Top 5 Best Presidents

Mikestone8

Don't see why Fillmore is there. The Compromise of 1850 wasn't ideal but it was the best that could be done at the time, and vetoing it (or any part of it) would not have helped. It was not Fillmore's fault that only four years later Pierce and Douglas threw petrol onto the apparently cooling embers.
 

TNF

Revised edition, including the top ten best and the top ten worst.

Best:

#1. Franklin Roosevelt, 1933-1945 (Democrat)
#2. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865 (Republican/National Union)
#3. Lyndon Johnson, 1963-1969 (Democrat)
#4. George Washington, 1789-1797
#5. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909 (Republican)
#6. Harry Truman, 1945-1953 (Democrat)
#7. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921 (Democrat)
#8. James Polk, 1845-1849 (Democrat)
#9. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809 (Republican)
#10. Dwight Eisenhower, 1953-1961 (Republican)

Worst:

#1. James Buchanan, 1857-1861 (Democrat)
#2. Richard Nixon, 1969-1974 (Republican)
#3. Warren Harding, 1921-1923 (Republican)
#4. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857 (Democrat)
#5. Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853 (Whig)
#6. Jimmy Carter, 1977-1981 (Democrat)
#7. Herbert Hoover, 1929-1933 (Republican)
#8. James Madison, 1809-1817 (Republican)
#9. Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869 (Democrat)
#10. George W. Bush, 2001-2009 (Republican)

Best Losing Candidates:

#1. Theodore Roosevelt, 1912 (Progressive)
#2. Hubert Humphrey, 1968 (Democrat)
#3. Henry Clay, 1824/1832/1840 (Republican/National Republican/Whig)
#4. Adlai Stevenson, 1952/1956 (Democrat)
#5. Winfield Scott, 1852 (Whig)
#6. Bob La Follette, 1924 (Progressive)
#7. Thomas Dewey, 1944/1948 (Republican)
#8. James Cox, 1920 (Democrat)
#9. Walter Mondale, 1984 (Democrat)
#10. Wendell Willkie, 1940 (Republican)
 

Alien and Sedition Bat

1940LaSalle said:
Top ten:
  1. Washington, for defining the office
  2. Lincoln, for stewardship through the nation's greatest crisis
  3. TR, for architecture of the modern presidency
  4. Ike, for a calm hand during the worst of cold war brinksmanship
  5. Reagan, for getting the economy going and undoing as much damage as possible that his immediate predecessor caused
  6. Polk, for fulfilling much of the nation's expansionist dreams in a way that caused a relative minimum of friction (including avoidance of a war with world power Great Britain)
  7. Ford, for restoring confidence in the presidency after Watergate
  8. FDR, for his efforts to mitigate the depression (which, given the '38 recession that nearly undid everything, weren't the cure-all many make them to be) and for guiding America away from self-destructive isolationism
  9. John Adams, for his role in establishing a truly unifying central government (as opposed to the looser Jeffersonian confederation concept)
  10. Jefferson, for his demonstrations of exercise of presidential powers and prerogatives (although his inept handling of maritime issues and the Embargo of 1807 damn near disqualifies him)
Just missing the cut: Coolidge

The worst ten:

  1. Buchanan: fiddled while Rome burned
  2. Pierce: helped build the bonfire
  3. Fillmore: another northerner with southern sympathies who helped worsen a bad situation
  4. Harding: inept, and in way over his head-but at least he knew it and said so in so many words
  5. Carter: naive, inept, and a micromanager-a fatal trifecta
  6. Tyler: an incompetent opportunist and consummate antebellum southerner (consider he was elected to the Confederate congress but died before taking his seat)
  7. Madison: provided essentially no leadership to speak of during wartime; his presidency almost cancels his achievements in designing the Constitution
  8. Andrew Johnson: we all know the story
  9. Grant: excellent field general promoted to his level of incompetence
  10. Cleveland: his idiotic Secretary of State Olney damn near got the US embroiled in a war with Great Britain when the latter was at its zenith of power (1890). Hard to comprehend, but true-and all over an exercise of the Monroe Doctrine in South America.
Just missing the cut: Wilson, Hoover
Click to expand...

A well-reasoned list except for Reagan.
 
Turquoise Blue

Turquoise Blue

BEST
1. Eugene V. Debs. Established American socialism. However, his rather blind adherence to Socialist ideology led to the Depression.

2. Abraham Lincoln. For leading us through the American Civil War.

3. George Washington. The Father of His Country

4. Charles Evans Hughes. For making sure a fair Treaty of Versailles happened.

5. Theodore Roosevelt. One of the last non-Dem/Rep presidents. Also the most badass one.

6. Franklin D. Roosevelt. For doing right the recovery his predecessor attempted, and for leading us through the Second World War.

7. Burton K. Wheeler. Took over a nation after the death of his predecessor, Robert M. La Follette Sr., and restored people's faith in the government.

8. Lyndon B. Johnson. For the Great Society reforms, which America desperately needed to ensure fair rights to all.

9. Thomas Jefferson. For the Louisiana Purchase, which expanded America a lot.

10. George McGovern. For getting us out of Vietnam and saving many American boys' lives.

At 11 is Harry S. Truman. He made a hard decision, sacrifice thousands to end a war that had killed millions.

At 12 is Henry Clay. The president that tried to soothe the flames that James G. Birney lit. Failed, unfortunately...

WORST
1. John C. Fremont. Instead of trying to salvage the situation and come to a compromise, what do he do? Send troops, starts a bloody civil war.

2. Andrew Johnson. First to be impeached. What more can be said?

3. Al Smith. He was ineffective when it came to the Depression. "Smithvilles" were named after him. The progressive Hoover would have done it right.

4. Ulysses S. Grant. Brilliant general, terrible president.

5. James G. Birney. Made the Civil War inevitable, stoked the bonfire. Also was very sexist.

6. DeWitt Clinton. Ruined the credibility of the Democratic-Republican party.

7. John Adams. Alien and Sedition Acts.
 

Tony

Hell no way in 2012 that I would vote for President Harold Ford. Our economy is in the hell! Vote Republican, cast your vote for Franklin Graham / Stephenie Meyer this November:D

Best:
1. Abraham Lincoln (R, 1861-65)
2. George Washington (I, 1789-97)
3. Theodore Roosevelt (R, 1901-09)
4. FDR (D, 1933-45)
5. Colin Powell (R, 1995-2004)
6. Harry S. Truman (D, 1933-45)
7. George H. W. Bush (R, 1989-95)
8. Ronald Reagan (R, 1981-89)
9. Thomas Jefferson (DR, 1801-09)
10. Dwight D. Eisenhower (R, 1953-61)

Worst:
1. James Buchanan (D, 1857-61)
2. Franklin Pierce (D, 1853-57)
3. Warren G. Harding (R, 1921-23)
4. Andrew Johnson (D, 1865-69)
5. Millard Fillmore (W, 1850-53)
6. Ulysses Grant (R, 1869-77)
7. Eliot Spitzer (D, 2010-11)
8. John Edwards (D, 2005-10)
9. John Tyler (W, 1841-45)
10. Hebert Hoover (R, 1929-33)
 
Noravea

Noravea

Best:

1: Abraham Lincoln (R, 1861-1865)
2. George Washington (I, 1789-1797)
3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (D, 1933-1945)
4. Ronald Wilson Reagan (R, 1981-1989)
5. Rudy Giuliani (R, 2009-2017)

6 and 7 could easily replace 5 in most of my lists...

6. Geraldine Ferraro (D, 1989-1997)
7. Colin Powell (R, 2001-2009)
 

Mikestone8

Grimbald said:
  1. Washington
  2. Jefferson
  3. Reagan
  4. Polk
  5. Not sure anyone else can be called "Great"
Click to expand...
Lincoln surely qualifies for preventing the breakup of the country. You don't have to like everything about how he did it. "Great" \= "Nice".

A similar case could be made for FDR. A lot of desperate people were losing faith in the system. They needed hope, and FDR provided it. Even if a lot of it was spin, it was still necessary, and I'm not sure I see any likely alternative who could have done better.
 
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Plumber

Plumber

TNF said:
Nixon used taxpayer money on behalf of his own re-election campaign (i.e. CREEP and it's related shenanigans). That alone is enough to put him in the worst ten. Nevermind that the rest of his presidency also kind of sucked. Nixon's economic policies were too timid to address the economic environment of the late 1960s/early 1970s, his foreign policy was devoted to appeasing the Soviet Union and retrenchment from foreign affairs, and on matters of social policy, he was a throwback to the 1950s. This is the man who implemented Affirmative Action solely to divide and conquer the Democratic Party, and used racial backlash politics to construct a new coalition formed around social issues, while ignoring the pressing economic issues of the day.

Nixon's style of politics has poisoned the political climate in the United States and lasts until this day. Tea Party ideology might be to Nixon's right, but it's strategy is right up Nixon's alley (redbaiting, attacking the patriotism of their opponents, etc.). Furthermore, Nixon's actions as President have made Americans overly skeptical of the federal government and have contributed to the rise of an antimodernist Right (social conservatives bent on banning abortion, same-sex marriage, pornography), an antimodernist Center ('fiscal conservatives' bent on forcing balanced budgets at the expense of economic growth and peddling nonsense about the United States' national debt), and an antimodernist Left (limousine liberals bent on banning GM foods, nuclear power, and hankering for the days when everyone lived in crowded, overfilled cities blighted by slums)

Nixon was the best man in 1972, but only because his opponent was far, far more dangerous in the midst of the Cold War. That does not mean that he was a 'great' President, however. Only that he was markedly less bad (but still bad) than the alternative.
Click to expand...
Nixon was not one of the greatest Presidents, or even a great President, but he was one of the greatest politicians in the worst sense of the word. Anyways, I'm revising my first list. As usual, I agree with TNF on most of it.

#1. Franklin Roosevelt, 1933-1945 (Democratic)
#2. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865 (Republican)
#3. George Washington, 1789-1797
#4. Harry Truman, 1945-1953 (Democratic)
#5. Lyndon Johnson, 1963-1969 (Democratic)
 
Asharella

Asharella

1. Benjamin Franklin (1789-1790) For setting the precedent of what it means to be a president, even though he was in office only a little more than a year.

2. Ralph Nader (2001-2009) For bringing us single payer universal health care and exposing the secret government conspiracy planning to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge and blame it on Algerian terrorists.

3. Enoch L. Johnson (1929-1937) For swiftly responding to the stock market crash with extensive spending in 1930 that is credited with ending the Great Depression by 1932.

4. James G. Blaine (1885-1893) For being the great reformist president who established civil service and ushered in the populist era with embracing adding silver to the money supply.

5. Henry Clay (1833-1841) The Great Architect whose Grand Design spread the American System into the South and which peacefully ended slavery by 1900 with it's 12th Amendment assuring all children of slaves born after it's ratification (1835) would be free and all existing slaves would be free at age 65.
 

Wendell

OTL Best:

1. George Washington (Independent) 1789-1797
2. Abraham Lincoln (Republican) 1861-1865
3. James Polk (Democratic) 1845-1849
4. Harry Truman (Democratic) 1945-1953
5. Ronald Reagan (Republican) 1981-1989/ Dwight Eisenhower (Republican) 1953-1961

OTL worst:

1. Andrew Jackson (Democratic) 1829-1837
2. James Buchanan (Democratic) 1857-1861
3. Andrew Johnson (Democratic) 1865-1869
4. Lyndon Johnson (Democratic) 1963-1969
5. Millard Fillmore (Whig) 1850-1853
 

Paul V McNutt

Banned
In chronicalogical order:
1. Burton K Wheeler 1925 - 1929
2. Paul V McNutt 1945 - 1953
3. Adlai Stevenson. 1953 - 1961
4. Robert Kennedy 1969 - 1977
5 Hubert Humphrey 1969 - 1977
 
Yankee Leviathan

Yankee Leviathan

OTL Best:

1. Abraham Lincoln (Republican) 1861-1865
2. Theodore Roosevelt (Republican) 1901-1909
3. Dwight Eisenhower (Republican) 1953-1961
4. James Polk (Democrat) 1854-1859
5. Franklin Roosevelt (Democrat) 1933-1945

ATL Best:

1. Henry Clay (Whig) 1833-1841
2. William Rosecrans (Republican) 1869-1877
3. James Garfield (Republican) 1881-1889
4. Theodore Roosevelt (Republican/Progressive) 1901-1909, 1913-1921
5. J. William Fulbright (Democrat) 1961-1969
 

Mikestone8

OTL - Lincoln, Washington, FDR, Jefferson, Truman (see my previous message).

ATL- Henry Clay 1825-33
Sam Houston 1853-61
Samuel J Tilden 1877-85
Champ Clark 1913-19 *
James M Cox 1925-31*

* Under the provisions of the 18th Amendment (Passed Feb 3, 1913, declared ratified June 24, 1914) Clark and his successors served a term of six years, but were not eligible for re-election.
 

Tony

(Butterfly effect non-existent as all butterflies have been killed off by ASBs in the year of 1861)

Confederate States:
1. Howard Baker (Democratic) 1981-87[1]
2. Al Gore, Jr (Radical Centrist) 1999-2005 [2]
3. Sam Nunn (Radical Centrist) 1993-99 [3]
4. James Longstreet (Democratic) 1879-85 [4]
5. Huey Long (Populist) 1939-45[5]

United States:
1. George Washington (Independent) 1789-97
2. Theodore Roosevelt (Democratic) 1913-21
3. Eugene V. Debs (Socialist) 1921-29
4. Harry S. Truman (Democratic) 1953-61
5. Charles M. La Follette (Socialist) 1942-45

[1] For ending the Cold War with the United States, as well as ending segregation.
[2] Last-ever president of the Confederate States. Presiding over the formation of the North American Federation.
[3] The Civil Rights Act of 1994 and the Voting Rights Act of 1995.
[4] For freeing the slaves.
[5] For his social reforms.

Incumbent President of the North American Federation:
PH2008022702212.jpg

Byron L. Dorgan (SD-ND, 2011-)

North American Presidential election, 2009 (2nd round results):
John G. Layton / Byron L. Dorgan (Social Democratic, inc.) 51.2%
David H. Petraeus / Marco Rubio (Progressive Conservative) 48.8%

(1st round):
John G. Layton / Byron L. Dorgan (Social Democratic, inc.) 41.1%
David H. Petraeus / Marco Rubio (Progressive Conservative) 36%
Joan Baez / Jello Biafra (Green) 10.4%
Ron Paul / Gary Johnson (Libertarian) 7.9%
David Duke / Rick Santorum (Freedom) 3.2%
Others 1.3%

North American Presidential election, 2004 (2nd round results):
John G. Layton / Byron L. Dorgan (Social Democratic) 53.6%
John S. McCain III / Mike Huckabee (Progressive Conservative) 46.4%

(1st round):
John S. McCain III / Mike Huckabee (Progressive Conservative) 36.3%
John G. Layton / Byron L. Dorgan (Social Democratic) 32.1%
Ralph Nader / Joan Baez (Green) 20.4%
David Duke / George Wallace, Jr. (Freedom) 5.2%
Ron Paul / Gary Johnson (Libertarian) 4.3%
Others 1.7%
 
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