# The President Elimination Game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 24, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317 "2009-09-24T01:36:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 59
**Author:** ![The\_Walking\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90ced4/32.png) [@The\_Walking\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Walking_Dude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1161 "2010-01-16T03:15:53Z")
Lincoln. For all of the reasons already listed. It may sound silly and sentimental, and probably is, but my feelings on the matter can be summed up quite succinctly: Lincoln helped shape America into what it is today, Washington helped shape America. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1162 "2010-01-17T02:33:27Z")
This is crazy. Washington, for sure. Lincoln is our only truly great president(which is pretty good considering we’ve only had 43). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1163 "2010-01-17T02:34:28Z")
Washington. I think I needed to make that a clearer vote. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1164 "2010-01-17T14:20:36Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > This is crazy. > > Washington, for sure. > > Lincoln is our only truly great president(which is pretty good considering we’ve only had 43). What an odd statement. Could you defend this a bit with actual accomplishments and policies? I feel more he had greatness thrust upon him and thankfully rose to the occasion. But Washington was truly great and make perhaps the most remarkable sacrifice/decision in human history. Beyond that, I of course feel Theodore Roosevelt was the greatest man to be President and a great President. Scholar, Warrior, Peacemaker, reformer, conservationist, author, adventurer, naturalist, historian, trust buster, lawman, rancher and probably father of the modern navy. I am sure I am overlooking a few others. Oh and the most successful third party candidate in US history if I am not mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1165 "2010-01-17T14:40:55Z")
With thanks to **Curtis LeMay** for the inspiration, I think I’ll start a Greatest American elimination game after this thread concludes and after giving everyone a chance to take a break. As I envision it, each player would nominate five noteworthy Americans, providing a link to the Wiki bio of each. Naturalized U.S. citizens would of course be eligible for nomination, even if they were more famous for things done as citizens of another country. I think I’ll limit nominees to those who have been dead at least ten years; no living people, like the U.S. Postal Service’s rule in issuing commemorative stamps. After the deadline, I’ll arrange them alphabetically and we’ll vote much as we have here. Let me know what you think. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1166 "2010-01-17T15:34:12Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I disagree. It’s true that Lincoln did favor “colonization” (the return of American blacks to Africa) for much of his adult life, as did many abolitionists who wanted to end slavery but thought that equality and peaceful coexistence after that would be forever unattainable. But by the time he was President, from all I’ve read, Lincoln had come to recognize that African Americans were here to stay. Correct, as indicated by his recognition of Haiti. If Lincoln had wanted to send freed slaves there, he wouldn’t have done that. We’re in agreement, mate. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1167 "2010-01-19T00:02:02Z")
Vote tally: Washington 12 Lincoln 12. By standard rules, the next person to vote will determine the number 1 position. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1168 "2010-01-19T00:03:40Z")
Or we could just declare it a draw at the top, which would be a bit of a cop-out, but kind of fitting. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1169 "2010-01-19T00:09:43Z")
I deliberately have not voted this round as I felt I could not put one ahead of the other. I will go have dinner and see if anyone else votes. If not, I will come back and do more research and see if I can split the tie. On preview: calling it a tie will clearly fit my personal view to date. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1170 "2010-01-19T01:00:19Z")
Well, this has been very tough. I have previously commented that I thought that we were assessing people’s presidencies, not their total contribution. But Washington made substantial contribution to America before there was such a thing as a presidency, although he was Commander-in-Chief, a position now held by the president, of course. Should we really ignore that? If we were to consider just the time in office, I would put Lincoln number 1. But I thnk we need to look further. Both men led America through times of war where missteps would mean that there would be no America today (in anything like the form we know it). Lincoln’s assassination meant he could not lead America through Reconstruction. Yet Washington did lead America through “Construction”, including making peace with Britain and allowing America to create itself free from the strife of war. So on that basis I put Washington ahead of Lincoln and vote for the latter’s ouster. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1171 "2010-01-19T01:23:16Z")
And with that, the game is over. By the process of elimination, the greatest US President is: George Washington (None, 1789-1797) Eliminated Presidents: 1. James Buchanan (Democrat, 1857-1861) 2. Franklin Pierce (Democrat, 1853-1857) 3. Andrew Johnson (National Union, 1865-1869) 4. Warren Harding (Republican, 1921-1923) 5. Millard Fillmore (Whig, 1850-1853) 6. Richard Milhous Nixon (Republican, 1969-1974) 7. Herbert Hoover (Republican, 1929-1933) 8. Ronald Reagan (Republican, 1981-1989) 9. Andrew Jackson (Democrat, 1829-1837) 10. Rutherford Hayes (Republican, 1877-1881) 11. Ulysses Grant (Republican, 1869-1877) 12. John Tyler (Whig, 1841-1845) 13. James Earl Carter (Democrat, 1977-1981) 14. James Madison (Democratic-Republican, 1809-1817) 15. Martin Van Buren (Democrat, 1837-1841) 16. Woodrow Wilson (Democrat, 1913-1921) 17. Calvin Coolidge (Republican, 1923-1929) 18. John Adams (Federalist, 1797-1801) 19. Benjamin Harrison (Republican, 1889-1893) 20. Gerald Ford (Republican, 1974-1977) 21. Zachary Taylor (Whig, 1849-1850) 22. George Herbert Walker Bush (Republican, 1989-1993) 23. John Quincy Adams (Democratic-Republican, 1825-1829) 24. Chester Arthur (Republican, 1881-1885) 25. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (Democrat, 1961-1963) 26. William McKinley (Republican, 1897-1901) 27. William Howard Taft (Republican, 1909-1913) 28. Lyndon Baines Johnson (Democrat, 1963-1969) 29. William Jefferson Clinton (Democrat, 1993-2001) 30. James Monroe (Democratic-Republican, 1817-1825) 31. Grover Cleveland (Democrat, 1885-1889, 1893-1897) 32. Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican, 1801-1809) 33. James K. Polk (Democrat, 1845-1849) 34. Dwight Eisenhower (Republican, 1953-1961) 35. Harry S. Truman (Democrat, 1945-1953) 36. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Democrat, 1933-1945) 37. Theodore Roosevelt (Republican, 1901-1909) 38. Abraham Lincoln (Republican, 1861-1865) And for post-game celebrations, I will turn it over to [Brad Neely](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRom1Rz8OA), for his unforgettable but perhaps not entirely historically accurate (and not completely work-safe) tribute. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1172 "2010-01-19T03:22:15Z")
Thanks - that was a lot of fun! I’m very pleased that Washington is now “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of Dopers.” ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1173 "2010-01-19T03:59:56Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Thanks - that was a lot of fun! I’m very pleased that Washington is now “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of Dopers.” Hey hey hey! He won by 1 vote… that’s hardly winning Dopers hearts and minds 😃 To quote the Freepers “He’s not MY President!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1174 "2010-01-19T04:03:33Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > With thanks to **Curtis LeMay** for the inspiration, I think I’ll start a Greatest American elimination game after this thread concludes and after giving everyone a chance to take a break. > > As I envision it, each player would nominate five noteworthy Americans, providing a link to the Wiki bio of each. Naturalized U.S. citizens would of course be eligible for nomination, even if they were more famous for things done as citizens of another country. I think I’ll limit nominees to those who have been dead at least ten years; no living people, like the U.S. Postal Service’s rule in issuing commemorative stamps. After the deadline, I’ll arrange them alphabetically and we’ll vote much as we have here. Let me know what you think. I like the idea, and agree with the “no currently or recently living” proviso. I participated in AOL’s “Greatest American” contest a few years back, and since I remember my five picks from back then, I’ll be nominating them to see how much this board’s contributors agree with my choices. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1175 "2010-01-19T15:21:30Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > I like the idea, and agree with the “no currently or recently living” proviso. I participated in AOL’s “Greatest American” contest a few years back, and since I remember my five picks from back then, I’ll be nominating them to see how much this board’s contributors agree with my choices. Thanks. I think I’ll start the thread in a week or so. I already have five in mind for my nominees. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1176 "2010-01-19T15:43:07Z")
It’s interesting that in a period of history when there is so much animosity between political parties, we ended up agreeing on the only president who had no party affiliation. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1177 "2010-01-20T14:53:57Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > It’s interesting that in a period of history when there is so much animosity between political parties, we ended up agreeing on the only president who had no party affiliation. Yes. And the two highest-ranked Presidents of last 64 years (one of each party) are the two whose careers and styles were _least_ like politicians. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1178 "2010-01-20T20:13:22Z")
Another idea- a state elimination game. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1179 "2010-01-20T20:29:48Z")
Well, \*Jersey Shore \*certainly isn’t helping the cause. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317/1180 "2010-01-20T23:40:03Z")
> [@stuthehistoryguy](#): > > Well, \*Jersey Shore \*certainly isn’t helping the cause. Remember, those are mostly New Yorkers and not people from Jersey. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=58) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-president-elimination-game/511317.md?page=60)