You won't find too many Wilson fans on this board, but this is an interesting, and obviously Southern perspective.
In 1898, William McKinley, a former Union officer, also did his part to bury the bloody shirt by getting the Blue and Gray to march together against the Spaniards. Soldiers from both sides of the Potomac saw action in Cuba under General Fitzhugh Lee, a Confederate war hero who had fought with the Army of Northern Virginia.
John Adams put his country before his own political career. The only one term President of the first five,(his son John Quincy became the second one termer) he went directly against his party, the Federalists, who wanted to go to war with France in the closing days of the 18th century. Working through somewhat covert diplomatic channels, he avoided war with France, a war which more than likely would have destroyed the United States before it even got started. By doing so, Adams alienated his own party, therefore giving up any chance of winning re-election in 1800.
The best? I don’t know. But how many President’s gave up their life’s work and a second Presidential term and saved the country in the process?