1856-1864: Pretty much stopped a small war rebel in South Carolina (who would have always been rebellious) from escalating into a national war, after the Supreme Court knocked down slavery as un-constitutional.He also was able to keep the dying Whig party alive.

4. Colin Powell (D-NY) 2004-2012: Powell is probably going to be known as the greatest foreign policy President of all time. Powell united the U.N and NATO to run as a humanitarian coalition, intervening in the genocide in Abbysinia, and the Kongo while taking down the maniac Makarov the ran the Ukranian Federation and setting up a Democracy. Powell was also able to create a large surplus, make Social Security solvent for the next 60 years, rolled together Medicare and Medicaid and created a National Health Care system, and reformed and simplified the tax code.

5. Henry Clay (DR-KY) 1834-1838, 1842-1846: "The Great Compromiser", Clay was one of the greatest Presidents at dealing with other groups. He effectively struck the Treaty of Rabbits Feet with the Choctaw, and the Treaty of the Great River with the Cherokee to help them either move to reservations in west Georgia and Oklahoma or be insiminated into the society. Also created the national public school system by making national Elementary schooling publicy funded and compulsary.
 
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OOC: Shouldn't Russel Long's term be from 1968 to 1976?

Anyways...

I'm not very well versed in history before 1900s, so all of my favorites are from the 1900s and forward.

1. Morris Udall (W-AZ), 1980-1983
He is indeed a controversial in American politics. He was the first Mormon President which of course led to a lot of unjustified distrust directed towards him by the christian right, but in my opinion he was one of the best President's we've had. Once dubbed "too funny to become President", his charistmatic and strong leadership was what really held the nation together during the Time of Troubles of the early eighties, and he largely laid the foundation of the great reduction of poverty, unemployment, and the strong economic growth of the eighties. And you gotta appreciate the man for having the balls to come head to head with congress of the then controversial Universal Healthcare Bill. Sadly it didn't pass, but he was able to expand health coverage for children and people with low-income, which laid the foundation for the health care bill passed by Powell 20 years later.

2. Russell B. Long (D-LA), ?
Same reasons as given above.

3. Colin Powell (D-NY), 2004-2012
Same reasons as given above.

4. Jerry Brown (W-CA), 1983-1996
After the death of President Udall I'm glad we had Brown to carry on his legacy. He will always be appreciated for the fiscal responsibility he showed during his time in office, especially during the recession of 1989-1991 which he handled very well. Of course there was a lot of controversiality when he nationalized the Citibank Group because he was unwilling to bail them out without any security in the form of stocks. And I'm sure we are better off because of it. Otherwise Citibank would just have collapsed and dragged the whole financial sector with it, and if by some miracle it had remained afloat, it would still be a huge comglomerate which could drag the entire financial sector with it if it collapsed today. I'm pretty thankful for the Brown administration decision to split the company into several smaller corporations, and of course when those companies were sold we regained about 85% of the money we had spent on the bail-out in the first place. Oh and I almost forgot one of his most important contributions: High-speed rail subsidies. :cool: I don't know where our nation would be today without them.

5. Theodore Rosefeld (P-NY), 1916-1924
The President who implemented the first real worker's righs bill which led to the massively better treatment of the country's workers is sure someone that you could appreciate. The same could be said about his "talk softly, carry a big stick" philosophy during the great war of 1918-1923. Also, he was the first and last Progressive President which is pretty cool. Sadly the Progressive Party would fold into the Whigs in the late 40s, but otherwise I'm afraid the Democrats would have continued to completely dominate the political discourse thanks to the split in the left wing.
 
OOC:

Thought I'd post the result of the 1980, '84, '88, and '92 presidential elections.

1980.png

Senator Morris Udall (W-AZ) / Governor Jerry Brown (W-CA) - 366EV, 52,8%
President Robert Dole (D-KS) / Vice President Gerald Ford (D-MI) - 172EV, 46,6%

1984.png

President Jerry Brown (W-CA) / Senator Geraldine Ferraro (W-NY) - 411EV, 56,5&
Governor Jimmy Carter (D-GA) / Senator Paul Laxalt (D-NV) - 127EV, 42,1%

1988.png

President Jerry Brown (W-CA) / Vice President Geraldine Ferraro (W-NY) - 337EV, 51,3%
Senator George H.W. Bush (D-TX) / Governor Lamar Alexander (D-TN) - 201EV, 48,0%

1992.png

President Jerry Brown (W-CA) / Senator Joe Biden (W-DE) - 272EV - 48,9%
Governor George Deukmejian (D-CA) / Representative Jack Kemp (D-NY) - 266EV - 49,5%
 
In the spirit...

1844

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For. PresidentHenry Clay (W-KY)/ For. Vice President Martin Van Buren (W-NY) 167 EV, 54% PV
President Levi Woodbury (D-NH) / Vice President George Dallas (D-PA) 114 EV, 43% PV

1856

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Governor John Fremont (W-CA)/ Senator William Dayton (W-NJ) 156 EV, 35.5% PV
Ambassador James Buchanan (D-PA)/ Senator John Breckindridge (D-KY) 132 EV, 43.3% PV
Senator Millard Filmore (KN-NY)/ Andrew J. Donelson (KN-NC) 0 EV, 22.2% PV

1860

genusmap.php
[/IMG]

President John Fremont (W-CA)/ Vice President William Dayton (W-NJ) 67% PV, 215 EV
Governor Sam Houston (D-TX)/ Senator John Bell (D-TN) 23% PV, 48 EV
Senator Daniel Dickinson (Independence-NY)/ Senator John Breckenridge (Independence-KY) 11% PV, 43 EV

1968

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Senator Russel B. Long (D-LA)/ Senator George McGovern (D-SD) 334 EV, 52% PV
Senator George Romney (W-MI)/ Senator Prescott Bush (D-CT) 204 EV, 48% PV

1972


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Senator Russel B. Long (D-LA)/ Senator George McGovern (D-SD) 401 EV, 54% PV
Governor Ronald Reagan (W-CA)/ Governor James Rhodes (W-OH) 137 EV, 46% PV

2004


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General Colin Powell (D-NY)/ Senator John McCain (D-AZ) 284 EV, 53% PV
President Dick Gerphart (W-MO)/ Senator Tim Pawlenty (W-MN) 254 EV, 47% PV

2008

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President Colin Powell (D-NY)/ Vice President John McCain (D-AZ) 480 EV, 58% PV
Governor Zell Miller (W-GA)/ Senator Mitt Romney (W-MA) 58 EV, 42% PV
 
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OOC: So far our list of Presidents... Whig wank much?

1796-1804: Alexander Hamilton (F-NY)/ John Jay (F-NY)
1804-1836: ?/?
1836-1840: Henry Clay (W-KY)/ Martin Van Buren (W-NY)
1840-1844: Levi Woodbury (D-NH)/ George Dallas (D-PA)
1844-1848: Henry Clay (W-KY)/ Martin Van Buren (W-NY)
1848-1856: Daniel Webster (UW-MA)/ John M. Clayton (UW-DE)
1856-1864: John C. Fremont (W-CA)/ William L. Dayton (W-PA)
1864-1916: ?/?
1916-1924: Theodore Roosefeld (P-NY)/ Hiram Johnson (P-CA)
1924-1968: ?/?
1968-1976: Russel B. Long (D-LA)/ George McGovern (D-SD)
1976-1980: Bob Dole (D-KS)/ Gerald Ford (D-MI)
1980-1983: Morris Udall (W-UT)/ Jerry Brown (W-CA)
1983-1992: Jerry Brown (W-CA)/ Geraldine Ferraro (W-NY)
1992-1996: Jerry Brown (W-CA)/ Joe Biden (W-DE)
1996-2000: ?/?
2000-2004: Dick Gerphart (W-MO)/ Tim Pawlenty (W-MN)
2004-2012: Colin Powell (D-NY)/ John McCain (D-AZ)
 
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EvilSpaceAlien, how did the Democrats win MA in 1980?

And that '08 race... *shudders*

With a different political parties ITTL, the political environment of MA is largely different from OTL. I thought of TTL's MA as being a former Democrat stronghold, turned swing state from the eighties and onwards.
 
OOC: So far our list of Presidents... Whig wank much?

1796-1804: Alexander Hamilton (F-NY)/ John Jay (F-NY)
1804-1836: ?/?
1836-1840: Henry Clay (W-KY)/ Martin Van Buren (W-NY)
1840-1844: Levi Woodbury (D-NH)/ George Dallas (D-PA)
1844-1848: Henry Clay (W-KY)/ Martin Van Buren (W-NY)
1848-1856: ?/?
1856-1864: John C. Fremont (W-CA)/ William L. Dayton (W-PA)
1864-1916: ?/?
1916-1924: Theodore Roosevelt (P-NY)/ Hiram Johnson (P-CA)
1924-1968: ?/?
1968-1976: Russel B. Long (D-LA)/ George McGovern (D-SD)
1976-1980: Bob Dole (D-KS)/ Gerald Ford (D-MI)
1980-1983: Morris Udall (W-UT)/ Jerry Brown (W-CA)
1983-1992: Jerry Brown (W-CA)/ Geraldine Ferraro (W-NY)
1992-1996: Jerry Brown (W-CA)/ Joe Biden (W-DE)
1996-2000: ?/?
2000-2004: Dick Gerphart (W-MO)/ Paul Wellston (W-MN)
2004-2012: Colin Powell (D-NY)/ John McCain (D-AZ)

OOC:

Two things:
Firstly, you put down Paul Wellstone as Gephardt VP when you originally wrote that it was Tim Pawlenty in the election map post. Secondly, I previously established Roosevelt's name as having been changed to Rosefeld ITTL. Hey, we're gonna need at least a few butterflies.
 
I'm a fan of President Dan Webster

1848-1856 - President Daniel Webster/Vice President John M Clayton - Unionist Whigs

Webster's breakaway faction of the Whig Party formed on the pillars of a Limited Tariff, A National Banking System, Compromise on Slavery/with the South, and a strong Nationalistic Expantionist Tone.

Webster drew support from North and South much to the anger of Henry Clay of the 'American' Whig Party. Calhoun too was defeated in 1848 as the Democratic candidate as Webster could muster some support in the south.

Webster and Clayton also scored a number of diplomatic victories, agreeing the New England border with Canada, and free access to the Central American corridor.

However the movement could not long paper over the cracks after Webster, and New England ultimately lost patience with compromise - leading to Fremont's election in 1856.
 
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