William Henry Harrison. He had the decency to die quickly before he could do too much damage.

And the only reason FDR got re-elected in 1940 was because the Republicans nominated a terrible pro-war corporatist candidate who many Republicans were unwilling to support in what was a very close election. If the Republicans had nominated *anyone* else at the convention, FDR would've gone down in history as the uppity un-American tradition-breaker who sought to make himself President for Life by running for a third term.

I second Harrison for greatest US president.

LBJ remains the worst of all time for me, so lets hope nobody nominates him.

James K Polk - Manifest Destiny bitches!

Definitely LBJ.

George Washington....the only one who didn't actually want to be president but took a terrible situation and made it into something good.

I'll give my list of bad presidents:

John Tyler
Andrew Johnson
Gerald Ford

And one of them was not even elected....

Josiah "Jed" Bartlet.

I'm partial to Merkin Muffley myself.

torn between Leslie Lynch King and Bill Blythe

Roosevelt, Obama, and LBJ are the worst.
Washington, Coolidge, and Lincoln are the best.

Coolidge understood the Free Market, turned a recession into a prospering economy, and kept us out of war. He lowered taxes drastically (to 1.125% on the lowest bracket). Then Hoover raised them to 63% on the highest bracket, which caused the Great Depression.

I really feel we're not having enough discussions about the historical rankings of US presidents. Anybody mind if I make another thread?

James K. Polk for increasing the size of the nation by one-third, leading the most decisive war in American history, ballsy diplomacy with the British that lead to America acquiring most of the Oregon Territory, tariff reduction, and the establishment of a treasury system that lasted well into the 20th century.

Theodore Roosevelt for being the most badass president by far. He made America a global power with his big-stick diplomacy and the Great White Fleet. He also made peaceful and harmonious shit happen by ending the Russo-Japanese War and had a progressive stance on race relations.
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the worst so far by more or less wiping his ass with the Constitution and ushering in the era of big government.

@ redhouse

Other than William Henry Harrison most of the presidents discussed so far are in the top ten or at least the top fifteen (as rated by this Wikipedia page)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_United_States_Presidents

Of course, I disagree with most of the list. Wilson, Lyndon B Johnson, Obama, and Lincoln are all WAY overrated.

Clinton

FDR was a dirtbag.

Jefferson Davis

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/2759/oldshitcopy.png

Teddy Roosevelt. I think it would be interesting to continue along the lines of worst president (that actually served his term... Let's not hate on William Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and the like). I'd say Johnson for that honor, or lack thereof

Conservatives hate Obama and Roosevelt too much.

Obama is essentially Bush Jr jr.
Roosevelt was essentially a Hoover Jr, except greatly expanded the role of government but economists of his day thought that would save the economy.

" Then Hoover raised them to 63% on the highest bracket, which caused the Great Depression. "

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/278/489/abb.gif

Best: FDR, Lincoln, Coolidge, Kennedy

I know the party lines don't add up. That shouldn't matter.

Richard Nixon

Lincoln was'ok' but given far too much credit for all the wrong reasons

I actually liked JFK

Lol @ jefferson davis

Lincoln wasn't perfect but it's hard to make a case for anyone of that time that would have done it better. He and Douglas were probably the only two even remotely fit for the job. Andrew Johnson proved that the task Lincoln was undertaking was no simple thing.

@bosox how do like both Coolidge and FDR?

I as a European am just curious: Why doesn´t anybody come up with Reagan? Isn´t he the one good example conservatives have?

I for one would definitely go for Kennedy

I rank him fourth. While he was a great president, he followed the examples of Lincoln and Coolidge, which is why I place him just outside the top three.