Pres. Reagan defeated the only superpower we faced since Great Britain during George Washington's time. Only this time the weapons were nuclear and could have destroyed the world. He defeated this terrible threat WITHOUT going to war, a miraculous feat that no other president in our history was able to accomplish. I do know history, and he got my vote.
I would have to give "greatest American" status to the father of our country, George Washington. The battle with the Hessians and the entire Revolutionary War is, its own time, as if not more compelling than defeating communism (which still does exist in the world, BTW, just ask any imprisoned Christian pastor in China, Cuba, North Korea....)