Leaders are not iconic; they are people like you and me, but with some differences.
In this post, we will be talking about the most powerful position in that world, President of the United States.
Handling the most powerful nation on earth is not an easy job as it requires something more than just leadership.
Does it mean that all American presidents are best in the world in terms of presidential rankings?
You might argue that winning an election of the nation isn’t an easy job.
Here, the case is different, winning an election, is a different thing, and handling a global super-power is different.
Of the great men who have held the Oval office, historians rank presidents who made a huge impact on our country and also the world.
According to solid evidence-based reasons here are the top 10 best American presidents ever:
10. Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 4, 1829-March 4, 1837) was the first populist president of the nation, known as “Old Hickory.”
As a self-styled man of the people, during the War of 1812 and later against the Seminole Indians in Florida, Jackson gained fame at the Battle of New Orleans.
His first presidential run in 1824 finished in a small loss to John Quincy Adams, but four years later, in a landslide, Jackson won the Presidency.
While in office, Jackson demolished the United States’ Second Bank, putting an end to federal attempts to regulate the economy.
At a staggering odds to be killed, Jackson was the target of the first attempted presidential assassination in US history.
British soldiers arrested him and his brother during their invasion of the western Carolinas in 1780-1781.
One of the officers attacked Andrew Jackson because Jackson refused to shine his (officer’s) boots.
The enraged British slammed our future president’s face with a saber leaving with lasting scars.
9. Harry Truman
Harry S. Truman (April 12, 1945-January 20, 1953) took office after serving as vice president during the final term of office of Franklin Roosevelt.
Following Roosevelt’s death, Truman directed the U.S. through World War II’s ending months, including the choice to use a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
He became president at one of the most important and difficult times in America’s history, at the end of World War II.
He had to create many hostile choices without being kept up-to-date as vice president.
Although controversial today, history points to us that he made smart decisions, and we are happy that at that moment, he was in authority.
Under Truman’s leadership, the U.S. introduced the Berlin Airlift to fight the German capital’s Soviet blockade and established the multi-billion-dollar Marshall Plan to restore war-torn Europe.
Along being as one of the greatest presidents, he was also the poorest one.
Truman was modestly educated, and he was held in debt for years of bad investment and low-performance firms, although he never filed for bankruptcy.
He was one of the first presidents to receive a pension, which helped him to float for $25,000 a year.
After being signed into law, he and his wife were also the first Medicare recipients.H
8. John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy was 35th President of the United States from January 1961 to his assassination in November 1963, also known as JFK.
Americans and the world often consider him to be the young, talented person whose career and life tragically ended that day of 22nd November 1963 in Dallas.
Apart from his charisma, Kennedy was also one of the best presidents ever, as I may presume many Americans still adore him for averting a possible full-scale nuclear war.
By negotiating with Soviet President Khrushchev, American diplomats under his leadership established a benchmark for diplomatic management of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
He also sought to bring an end to discrimination against race, supporting civil rights, and racial integration.
JFK, through his reforms, relieved the U.S. economy out of the financial crisis.
7. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (March 4, 1801-March 4, 1809), third President of the United States, also played an important role in America’s birth.
This author of the Declaration of Independence was a scholar, statesman, and a very good leader.
In 1803, he purchased the territory of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains from Napoleonic France at a bargain price of just $15 million.
Increasing the nation’s size by area in one blow with his brilliant mind, shaped our country from its formation days.
This places him in the seventh spot in our top 10 best presidents, as he was also one of the founding fathers.
The United States also battled its first foreign war, recognized as the First Barbary War, while Jefferson was in charge and shortly attacked present-day Libya.
6. Dwight D. Eisenhower
The war in Korea stopped during the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower (January 20, 1953-January 20, 1961), while the U.S. saw tremendous economic growth.
Perhaps the most important achievement of Eisenhower as president was to keep America out of the war.
As president, he faced issues that could quickly have escalated into conflict if someone else had been in control without such a presence of mind.
Besides, we can attribute him to his financial strategies that mainly contributed to the financial growth of the 1950s.
Eisenhower issued legislation creating the interstate highway system, airplane technology, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) while in government.
Through his term, he kept a strong anti-communist position in foreign policy in Europe and Asia, increasing the nuclear arsenal of the nation and promoting South Vietnam’s capitalist regime.
Eisenhower promoted sports in America by founding President’s Council on Youth Fitness in 1956 for encouraging youth to prioritize fitness.
5. Ronald Regan
Ronald Reagan was an American movie actor turned politician who worked from 1981 to 1989 as the 40th U.S. president.
He had an inspiring, enthusiastic, and charming personality, but his presidency was much more than that.
His administration developed 16 million new employment opportunities, fueled a 2-decade-length economic boom.
Reagan’s economic policy’s four pillars were to reduce government spending, lower the federal income tax and investment gains tax, lower public regulation, and loosen money supply to decrease inflation.
His best achievement was ending the cold war.
Regan’s administration pushed his Strategic Defense Initiative relentlessly and helped the insurgents, particularly from Nicaragua to Angola, fighting Soviet-backed Communists.
These efforts were critical in the Soviet empire’s ultimate collapse and ended the Cold War finally.
Speaking in historical rankings of presidents personally, he is my favorite leader.
Reagan was the right man at the right time.
4. Theodore Roosevelt
After the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt (September 14, 1901-March 4, 1909) went to power.
Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest person to hold the presidential position when at 42.
Roosevelt used his presidentship during his two terms to implement excellent national and foreign policy.
He helped to industrialize the US’s economy by introducing new labor laws, placing regulations to curb the power of large corporations such as Standard Oil, and the railroad contractors.
With the Pure Food and Drug Act, which gave birth to the present Food and Drug Administration, he also enhanced consumer protection and created the first national parks.
Roosevelt followed an aggressive foreign policy, negotiating the beginning of the war between Russia and Japan and creating the Canal of Panama.
He strengthened the American Navy by journeying battleships throughout the globe to make friendly courtesy visits (Great White Fleet).
These ‘courtesy visits’ made sure the world should see the new American Naval power.
Today, we can thank him for promoting child labor laws, women’s rights, an 8-hour working day, and building a new image of masculinity that combined education, bodily strength, and rugged individualism.
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
The longest-serving President of the United States was Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) (March 4, 1933-April 12, 1945).
Elected during the troubled times of the Great Economic Depression, he held the oval office from 1933 to only months before World War II ended in 1945.
During his presidential tenure, he planned to extend the federal government’s functions.
Depression-era federal programs such as Social Security, implemented during FDR’s tenure, still exist, offering the most susceptible nation with fundamental economic protection.
The U.S. also took on a prominent fresh role in global affairs because of the conflict, a stance it still holds.
Using American convoy strategies and superior technology reduced the efficiency of German submarines in the North Atlantic, thanks to his priority on military innovation.
The US and the allies also gained air superiority because of advanced fighter planes over Axis forces.
Because of his economic, diplomatic, and defense policies, many consider him one of the best presidents America ever had.
2. Abraham Lincoln
If not for Abraham Lincoln (March 4, 1861-April 15, 1865), leaded Union during the Civil War, the U.S. might have looked different today.
Lincoln led the Union through four brutal years of civil war, abolished slavery with the Proclamation of Emancipation, and created the basis for peace with the beaten South at the end of the American Civil War.
Unfortunately, Lincoln didn’t survive to see a country completely restored and united.
John Wilkes Booth assassinated him in Washington, D.C., weeks before the official conclusion of the Civil War.
It was difficult for me to make the presidential rankings list, especially the top two.
Abe Lincoln was great and was a genius in coping with individuals, and rendered his adversary friends repeatedly.
He was honest and always tried to do for America what was best.
1. George Washington
On top of our list is a humble military general known as the father of the nation, our first president, George Washington.
During the American Revolution, he functioned as commander-in-chief and then presided over the 1787 Constitutional conventions.
With no criterion for choosing a president, it fell to the members of the Electoral College to elect the nation’s first leader.
Over two terms, Washington has created many of the traditions that the oval office still follows today.
Worried that the president’s office should not be seen as a monarch’s cabinet but as one citizen,
Washington preferred calling him “Mr. President” rather than “Your Excellency.”
During his presidency, he detailed government spending regulations, normalized relationships with Great Britain, and set the foundations for the future capital, Washington, D.C.
George Washington refused to accept the position country’s highest post when requested for the third term.
His explanation was, The presidency is not to be a seat from which to rule, a monarchy in Washington, or a peer down on its country’s citizens, but a place in which the Americans chose an individual to represent them.
The world could be much different today if another power-hungry man took office as our first president.
Considering many facts, Geroge Washington was the best president Americans ever had.
We had some amazing people who served us as our leaders. As this is the top 10 best presidents countdown, I couldn’t include them all.
They were people of personality and intelligence, from various political parties and various cultures.
I carefully selected those who changed America and the world for good.
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