Top Guy
1) Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt is good enough to have his head carved into a mountain, but he’s not good enough to get a coin?!? As president, he spearheaded the deal for the Panama Canal, established the National Parks Service and the Food and Drug Administration, broke up monopolies such as Standard Oil, and won the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
2) James Monroe
Before becoming president, Monroe helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the nation. As president, he authored the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that “…the American continents…by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Power” and became the predominant American foreign policy for the next 100 years.
3) James Madison
Granted, Madison’s career was pretty much over by the time he was elected president. But if Alexander Hamilton gets the $10 for being the first secretary of the Treasury, and Ben Franklin gets the $100 for being a founding father, then shouldn’t the man largely credited with writing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights find a home on some currency.
4) William Howard Taft
He’s known as the fattest person ever to reside in the White House, but he should be remembered as the only man to ever serve as both the president and the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
5) William Clinton
If conservatives can call for every coin, airport and road to bear Ronald Reagan’s name, then liberals should be calling for the same for the 42nd president. To think, it’s only been eight years since America was a peaceful, prosperous nation held in high regard by other countries.
Top Lady
1) Theodore Roosevelt
T.R. was hands down the 2nd greatest president of the 20th century (after his cousin Franklin). He was a war hero, mastermind of the Panama Canal, author of 35 books, conservationist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and advocate of women’s suffrage and equal pay. Although Roosevelt could be accused of ushering in the age of American Imperialism, today’s leaders would do well to remember that he spoke softly (not brashly) with that big stick.
2) Woodrow Wilson
Probably the most intelligent president we’ve ever had. Wilson held out on World War I as long as he could, and then was critical in creating the Treaty of Versailles while also creating the League of Nations (for which, like Roosevelt, he also won a Nobel Prize). Wilson seems to have a reputation for being kind of a weakling, but his embrace of diplomacy and resistance to unnecessary arms-building in the face of the first global conflict should be recognized.
3) Harry S Truman
Truman served as vice president for only three months before FDR’s death pushed him into the heart of World War II, and many of the decisions he made, including using the nuclear bomb, were essentially the fulfillment of what FDR would have done. (Truman kept all of FDR’s cabinet intact.) Truman also authorized the Berlin Airlift, kept Joe McCarthy under control (for a little while) and got some wheels turning regarding Civil Rights. Also, he was from Missouri, and said things such as “The buck stops here.”
4) James Madison
He wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Doesn’t he deserve more than a lot of streets, a mermaid, and a million 8-year old girls named after him?
5) Jimmy Carter
Carter is a better ex-President than he was an actual member of the Executive branch, but much of his failure in getting things done came from poor relations with Congress. Now, gas is $4.49 a gallon. We don’t have peace in the Middle East. We don’t have a good plan for renewable energy or any kind of energy independence. Carter tried to tackle these in 1977. If he had been successful, can you imagine the kind of country we would be?
1) Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt is good enough to have his head carved into a mountain, but he’s not good enough to get a coin?!? As president, he spearheaded the deal for the Panama Canal, established the National Parks Service and the Food and Drug Administration, broke up monopolies such as Standard Oil, and won the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
2) James Monroe
Before becoming president, Monroe helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the nation. As president, he authored the Monroe Doctrine, which stated that “…the American continents…by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Power” and became the predominant American foreign policy for the next 100 years.
3) James Madison
Granted, Madison’s career was pretty much over by the time he was elected president. But if Alexander Hamilton gets the $10 for being the first secretary of the Treasury, and Ben Franklin gets the $100 for being a founding father, then shouldn’t the man largely credited with writing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights find a home on some currency.
4) William Howard Taft
He’s known as the fattest person ever to reside in the White House, but he should be remembered as the only man to ever serve as both the president and the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
5) William Clinton
If conservatives can call for every coin, airport and road to bear Ronald Reagan’s name, then liberals should be calling for the same for the 42nd president. To think, it’s only been eight years since America was a peaceful, prosperous nation held in high regard by other countries.
Top Lady
1) Theodore Roosevelt
T.R. was hands down the 2nd greatest president of the 20th century (after his cousin Franklin). He was a war hero, mastermind of the Panama Canal, author of 35 books, conservationist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and advocate of women’s suffrage and equal pay. Although Roosevelt could be accused of ushering in the age of American Imperialism, today’s leaders would do well to remember that he spoke softly (not brashly) with that big stick.
2) Woodrow Wilson
Probably the most intelligent president we’ve ever had. Wilson held out on World War I as long as he could, and then was critical in creating the Treaty of Versailles while also creating the League of Nations (for which, like Roosevelt, he also won a Nobel Prize). Wilson seems to have a reputation for being kind of a weakling, but his embrace of diplomacy and resistance to unnecessary arms-building in the face of the first global conflict should be recognized.
3) Harry S Truman
Truman served as vice president for only three months before FDR’s death pushed him into the heart of World War II, and many of the decisions he made, including using the nuclear bomb, were essentially the fulfillment of what FDR would have done. (Truman kept all of FDR’s cabinet intact.) Truman also authorized the Berlin Airlift, kept Joe McCarthy under control (for a little while) and got some wheels turning regarding Civil Rights. Also, he was from Missouri, and said things such as “The buck stops here.”
4) James Madison
He wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Doesn’t he deserve more than a lot of streets, a mermaid, and a million 8-year old girls named after him?
5) Jimmy Carter
Carter is a better ex-President than he was an actual member of the Executive branch, but much of his failure in getting things done came from poor relations with Congress. Now, gas is $4.49 a gallon. We don’t have peace in the Middle East. We don’t have a good plan for renewable energy or any kind of energy independence. Carter tried to tackle these in 1977. If he had been successful, can you imagine the kind of country we would be?
2 comments:
I can't believe no one picked Chester A. Arthur. He may not be the most popular president, but he has the coolest facial hair by far.
And what about Millard Fillmore? The school on "Head of the Class" was named for him!
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