List your top 5 US Presidents in history?

1. George Washington. The very first President, he definitely belongs on this list. During his time as President, the office of the Presidency actually had really little power during this time. Washington was President when the Bill of Rights was ratified, he refused to be king (the offer was there) and voluntarily stepped down after two terms, setting a precedent that helped democracy in the United States form and survive. Washington kept the Union together in it's infancy.

2. Abraham Lincoln-Abraham Lincoln saved the Union during the American Civil War. His leadership during the war was one of no compromise but at the same time understanding that he would eventually have to unite the states once the North won the war. His actions eventually led to the abolition of slavery across the United States.

3. Andrew Jackson-Andrew Jackson saw the danger of a national bank and took the necessary steps to do away with it. He wanted the nation to have a solid financial base free from centralized control, unlike President FDR who promoted centralized control of government agencies. Jackson took steps to insure that the nation was not hamstrung by financial elites unlike 20th century Presidents who managed getting the nation into entangling financial alliances that President Washington warned us to avoid. He also was very pro-American. He maintained a policy of never stepping foot outside of American soil his whole life. He ruffled quite a few feathers along the way by overstepping his authority, which although other Presidents have done, his did not restrict the freedoms of the American people. He respected the law and under his administration the nation was respected in the world.

Like Madison, Jackson dealt with the strong statesmen of Henry Clay, John Calhoun, John Quincy Adams and Daniel Webster. He managed to work with these strong personalities amidst their challenges to his policies. Although John Calhoun served as Jackson’s Vice President during his first administration, things changed in the second one. Calhoun joined with other statesmen opposing his policies. These men joined forces in standing against Jackson during his second administration.

Like Lincoln, he faced the challenge of States taking stands against national policy with the nullification crisis with South Carolina. Jackson navigated it without going to war or utterly disregarding rulings of the Supreme Court as Lincoln did with the Merryman case. Jackson was known to veto government spending if it was not Constitutional. He respected the Constitution and operated within its parameters. He used the Constitution as a measure for what he approved and what he vetoed within a strict definition.

4. Thomas Jefferson-Thomas Jefferson brought freedom to the American people in the aftermath of the Adams administration with its repressive polices and restriction as seen the Sedition Acts. Under his administration, there was new liberty regarding freedom of speech. Jefferson used diplomacy to keep the nation out of the European alliances and wars then raging with Napoleon, yet also managed to procure the Louisiana Purchase. His diplomacy was astounding in maintaining neutrality amidst the challenges of “Join me in bringing England to reason” and the other camp of “Join us in putting down the disturber of the world”. The conflicts between these camps literally tore the world apart. He maintained United States neutrality while Europe exploded into war, unlike Presidents FDR and Wilson who took the nation into the middle of European wars.

Jefferson also managed navigating through the threats of secession coming from the New England States, unlike Lincoln who took the States directly into the nation’s bloodiest war over threats of secession. He wanted the people to govern themselves as they pleased as put forth in the Declaration of Independence. Under his administration the ideas of America were taken from the documents and put into practice.

5. William Jefferson Clinton, Democratic Party. Although his Presidency was full of controversy, it is hard to argue with the numbers. The lowest unemployment rate ever, the biggest economic boon in history, a five trillion dollar deficit paid off, budgets balanced, and minimum wage raised. The negatives were all the scandals, some which were definitely political witch hunts, others which appear very legitimate. He left office even after all the scandals with a 65% approval rating, the highest since FDR shortly after his death. Love him or hate him, there's no denying the economy of the 1990's was far superior to anything before or later.

Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton.

Lincoln, Washington, FDR, LBJ, TR.

Jackson was a disaster - economic incompetent and ethnic cleanser who respected the Constitution about as much as I respect toilet paper after a massive dump.