Top 5 Best Presidents

As a response to the Top 5 Worst, I think it is only fair we look on the bright side of things:

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt- Even if he didn't fix the Depression, he fixed America's spirit, created numerous poverty safety nets, and led the U.S. through WWII.

2. Abraham Lincoln- Kept the Union together.

3. Dwight Eisenhower- Sometimes the Best Presidents are the ones that do nothing.

4. Ronald Reagan

5. Bill Clinton- Regardless of his Sleezyness, he was a good president.
 
1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. John F. Kennedy
3. Abraham Lincoln
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Bill Clinton
 

Penelope

Banned
1: Ronald Reagan - Fixed the economy, ended the cold war, brought down the Berlin Wall.

2: Dwight D. Eisenhower - Did alot of great things, even while doing just about... nothing.

3: John F. Kennedy - Got the Space Program started up, was a pretty good president, even though he was fucking everone but his wife.

4: George Washington - Obviously.

5: Theodore Roosevelt - Good, Charismatic, memorable President.
 

maverick

Banned
Charles Lindbergh: was right to concentrate in the war against Japan rather than antagonizing Germany, even if the politicos blame him for the Cold War and the early appeasement of the Nazis, most military analysts agree that Japan was the priority.

Wendell Wilkie: despite the shortcomings of his Vice President, his fighting for Civil Rights and war preparedness are the reasons America was on top throughout the cold war;

Joseph Kennedy Jr: Well, he avoided nuclear war with Germany over Iceland, that's gotta count for something, not to mention getting the first man to the moon in 67. Take that, Nazis!

Henry S. Beckinrige: often underrated, but he did handle the great depression in ways Hoover never did and was Mr. Preparedness himself before Wilkie took office in 41.

Dick Lugar: Nuclear Disarmament, peace in the middle east (the Iran-Irank deal of 1982) and the peaceful end of the cold war, which lets face it, could have ended with a nazi nuclear civil war...



I'm of course not adding 19th century Presidents since this is post-1900



OOC: Alternate History, guys...;)
 
In no particular order:

FDR: Ended Great Depression, Lead America to victory in a great war between good and evil

TR: Made America into a super power, fought corruption

Lincon: Freed the Slaves, kept the country together

LBJ: Successfully passed Civil rights bill, but was forced to give up all the credit to his predecessor.

Clinton: Greatest surplus in American history, United States was THE unrivaled superpower under him, came the closest of any president to giving the American people universal health care, all around a great president, and with his pot smoking, affairs, and saxophone playing, he was entertaining as all hell, and the guy we all wanted to be.
 

Valdemar II

Banned
1: Ronald Reagan - Fixed the economy, ended the cold war, brought down the Berlin Wall.
'
Yes Ronald Reagan the greatest President ever, ups did I say president, I meant Human being.

Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911- )

Reagan is most famous for singlehandedly bringing down the Berlin Wall with one punch. This was followed by a one man march to Moscow which culminated in Reagan smashing in the heads of the leaders of the Soviet government, all except for Gorbachev, who was cowardly, and agreed to split up the Soviet Union in exchange for his life.

Once done, Reagan discovered the New World and found that it had slaves. Reagan believed this unjust, so he quickly freed the slaves and converted the natives to Christianity without the use of force.

Then, hearing that things had gone awry back in Europe, he flew back and kicked Hitler so hard in the balls that they flew out of his mouth, rendering him a human without a sex. The Germans would not vote for such a person, so Hitler did not come into power.

Afterwards, he set himself upon a campaign that would end racism and hate in the world, and this completely succeeded in a matter of months, except in the Middle East. After founding the Roman Empire to make sure this system remained stable, Reagan decided to rest and ignore the Middle East, but fate had other plans. Al Qaeda bombed Pearl Harbor at the order of their evil leader Louis XIV who wanted to bring Communists back into power. Reagan flew to Iraq where he not only slew Louis and his assistant Ahmadinehusseiladen, but he also killed Bill and shot the Sheriff (but he did not shoot the deputy). Once done, Reagan repulsed the attempted invasion by aliens, ending in him destroying their motherships on Independence Day.

His peace was short-lived though, because he had to go to Namek to fight the evil Lord Frieza and his helper Voldemort. So he set off, and the adventures of Reagan continue to this day...
 

nbcman

Donor
Clinton: Greatest surplus in American history, United States was THE unrivaled superpower under him, came the closest of any president to giving the American people universal health care, all around a great president, and with his pot smoking, affairs, and saxophone playing, he was entertaining as all hell, and the guy we all wanted to be.

He inherited the superpower status and did much to undo it. I was in the Army during his presidency and we could rarely train due to insufficient funds and we were frequently without replacement parts. I am not saying that he was a bad president-but Clinton wasn't one of the top 5 compared to Lincoln, TR or FDR.
 

Caspian

Banned
I would argue that it is much too early to rank Clinton - there will still be aftereffects of his presidency that need to be taken into account, and probably more importantly, there is still far too much emotion connected to him to allow him to be objectively evaluated.

My top 5 at this moment (my list is never going to be completely finished, even without taking into account the addition of new presidents) include (in chronological order):

George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Abraham Lincoln
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin Roosevelt

I do tend to have a bias for a strong president.
 
My list of the five greatest Presidents (AL guys!):

1. Thomas E. Dewey (1945-1957): ushered in peace-time prosperity after World War Two (the record-breaking "Dewey Boom" of 1946-1956). Kept the Soviet tide dammed up East of Berlin and Prague. Prevented a complete Communist takeover of China through judicious military intervention. Stood by our British and French allies in Indochina and Suez, preventing Communist advances. Did more to advance equal rights for African-Americans than any President since Lincoln.

2. William Jennings Bryan (1897-1901): although his Presidency was tragically cut short by assassination, he ended the boom and bust cycles of the economy and strengthened both agriculture and labor. Kept America out of imperialistic adventures.

3. Theodore Roosevelt (1909-1921): Kept the Bryan economic reforms in place and helped enact the Women's vote amendment earlier than expected. Intervened with both feet in World War One and forced the allies to accept a just peace with Germany, thus paving the way for an era of international harmony and economic progress in the 1920s.

4. Hannibal Hamlin (1865-1873): Brought the nation together after the trauma of the Civil War and the Lincoln assassination. Used a mixture of firmness and conciliation when dealing with the South.

5. Richard M. Nixon (1965-1973): Kept South Vietnam free. Advanced civil rights with minimal social disruption. Shared Nobel Peace Prize with Martin Luther King in 1966 for racial reconcilation progress. Cut taxes, introducing the concept of "Supply side economics" to America.
 
1. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1873) Saved the Union and reintegrated the South into national life.

2. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1946) Led the country through the Depression and the war, then handed over to Truman.

3. Richard M. Nixon (1961-1969) Saved South Vietnam, opened relations with China, cut taxes and first "Thatcherite" President.

4. Robert F. Kennedy (1969-1977) Negotiated peace between Israel, Egypt and Jordan, National Service Administration, and kept the Democrats on a relatively moderate, Blue Dog bent for many years. Served as NY's Senator 1979-2003 before handing off to Hillary Clinton. Assisted President McCain as FRC Chairman.

5. John McCain (2001-2009): Liberation of Afghanistan, middle-class tax cut, detente with Iran.
 
George Washington: Precedent alone.

Thomas Jefferson: Restored Freedom of Speech and over saw the Louisiana Purchase.

Andrew Jackson: Killed the Central Bank

Grover Cleveland: Never did much of anything. Favored Gold and Lower Tarriffs.

Warren Harding : Lower Tax rates, lower spending, pardoning of people illegally imprisoned during WWI.
 

Onyx

Banned
Thomas Jefferson - Did alot of good things that I dont want to type

FDR - Like above, the only problem I had with him was that he really didnt do anything that saved the Jews in the Halocaust

William McKinley - This guy was alright, I thought he was a good person for invading Cuba and Phillipines, a Phillipine friend of mine said that he was his fav pres for that

Abraham Lincoln - Civil War of Course, I also highly respect him for denying an order from Ulyssess-Dickhead-Grant to expell all Jews from Tenessee, and much of the states around it.

Benjamin Harrison - No-one of course knew the guy, but I thought he did well on Foreign Policy, he started the first Pan American Union and sent Frederick Douglass to Haiti for diplomacy, he also built Pearl Harbor, and had sorta an opposition in annexing Hawaii militarily. It's kinda sad that he was the guy who was the president between that dickhead-Grover Cleveland
 
1. Abe Lincoln (Arguably even a greater president than Washington himself. A lesser man might have watched the nation collapse in his hands.)

2. George Washington (For being the role model of what a President should be...and also for playing fair with the new USA)

3. Theodore Roosevelt. (Crimefighter, war hero, progressive, in strong contrast to Wilson, not a hardcore racist.) His record speaks for itself.

4. Thomas Jefferson (Doubled the size of the United States, avoided a disastrous war with the UK)

5. Harry Truman. (First US President to address racism, made the critical call NOT to use the bomb in Korea and opposed MacArthur, critical role in cementing relationships around the world with the Marshall Plan.)
 

Raymann

Banned
George Washington: Precedent alone.

Thomas Jefferson: Restored Freedom of Speech and over saw the Louisiana Purchase.

Andrew Jackson: Killed the Central Bank

Grover Cleveland: Never did much of anything. Favored Gold and Lower Tarriffs.

Warren Harding : Lower Tax rates, lower spending, pardoning of people illegally imprisoned during WWI.

I think your list is the best so far except I'd probably replace Cleveland with Reagan.
 
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