25. Gerald R. Ford Jr.
Gerald Ford became the 38th president of the United States after Richard Nixon resigned from office. His presidential tenure lasted from 1974 until 1977. He is remembered for taking part in the Helsinki Accords, which attempted to thaw relations with the Soviet Union during the Cold War and also notably pardoned former president Richard Nixon. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, his law career propelled him into political life. Overall, he ranks high for his moral authority as he led the country through a serious economic depression. Gerald Ford holds the title of being the only man to serve as both president and vice president without being elected.
24. William H. Taft
23. Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland served two terms as president, the first from 1885 to 1889. He lost re-elction the first time, but ended up winning again in 1893 and serving until 1897. He is championed by conservatives for his fiscal policy and because he advocated for political reform. During his second term, he was faced with handling the Panic of 1893, a terrible economic downturn, as well as a huge nationwide railroad strike known as the Pullman Strike of 1894. He descended from one of the first families to move to the new world, going from Cleveland, England to Massachusetts in 1635. Cleveland excelled at public speaking and persuasion. “He possessed honesty, courage, firmness, independence, and common sense. But he possessed them to a degree other men do not,” his biographer later wrote. Despite a lackluster second term, Cleveland is considered one of the better US presidents.
22. Ulysses S. Grant
21. John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 until 1829 and was the son of a president and Founding Father, John Adams. He ranks high for having a strong vision for the country and for his devotion to ensuring that all Americans were treated equally. Adams was vehemently anti-slavery. According to him, he was “the acutest, the astutest, the archest enemy of southern slavery that ever existed.” President Adams was also a big advocate of nonintervention policies, staying out of European politics. He was also against the annexation of Texas. Fun Fact: The oldest surviving photo of a president is of John Quincy Adams in 1843, when he was 76 years old.
20. George H. W. Bush
19. John Adams
John Adams, one of the founding fathers of America, was the second president of the United States. He is best remembered for his resolution of the conflict with France and building up of the army and navy during his term from 1797 until 1801. John Adams is commonly known as “the father of the American Navy.” He scored highest on international relations, moral authority and crisis leadership. Adams only served one term as president and was succeeded by Thomas Jefferson.
18. Andrew Jackson
17. James Madison
James Madison, also known as the father of the constitution, was the fourth president of the United States and a Founding Father. Madison comes in at number 17 for his high moral authority and his superb performance during his two terms from 1809 until 1817. He led the country through the War of 1812 and called for beefing up the military, government powers, and establishing a national bank. Madison was highly intelligent, completing college in just two years. He was also the first graduate student at Princeton University. His wife Dolley was instrumental in defining the role of first lady. She was the first to take an active role in the White House by redecorating and leading a public outreach program for orphans.
16. William McKinley Jr.
15. Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton served as the 42nd President of the United States and is well remembered for his public persuasion and exemplary economic management during his term from 1993 until 2001. Clinton holds the title as having the longest period of economic expansion during peacetime of any president. He accomplished a number of reforms regarding welfare and health insurance for children and was active in promoting peace efforts around the world. “He has brought on the greatest prosperity we have ever known and he doesn’t get the credit for it and that’s too bad,” said White House reporter Helen Thomas. His approval rating when he left office was 60%, the highest since World War II.
14. James K. Polk
13. James Monroe
Founding Father James Monroe served as the fifth President of the United States from 1817 until 1825. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and his first term heralded in what was known as the Era of Good Feelings. President Monroe is well remembered today for his foreign policy, known as “The Monroe Doctrine.” Monroe scored very high in international relations and performance but falls short in the pursuance of equal justice for all. He won both of his elections in a landslide. Keep reading, you’ll never believe which president comes in 12th place!
12. Barack Obama
11. Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson served as the 28th president of the United States for two terms, from 1913 to 1921. He scores highest for his clear agenda and skills at public persuasion. Wilson led the United States through World War I and assisted with the Treaty of Versailles that significantly helped end the war. At the conclusion of the conference, Wilson is famous for saying that “at last the world knows America as the savior of the world!” Wilson. He strongly pushed for the US to join the League of Nations, which eventually became the United Nations, but Congress did not approve.
10. Lyndon Baines Johnson
9. Ronald Reagan
The ninth best president in history is none other than Ronald Reagan, who served as the 40th President of the United States from 1981 until 1989. Reagan scores among the highest of all the presidents for his skills at public persuasion and having a clear vision for the country. President Reagan is well known for his policy of Reaganomics, as well as for ending the Cold War with the Soviet Union, and the Iran-Contra affair. He is also well remembered for his iconic speech in West Germany, standing in front of the Berlin Wall, in which he told Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev to “tear down this wall!”.
8. John F. Kennedy
7. Thomas Jefferson
Founding Father Thomas Jefferson comes in at number seven on the list of best presidents. He served as the nation’s third president from 1801 until 1809 and was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson orchestrated the Louisiana Purchase with France, doubling the territory of the United States. He was also an advocate of religious freedom and tolerance. Jefferson only falls short in one category of the survey, and that’s pursuing equal justice for all.
6. Harry S. Truman
5. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Army-General-turned-politician Dwight D. Eisenhower is the fifth highest ranking president on this list. He served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He scored high for his moral authority, as well as crisis leadership and international relations. Eisenhower was responsible for implementing the desegregation of the armed forces, a policy set by President Truman. Eisenhower has consistently topped surveys of the most admired men ever. Hey, it looks like everyone did like Ike after all.
4. Theodore Roosevelt
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
The third highest ranking president of all time is Franklin D. Roosevelt or FDR for short. He was the 32nd President of the United States and holds the title of being the only president to be elected four times, holding office from 1933 until 1945. FDR was a master at public persuasion and crisis leadership. He led the nation through the Great Depression and all the way to victory in World War II. He established many social and economic reforms as part of the New Deal in an attempt to pull the US out of the grips of the Great Depression. Read on to find out who came in second place.
2. George Washington
1. Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln is the highest ranking US president of all time. He served as the 16th president from 1861 until 1865. He led the Union through the Civil War and most importantly, started the process of abolishing slavery. He set the grounds for ending slavery with his groundbreaking the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which changed the status of slaves in the South to free people. It was his mission to add the 13th amendment to the constitution, which would officially outlaw slavery in the United States. Sadly, it was only passed after Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. A number of different polls show that Lincoln is the most admired US President of all time.