The Best US Presidents of All Time

Let's face it, John F. Kennedy was one of the coolest presidents. Commonly referred to as JFK, was the 35th President of the United States. He served from 1960 until November 1963.

Kennedy is remembered because of crisis. Well, crises, ones that we that he both engineered and deftly handled. The botched Bay of Pigs Invasion an example of the former, and the Cuban Missile Crises of the latter. JFK is remembered for his support of the civil rights movement. It was his assassination that left its mark on the American psyche more than anything. But never before JFK had there been such a dynamic and young president who dared to take integrity seriously.

Eisenhower is perhaps one of the most badass men to hold the presidency. But it's what he did with that power that landed him on this list.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States and took office in 1953. His administration centered mainly around foreign policy, like the Korean War and keeping the Soviet Union in check. Thankfully, he was also Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in World War II, so we had the right guy for the job. One of his more abstract contributions was the warning of having a culture of constant warfare and military industrial complex to support it.

Woodrow Wilson's election is considered a bit of a fluke by historians. Ultimately, he would serve as the muse for one of the 20th century's most robust accomplishments.

Woodrow Wilson as the 28th POTUS and was not expected to be elected. It was really only possible because in the election of 1912, Teddy Roosevelt ran for a third term on a third party ticket, the Bull Moose Party. It is rather rare a third party to make such a big dent in the general election, but this time around it happened, giving us Wilson...thankfully! Wilson first kept us out of, and then strategically brought us into, World War I and created the forerunner to the United Nations, the League of Nations.

The 33rd President of the United States, Harry Truman, faced the single most harrowing decision in the history of warfare. At the same time, he did more to set the stage for the Cold War than anyone else.

In these ways, Truman's administration would have an unmistakeable mark on history. He became president in 1945 when FDR passed away early into his fourth term. Truman decided to drop the atomic bombs on Japan as well as sewed tensions with the Soviets by failing to live up to Roosevelt's vision of the postwar world. But still, considering the great chaos the world could've have fallen into, it is his service during the most trying of times that cements him as one of the greatest presidents of all time.

The third President of the United States is rife with contradiction. Thomas Jefferson has done more than any other to shape the language of American national unity, but the views and actions of him and his contemporaries are wholly at odds with that language.

Thomas Jefferson swore the oath of office in 1801 and is most remembered for presiding over the Louisiana Purchase, which effectively doubled US territory on the continent. Jefferson's second term wasn't as glamorous as his first, as his trade embargo against Britain went sideways. Still, his accomplishments are simply legendary in the lore of American history.

Teddy Roosevelt is the second vice-president on this list to ascend to the presidency due to assassination, in this case, William McKinley in 1901.

Roosevelt is known for his service in the Spanish American War as well as his political approach of "speak softly, but carry a big stick." Teddy Roosevelt changed the way economics worked in America, when started trust-busting monopolists and reintroducing much needed competition into the American market. As part of this regulatory wave, he also passed the Pure Food and Drug Act as well as the Meat Inspection Act; both of which made American consumption much safer.

The very first president of the United States just HAD to be on this list...and it's not just because of that ranking...

George Washington was the commander of the continental army during the American War of Independence and held the nation together during its infancy. Washington set many precedents that would become part of American tradition, such as American neutrality and the two-term tradition. Washington is also one of only two sitting presidents to lead troops.

FDR. The man himself. The list of accomplishes goes on and on. In fact, it just might make you wonder why he's not number 1...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States, taking the oath of office on March 4, 1933. In the midst of the Great Depression, FDR would launch a litany of legislation called the New Deal which would help guide American economic growth and recovery after years of deregulation. He would then go on to lead the nation through the turbulence of the second world war and set the stage for a sustainable peace after the war. Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the only president to serve more than two terms, being reelected to a third and fourth term in 1940 and 1944.

That's right. You knew it. How could it not be? Abraham Lincoln is the single greatest president in United States history.

Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office on March 4, 1861as the 16th President of the United States. As he swore the oath of office, nearly half the country was already in open rebellion. No other president has ever dealt with as large a national crisis as the Civil War.

And through it all, Lincoln himself went through monumental changes in character and political philosophy. If all this wasn't enough, after successfully navigating the Civil War, he was assassinated on April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth.