Who's the best President?

[02ducky]

Been thinking about this, who in your opinion is the best President of the good old USA? I am think Regan, but Teddy.... What say you?

[DavieD55]

Teddy is somewhat a founder of the progressive Bull Mooser movement. Far from my fave.

[MarkCO]

Reagan did a lot of good for the economy side, but he was not pro-gun and severely restricted some of our black ops functions, which some argue allowed the rise of many anti-American groups and terrorists. I am not sure I would even put him in the top 5, but probably the top 10. Teddy, yeah, not so much to even get him in the top ten.

Best Man, Best Leader, Best for the actual time in history...there are some that rise to the top, none that most of us were alive to see. Eisenhower was probably the last that really had the full meal deal. Lincoln definitely deserves to be in the mix as do Grant, Arthur and Adams for their policies and leadership.

[rondog]

Reagan did a lot of good for the economy side, but he was not pro-gun and severely restricted some of our black ops functions, which some argue allowed the rise of many anti-American groups and terrorists. I am not sure I would even put him in the top 5, but probably the top 10. Teddy, yeah, not so much to even get him in the top ten.

Best Man, Best Leader, Best for the actual time in history...there are some that rise to the top, none that most of us were alive to see. Eisenhower was probably the last that really had the full meal deal. Lincoln definitely deserves to be in the mix as do Grant, Arthur and Adams for their policies and leadership.

I have to agree. What I'd like to know is who are the people behind the curtains? Who's REALLY running the show and giving the orders?

[generalmeow]

Thomas Jefferson, based on the number of quotes I agree with.

[Ridge]

http://i.imgur.com/i7aHb0Y.jpg

[dwalker460]

http://i.imgur.com/i7aHb0Y.jpg


I knew I should have gotten the illustrated version of history...

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Thomas Jefferson, based on the number of quotes I agree with.

First one that comes to mind for me as well.

[sniper7]

George Washington or Thomas Jefferson

[baglock1]

Thomas Jefferson, based on the number of quotes I agree with.

Agreed. From a philosophical point of view, Thomas Paine.

To discuss true patriots, we'd have to go back a couple centuries.

[Cylinder Head]

Jefferson no doubt

[DSB OUTDOORS]

I still sport an old NRA bumper sticker on my camper.

"My President is Charlton Heston"

[Mazin]

BOB DOLE! Wait wrong thread sorry.

Always liked TJ but you can't forget how much of a badass Washington was.




Sent from my Otterbox Defended Tactical iPhone using High Capacity "Clips".

[cstone]

George Washington

followed closely by

Abraham Lincoln

[Irving]

Best Man, Best Leader, Best for the actual time in history...there are some that rise to the top, none that most of us were alive to see.

Great point Mark, Barak Obama is easily my favorite black president.

[Bailey Guns]

Define "best". It's pretty hard to answer who was the best president without some sort of definition of what "best" means.

I certainly have favorites:

Jefferson
Washington
T Roosevelt
Reagan
J Adams

Hard to say who was best...they were all good for different reasons.

[spqrzilla]

Jefferson was an overrated hack. Quite without character or honor.

No one has ever been able to hold Washington's coat. A true military genius (most of the American Revolutionary Army generals did not even understand his strategy - at best Nathaniel Greene understood what Washington was doing and was his equal tactically). Once in office as President, Washington set the standard for conduct of the office that created important traditions we take for granted today. No one has ever matched his tenure.

Abraham Lincoln showed extraordinary character, and was quite an astute politician, more than most realize but not to Washington's level of either.

John Adams was a great man, who did important work organizing our country and leading our foreign policy efforts during the Revolution. But he was a poor President sadly. I wish he'd done better.

[Bailey Guns]

Jefferson was an overrated hack. Quite without character or honor.

No one has ever been able to hold Washington's coat. A true military genius (most of the American Revolutionary Army generals did not even understand his strategy - at best Nathaniel Greene understood what Washington was doing and was his equal tactically). Once in office as President, Washington set the standard for conduct of the office that created important traditions we take for granted today. No one has ever matched his tenure.

Jefferson wasn't without his faults that's for sure. But I think "overrated hack" is a bit of a stretch.

[spqrzilla]

Well, his tenure as President saw him contradict every principle of ideology he'd espoused to get into office. His secret funding of Callendar's scurrilous attacks on John Adams and his family even while pretending to be their friends showed that he was without honor and a backstabber. His time during the Revolutionary War was not all that admirable - he gets credit for the Declaration but what did he do the remaining half decade of the war? Not much.

I could go on. If you want to admire Jefferson, you have to do it with a blind eye to his hypocrisy.

[Bailey Guns]

Jefferson wasn't without his faults that's for sure.

I'm not blind to anything. But to call him an overrated hack doesn't seem like an honest appraisal in my opinion. Typical politician, maybe.

(Wrong button...)

I meant to also include that Jefferson made the LA Purchase, was responsible for the L&C expedition and started our "meddling" in North Africa against the Muslims. Just a few minor accomplishments as president.

[ChunkyMonkey]

Abe as the best POTUS, George Washington as the best General imho.

[ringhilt]

The best president this country had was Andrew Jackson. For all his faults he did the one best thing for this country. He killed the central bank of America. An unconstitutional entity and the greatest threat any nation faces. More dangerous than an invading army. And for this he is the best president EVER! (IMO)
No other president has resisted the bankers since. And in 1913 Woodrow Wilson (the scumbag) openly embraced them with the creation of the Federal Reserve. The country has gone to the crapper ever since.

[TS12000]

William Henry Harrison, gotta love that tenure :)

In all seriousness though, I also have to go with Washington, if not for his military accomplishments and relinquishing power when he probably could have kept riding it, for the fact he lead a brand new nation into completely unknown waters without crashing the ship.

[Marlin]

Calvin Coolidge.

[ray1970]

JFK.

Any guy that was tapping Marylyn Monroe is OK in my book.

Lol.

[alxone]

Jefferson
T Roosevelt
J Adams

[rockhound]

We will never get back to the days of washington or jefferson, all modern presidents will and are piles of crap who are only interested in pushing the agenda that they feel will get them reelected

[Great-Kazoo]

# 22 nails it Andy Jackson.



In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in a town in New Orleans

[Hound]

Jefferson for sure. He wrote a great amount of the Constitution and believed in the power of the people.

[jreifsch80]

# 22 nails it Andy Jackson.



In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in a town in New Orleans



in May of 1941 the war had just begun
the Germans had the biggest ship
it had the biggest guns.......

oh wait wrong song, i notice how everyone praises lincoln so i'll join. I really like how he set the precedent for strong centralized federal control, the draft and federal income tax

[Ronin13]

Don't forget, Lincoln was later found (posthumously) to be liable to be impeached when he suspended Haebus Corpus... Not to mention the Civil War pretty much set a precedent so that no state could succeed from the Union, well very easily.

[NightCat]

Ronald Reagan followed by Theodore Roosevelt.

[wctriumph]

George Washington

[ChuckNorris]

Without a doubt Reagan.

[Ronin13]

Oh, forgot to mention- my answer, in no particular order: Jefferson, Reagan, Eisenhower, and Teddy!

[jreifsch80]

Don't forget, Lincoln was later found (posthumously) to be liable to be impeached when he suspended Haebus Corpus... Not to mention the Civil War pretty much set a precedent so that no state could succeed from the Union, well very easily.

but he freed the slaves so everything else he did is for the common good ;) i put lincoln right up there with fdr and lbj personally......

as for my answer i would say washington, reagan, coolidge and jackson

[centrarchidae]

Reagan, Coolidge, maybe Eisenhower.

Washington set one hell of a precedent by leaving office at the end of his term, and by asking to be addressed as "Mr. President" rather than the complicated European-style honorific that Alexander Hamilton dreamt up. I'm inclined to forgive him for suppressing the Whiskey Rebellion for that.

Abraham Lincoln, when he suspended Habeas Corpus, paved a wide road to hell for his successors to follow. Theodore Roosevelt was the same breed of progressive douche as his cousin Franklin. LBJ was the kind of greasy bastard that usually comes from Chicago. And the best thing that I can say about Woodrow Wilson is, well, f*** him.

[ChadAmberg]

Calvin Coolidge.

Definitely Silent Cal. He's about the only one that could save the country now.

[ldmaster]

Oprah

[tmckay2]

coolidge. reagan mimicked him in many ways, was a big fan of his. people just don't know much about him.

[ChadAmberg]

coolidge. reagan mimicked him in many ways, was a big fan of his. people just don't know much about him.

Great book recently released on Coolidge.
http://www.amazon.com/Coolidge-ebook/dp/B006SJCM0I

[DavieD55]

James Madison

[spqrzilla]

Washington.

People really don't understand the immense amount of character the man had. How much of what we take for granted with respect to the President that he invented, all the while resisting efforts by his "friends" to make it into somethin we'd not recognize.

[wctriumph]

GW all the way.

[Hound]

Jefferson, easily.

[Zundfolge]

GW all the way.

You mean George Washington right? These days "GW" means someone else;

http://www.theodoresworld.net/pics/1108/childrengetwaveImage11.jpg

[Neutron]

Washington for the win. Lincoln was a tyrant. Unless the civil war was about slavery, and not freedom of choice. Jefferson was flawed in his personal life but was an advocate of this country and its freedom. More than we get from most Presidents. Of course to keep PRISM and the NSA happy I LOVE Obama!!

[3beansalad]

If you answer anything other than Obama, you're a damn racist.






Anyway, it has to be Washington. I don't think anyone could ever match his legacy.

[spqrzilla]

I don't really care for Jefferson at all. Slimy guy in reality, backstabbed people who thought he was a friend (the Adams), his actions during the Revolutionary War hardly show much personal courage and his Presidency was essentially the opposite of what he campaigned upon.

[whitbaby]

I miss Ronnie...
I miss George...
Hell, now I even miss Jimmy...

[nynco]

Interesting to read all the answers and the reasons that people have for them here. I have to agree with many that Eisenhower was an amazing president. He and Teddy Roosevelt would have to be two of my favorite Republicans in history.

At one time I thought of Lincoln as one of the greats, but I don't think that way anymore. While I think slavery was wrong, I don't think it set a good precedent to go to war over states wanting to pull out of the union. After growing older and thinking about it more, I can think of very few other acts that are more tyrannical than going to war with our own people because they chose to leave the union. States should have the right to decide their fate, just like people should have the right to elect their leaders. I think he set a very dangerous precedent. Lincoln also weakened many of the laws that kept corporations in check. It can be rightly argued that he set the ball in motion for most of the problems this nation has dealt with since then. Prior to Lincoln corporations had next to no power in gov. After Lincoln, corporations had the power to become the gov and own it. It gave rise to the robber baron age and the FED.

[DavieD55]

Madison had some hiccups during his presidency, but other than that, he helped pave the way for some marvelous things to take shape.