Greatest American (who was President)

Just letting all know, I've got a poll for the names mentioned so far...
Also, sorry about the bump -- I wanted people to notice this post to go to the poll, and not long after, another page opened up...
 
I would tend to favor Eisenhower after 1900 for he was a solid President along with his service in WW2. Pre 1900, there's no question its the father of this country (Washington) but there's no telling what impact Lincoln would have had if not for his assassination.
 
With all due respect Grant wasn't the greatest general the US had. He just threw soldiers into the meat-grinder until the enemy didn't have any left.

At Fort Donelson? At Shiloh? At Vicksburg? At Lookout Mountain?

He certainly relied a lot on "attrition" in Virginia but was established as a great general long before then.
 
If we're going to divide Presidents by era, I'd have to say Eisenhower for the 20th century and Grant for the 19th. Washington for the 18th century (no competition there). I'd also add Washington to my list of all time greatest persons who happened to become President. I don't think we should include Presidents who are still living, because we really don't know what they might achieve in the years ahead (Clinton and/or Bush II may do something really extraordinary before they die).

So to divide things up a bit more, let's have greatest President (as a non-President) among those who served as President during:

18th C - Washington

First half 19th C - J.Q. Adams

Second half 19th C - Grant

First half 20th C - TR

Second half 20th C (living ex-presidents excluded) - Eisenhower

This of course would include their non-Presidential achievements that occurred in the half century preceding or following the half-century in which their occupation of the White House occurred.

And I'd like to add a list of Presidents according to their contributions to American literature:

1. Jefferson (Decl. of Independence plus his voluminous personal letters)

2. Grant (he'd be first except that he only wrote one book)

3. John Adams (for his letters)

4. TR

5. Eisenhower

6. Madison (I think the Federalist Papers qualify as literature)

7. Jimmy Carter (a surprisingly good poet; also wrote a historical novel that wasn't panned--is he the only President who ever wrote a novel?)

I don't include Lincoln because his literary achievements as a speech writer and author of state documents were made while he was serving in the White House for the most part. If he'd survived to write his memoirs he would probably be in the top three.
 
Washington, Adams, Jefferson.

Eisenhower.

Taft.

Dark Horse: John Quincy Adams (went back into the House and opposed slavery with great eloquence. That shows greatness, IMO).
 
I can imagine the ghost of LBJ saying to that of JFK, "That's a fine mess you got me into" (Vietnam) and "Look how I turned your vague New Frontier into a very concrete Great Society". If I were an American, I think I'd choose effective over great any time.

Jim
 
I can imagine the ghost of LBJ saying to that of JFK, "That's a fine mess you got me into" (Vietnam) and "Look how I turned your vague New Frontier into a very concrete Great Society". If I were an American, I think I'd choose effective over great any time.

Jim

Reiterating that this is irrelevant to the OP -- we're talking about men who were President outside of their presidencies...
 
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