My top 10 favorite presidents

Messianic_Monk

Keeping in mind that these are my takes and that I may value some things over others and that those things I value I might not agree with given the time period. This is purely based off of things I value/importance at the time.

T-1 Abraham Lincoln
T-1 Abraham Lincoln

In my mind there are few presidents who can challenge for number one than Abe and another man in this list. One of the shrewdest politicians to ever enter office. He found a way to rally a dysfunctional northern union against a south without isolating south sympathizers with the union. He freed the slaves and was a centrist through and through. A man that both Republicans and Democrats of the modern era can rally behind. The only thing I can say that I might not agree with in Lincoln's presidency is some of the federal power he got.

T-1 George Washington
T-1 George Washington

Washington and Lincoln are the only two men who can vie for the best president in the history of this country. Washington led America through the civil war and it's infantry stages. He was a major force in holding the country together while polarizing factions were dividing the country. He left office peacefully and helped establish a standard for the office of presidency. By the way, he freed one of his slaves and advised his wife to free all of them on his deathbed. He set a standard for the country.

3 Ronald Reagan
3 Ronald Reagan

I know he's higher than most would put him and I admit some political bias here. But I admire how he went about his time in office. Between breaking the back of inflation from Carter's administration, cutting taxes and crippling the power of the Soviet Union, strengthening national defense, overhauling the income tax to help the poor, saving Americans from Iran, surviving his assassination and going about his day cheerfully he also was a great speaker. Every speech he has given I can't help but laugh at in an affectionate way. And in times where he was called to desert things like social security he stood his ground and supported those rights. He also holds the distinction of getting more electoral votes than any president. People complain about his approach to civil rights but no one has really explained WHY they feel that way other than "black people didn't get to enjoy this prosperity. Therefore Reagan bad." If someone could point me to something objective Reagan should've done to help them I'd be okay with that.

4 Thomas Jefferson
4 Thomas Jefferson

As time has passed a lot of people have come to dislike Jefferson. I have an appreciation for him that most people don't seem to care about. He was a president of the people. Yes, he had his political leanings but he was not afraid to disregard them to serve the people. He was apposed to standing armies yet he established westpoint. He bought the Louisiana purchase in spite of it's constitutional problems. He was big on states rights and believed in listening to the people. The slavery issue I'm aware of and might tackle in a separate post.

5 John F. Kennedy
5 John F. Kennedy

JFK entered the Democrat party during a time where they were split. One faction was the KKK party and the other was modernized. JFK took a hard stand away from the KKK and helped establish a new era for the Party (of course he'd probably hate the party rn). He cut taxes and was a fervrent anti-communist. I will say that I'm aware his presidency wasn't all smooth sailing (ahem...bay of pigs) but I felt his leadership during the Cuban missile crisis was outstanding. In addition to everything else (and putting America first) I have put him here. He would've been lower if he got re-elected mostly because of vietnam. (Unless he had a better strategy of ending it without killing so many people).

6 Theodore Roosevelt
6 Theodore Roosevelt

Time has made Roosevelt's presidency a lot more greatly appreciated in my books. In the past I was not entirely fond of what he did until I saw why he did it. In a time now where the Democrat party can effectively use Facebook as an extra arm of the government to censor their misdeeds we need a president like Roosevelt to break up that large company to restore competition and keep big business from being an arm for the government. He created regulation where necessary (while I don't like a lot of regulation I'm for limited regulation), was a human rights champion and on a foreign level his foreign policy was actually not all that different than Trump's. He put America first. For that, Teddy ends up here.

7 Dwight Eisenhower
7 Dwight Eisenhower

Time has been kind to Eisenhower's presidency in my books as well as the history books. To history he was a man who played golf and to me he was an extension of the New Deal that I hate. While some of the New Deal policies he supported I'm not entirely fond of he did dismantle some of it to appease more libertarians as well as keep the authoritarians satisfied (kind of like Washington being a centering force). In addition, we enjoyed a roaring economy under Eisenhower's administration, he ended the Korean War, built the interstate highway system, defended black Americans in the south with the MILITARY so they could go to school, and kept us out of war when there were credible threats of war. His farewell address on the military industrial complex is up there with Washington's farewell address as the greatest farewell address by a president ever.

8 Harry Truman
8 Harry Truman

Kind of a tough act to follow after FDR's leadership during the first half of WW2 but Truman matched his in my opinion. I admit: I'm really biased here. If you're eastern/Southeastern Asian (minus Japanese) you have an appreciation for him since he effectively crippled imperial Japan and helped liberate the countries they conquered. I have tremendous gratitude for that alone. But if you're Jewish/practicing a version of it (like me) you also appreciate him motivating the UN to establish Israel and help bridge the gap between Jews and America after FDR trashed it. He could've potentially been higher if not for some of his more unconstitutional economic policies regarding the steel industry. And his handling of the Korean War wasn't ideal.

9 Calvin Coolidge
9 Calvin Coolidge

Calvin Coolidge is by far the most underrated president we've ever had. A guy who understood that the government shouldn't have a big role in your life. He shrank the government where it was possible. He also cut back on spending to help bring us out of an economic funk under Harding's administration and usher us into the roaring 20s. He also cut taxes massively! 98% of Americans paid no federal income tax! To me that seems unheard of! He also is widely praised for his work on social rights (especially native Americans). What really makes him awesome was how he dealt with the teapot some scandal under his predecessor. He rounded up and fired all men responsible in a relatively short amount of time and made it a point to restore confidence in the government amongst the people. To me, if progressives really want to win me over they ought to try and make more Coolidge-progressives rather than Marxist-progressives.

10 Grover Cleveland
10 Grover Cleveland

If Coolidge is the most underrated president then I'd say Grover Cleveland is the second most underappreciated president. Cleveland was the first Democrat to be elected since before the civil war. What made Grover Cleveland such a good president (in at least his first term) was his use of the veto. He had the most vetos of any president until FDR. He shrank the government in some ways and grew it where necessary (to deal with Southerners trying to defraud the government for relief money). He kept the railroading industry from defrauding the government. While not a lot of social progress was made in his presidency I'd say there were definitely strong strides at avoiding regressions. He reached out to Chinese immigrants and fought to get them integrated into society and passed laws to help out the Native Americans. While not entirely effective it was an attempt in the right direction during a time where his party was still the wing of the KKK. He also holds the distinction for being the only president to serve non consecutively (unless Trump does it). You gotta admire his toughness to be defeated and return to take back the presidency. His second term was not that good. Couldn't handle the depression that well and some of his policies made him unpopular. But he did defend the gold standard and get rid of some rather sky high tariffs. I generally like to lean more on his first term than his second.

Honorable mentions:

James Madison: a father of the Constitution and a great leader. Defender of states rights, helped give America more territory as well as defend us from another attack from the British and ushered in an era of peace.

James Monroe: another James and father of the Constitution. He helped pivot America away from foreign affairs and more towards internal affairs. He got us more land and helped settle disputes with Britain over territories. Father of the Monroe doctrine...still important in politics.

James Garfield: Another James 😅 This one is purely based off of potential. With his qualifications he could've been one of our best presidents. We don't know.

James Polk: while unpopular today he is still very important to our history. He recognized Texas as part of the union as well as expanded farther west. He accomplished pretty much everything he said he'd do...even including running for 1 term and then leaving office 🤣 wish more presidents would do that.

Andrew Jackson: a controversial take, I know, but I have my own appreciation for some of the things he did. He got our debt to 0, defended us from the national bank that threatened our rights, got to enjoy a smooth economy, expanded westward. These things earned him the nickname "old hickory". Now the bad...and this prevents him from being in the top 10...the Trail of Tears. What started as a relocation of the Natives Americans that didn't want to assimilate to American culture turned into a full scale atrocity. While not his intent it was still awful. It prevents him from being in the top 10.

Ulysses S. Grant: probably one of the most ethical characters in office. He was a champion of civil rights. Reconstruction is his biggest accomplishment. He was a staunch defender of rights for newly freed black people. He precised over their integration into society through military power in the south. The sad thing is that reconstruction ends during Grant's administration. This is not his fault...the North was just tired and done with what was happening in the South. Public support was gone at that point and Grant knew it. He hated it, but knew that he had to end reconstruction. No, it wasn't Rutherford B. Hayes' fault for reconstruction ending it was the people who were done with it. Anyone who got elected after Grant would not have pursued reconstruction. If it was Samuel Tilden he would've ended it too.

My top 10 favorite presidents
10 Opinion