Might we have gone to war over the Cuban missile crisis? Would we have ever gone to the moon and reaped all the technological advances? Would the road to civil rights for AA been further delayed?

I think that BO may well earn a place in the top five, with a second term. I certainly have great hopes.

Of course, I would have FDR on there--no question. Washington, yup, Lincoln, absolutely.

I'd have to think about the fifth spot...

1. JFK
2. FDR
3. TR
4. Abraham Lincoln
5. ...

These are just my favorites. Not saying they were the Best. It's based things including personality.

1. FDR
2. Lincoln
3. Teddy Roosevelt
4. LBJ
5. Harry Truman

Franklin Roosevelt
Teddy Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Barack Obama
Woodrow Wilson

hmmm probably:

FDR
Lincoln
Teddy Roosevelt
John Addams
Jimmy Carter

FDR
Lincoln
TDR
Truman
Washington

Lincoln
FDR
Washington
Teddy R
Jefferson

Very Honorable Mention: Truman and Wilson

I want to read some of the new biographies of Ike. He may have been a much more subtle manipulator for the common good the scenes, and he did end the Korean War.

Obama is a story not finished yet.

Mostly I consider them a sorry lot. Jimmy is the only one since WWII I have any real respect for.

I think my list would go something like...



FDR
Washington
JFK
Madison
LBJ

Obama is, like others have said, a bit incomplete. And I have to exclude Lincoln because of the whole "If I could save the Union without freeing a single slave..." line. He would be in my top ten, but not top five because I think deep down he was a racist.

"He would be in my top ten, but not top five because I think deep down he was a racist."

Lincoln's claim to greatness rests largely with his having emancipated the slaves. And, frankly, even though I believe he was a racist, he would still make my top ten since freeing the slaves was still a "great" thing to do, no matter what was in his heart. I just think that among great presidents some others might eclipse him for reasons that have to do with things other than slavery.

Washington and Madison were instrumental in creating the United States in the first place. I think that's pretty great. BTW, So was Jefferson, who would also make my top ten. But Jefferson was a pretty sleazy politician, and an overall weird guy.

But that's just my opinion...

Truman was the last, maybe the only, peoples President. He was one of us.

Washington- the infant country could have been stillborn. he showed that the new federal republic would work

Lincoln- despite some failings he kept the country together in its greatest challenge

FDR- brought the country out of the depression. Saw the U.S. As a player on the world stage equal to any of the traditional powers

Truman- a man of the people. Made what was probably the single hardest decision any president has made. Use the bombs which will surely kill thousands or not and risk millions upon invading Japan.

Wilson- a master diplomat who saw where the world was going,decades before anyone else. He is not fully appreciated even today.

Honorable Mentions- JFK- inspired his generation and beyond. LBJ- Kennedy was a tough act to follow, his contributions are lost in the shadow of JFK's charisma.

-Eisenhower
-FDR
-LBJ
-JFK
-Teddy Roosevelt

1. George Washington
2. Franklin D. Roosevelt
3. Bill Clinton
4. Ronald Reagan
5. Abraham Lincoln

Really???

Please elaborate, I'd love to hear why.

1. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
4. LBJ

and the 5:
KFC(not JFK)

I just looked up a list of American presidents, and there was no one with those initials. I can't even think of a president in fiction with those initials, though I may be being dim.