# Who was the greatest president? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168 "2011-08-02T11:28:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/1 "2011-08-02T11:28:44Z")
Since we’ve got [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=618544) going, I figured “Why the hell not?” ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/2 "2011-08-02T12:01:46Z")
Nelson Mandela ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/3 "2011-08-02T12:29:54Z")
There was a game on this topic in the Game Room which might shed some additional light on this topic for interested readers: [President Elimination Game](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=533286&highlight=%22Greatest+President%22) ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/4 "2011-08-02T12:39:11Z")
It looks like in [polls of historians](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States) four consistently are rated above the rest: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, & FDR. I expect your final winner will be one of those (and likely _not_ Jefferson). I voted for Washington, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” and all that. He could have made himself a dictator, and everyone would have applauded him for it at the time. Instead he founded and maintained a democratic nation. He had his flaws, but I’m far more keenly aware of the flaws of the other likely candidates. So he wins for being a great man while not screwing up that first critical decade. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/5 "2011-08-02T14:56:34Z")
No “other” option? I prefer Cleveland’s second term… Joe ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/6 "2011-08-02T15:03:40Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > No “other” option? I prefer Cleveland’s second term… Another “other” option would be Edith Wilson (unofficial acting president in 1919-1920) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/7 "2011-08-02T22:41:41Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Nelson Mandela Was there a reason you voted for George W. Bush instead? I think that even among Bush supporters, there’s probably a preference for Reagan. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/8 "2011-08-02T23:51:45Z")
Abraham Lincoln. George Washington, while a great President had much of his accomplishments done when he wasn’t President. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/9 "2011-08-03T01:07:32Z")
Theodore Roosevelt is my favorite President, but Lincoln is the best. No President has been tested in nearly the same way as Lincoln was, and no President before or since ever rose to nearly insurmountable challenges in the manner Lincoln did. In the history of great leaders many of them were inspiring and brilliant, but that isn’t the trait they have in common. Instead I think the truly great leaders in world history all share the trait that they have an unbending, unwavering will. It is a quality almost totally lacking in all but 1-2 20th and 21st century Presidents, and almost every President aside from Lincoln himself, really. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/10 "2011-08-03T02:01:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Was there a reason you voted for George W. Bush instead? I think that even among Bush supporters, there’s probably a preference for Reagan. I answered the topic before I looked at the poll. I’m quite young, so I just picked Bush out of the three presidents I’m familiar with ---
**Author:** ![bartleby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bartleby/32/10491_2.png) [@bartleby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bartleby)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-greatest-president/591168/11 "2011-08-03T11:38:37Z")
I just wanted to stop in to say that when i looked a the thread title, i SWEAR, i thought it said “Who was the gayest president ever?” which is an entirely different thing… (James Buchanan, for those of you keeping score…)