Americas Four Best Presidents

The Top Four Presidents have altered only in placement, not in perception. For the past 60 years, no matter which organisation has done the Poll, these four have remained.

The criterion for Best is based on;

1) Did they leave the country better than they found it?

2) Have their policies persisted?

3) Is it likely they will remain in the top ten sixty years from now?

I have listed the Four Best Presidents in chronological order of their incumbencies.  At this  moment in time, historians rank them as; Lincoln, Washington, Roosevelt, Jefferson.

It must be understood, that when George Washington became President of the United States in 1789 there were no 'precedents'.  Everything he did had to be carefully constructed so that those that followed him would have a 'blue print'.

Fully aware of the burden of history he established customs for the Presidency. Aware of the dangers for a new country his unilateral Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793 prevented involvement in foreign conflicts.

He desired to build a strong central government, implement an effective and fair tax system, and create a national bank.warned against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.

The fact he stepped down after two terms was taken as a precedent until the election of Franklin Roosevelt.

He had been the Vice President under John Adams, and became the 3rd President of the United States based on Hamilton's hatred of Aaron Burr, with whom he had tied.

Once in office, Jefferson repealed a number of federal taxes, thinking to rely on customs revenue. He pardoned people who had been imprisoned under the Alien and Sedition Acts which Adams had passed and he considered unconstitutional.

He began and won the First Barbary War, (1801–1805), which was America's first significant overseas war, and '...to the shores of Tripoli ' in the Marine hymn commemorates..

In 1803, despite his misgivings about the constitutionality of Congress's power to buy land, Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase doubling the size of the United States.

When elected President in 1860, the Southern States seceded from the Union.  He presided over the greatest internal crisis, the Civil War.  He preserved the Union, ended slaver and began reconstruction.

He wanted to unite the nation, willing to adopt many moderate policies so that the South could be brought back into the United States as quickly as possible.

Six days after the surrender of  Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated.

Franklin Roosevelt was a central figure in world events. He led America during the Depression, through World War II.  He was the  only President to serve more than two terms.

He brought hope during the Depression and the sense of rightness through the World War. 

Although many of his programs were ended between 1975 and 1985, the Securities and Exchange Act and Social Security still remain.