10 most influential presidents

San Antonio Express-News ^ | 04/25/2010 | http://americanhistory.about.com/od/uspresidents/tp/toppresidents.htm

[Responsibility2nd]

1. Abraham Lincoln

2. Franklin D. Roosevelt

3. George Washington

4. Thomas Jefferson

5. Andrew Jackson

6. Theodore Roosevelt

7. Woodrow Wilson

8. Harry S. Truman

9. James K. Polk

10. Dwight Eisenhower

[jmaroneps37]

This is a nice list BUT if we don't overturn the damage Obama has done and will do he will be at the top of the list. What could be more influential than ending the country?

[Albion Wilde]

[Gay State Conservative]

It depends on how you define “influential”.Jimmah was a *very* influential President.And freedom loving people worldwide suffered as a result.

[Dr. Sivana]

I agree that Reagan should be on the list. I would also like to make a puch for Rutherford Hayes. That election was crazy (Tilden probably should have won), but Hayes ended Reconstruction. That’s a big deal.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Left wing college professors r us.

[Mogollon]

Wasn’t there some fella from CA not on that list that should have been?

Right! And why in the hell is FDR before George Washington?

[Jim from C-Town]

This is an incredibly FLAWED list as all personal opinions of presidents would be. As to the actual people on the list, many are indisputably influential and lastingly so. However the reasons WHY they are influential are in many respects for NEGATIVE and not positive reasons. The order is also extremely suspect and certainly WRONG by almost any clear reading of history.

For example:

The MOST influential and certainly MOST consequential president would have to be George Washington for one reason only and that is certainly because he left office and established the precedent of a two term presidency and the bloodless and civil transfer of power. This is significant because it was so novel that a person would give up power.

Kings, princes, dictators, and potentates throughout history NEVER willingly gave up power. This is a first in history and shows a new movement in governing, one that is granted by the governed to the government. The power of that one thought changed history.

[central_va]

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln saved the Union during the American Civil War.

If "influential" is taken to be a neutral term, I would agree. Julius Caesar was influential too, when he destroyed the other greatest republic known to man.

[Hawthorn]

Not a bad list, but a very bad ranking. Surely George W. was more influential than Abe or FDR. Without GW’s influence, we probably would never even have had a USA.

Also, even though I like Eisenhower, it seems to me that at least a few other POTI may have been more “influential” — Monroe, Reagan, Buchanan (in a bad way) and Hoover (again, in a bad way).

Moreover, depending on how our struggle with militant Islamism eventually works itself out, G. W. Bush may eventually be ranked by historians-yet-unborn as among the top ten.

(Regarding the latter, I was around in the early 1950’s and was politically aware. Believe me, NOBODY BUT NOBODY back in those days would have put HST on any kind of “top ten” list.)

[Renderofveils]

What, no Millard Fillmore? I mean, he brought California in as a state, abolished slavery in DC, hated the Republican Party, and married his school teacher. I figured the liberals would hoist him up as a hero. (But then again, he opposed Lincoln for all he was worth...)

[Norman Bates]

Ike was the last Republican president to date to have a balanaced budget. Ike was the last president to deport illegal aliens en masse.

[King_Corey]

Thanks for posting, but this list is HORRIBLE. Washington is far above #1 for his Stellar Greatness. Every Step he took was sealed until the Socialists started getting elected. Even now it is hard to undo what he began and what began at the start.

[Doulos1]

You got that right!

[Jim from C-Town]

“If “influential” is taken to be a neutral term, I would agree. Julius Caesar was influential too, when he destroyed the other greatest republic known to man.”

Second Greatest!

Wilson and FDR helped kill the greatest one.

[KarlInOhio]

8. Harry S Truman Harry S Truman took over after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He made one of the hardest decisions in American History by deciding to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He presided over the end of World War II and set precedents for leadership during the beginning of the Cold War.

????? So his big decision was whether to continue thousand plane firebombing attacks on Japanese cities or do essentially the same thing with one big bomb? Did he make the right decision? Yes, I think so, but it was hardly enough to put him in the top 10. I would say the far bigger decision was to support West Berlin with the airlift.

10. Dwight Eisenhower During Eisenhower's time in office, America experienced a great amount of economic prosperity. Eisenhower also provided crucial leadership during the Cold War.

Good job? Yes, but not one of the most influential.

Since influence can be either positive or negative, I would put Lyndon Johnson high up in the list. His great expansion of the dole was what increased our downhill welfare spiral started by Franklin Roosevelt.

[pyx]

7. Woodrow Wilson Wilson piloted the ship that brought America onto the world stage. He made the first steps of leading us out of isolationism, violating Washington's tenet of avoiding foreign entanglements. He led America during World War I. His fervent hope was for the US to join a League of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations.

Woodrow Wilson was a vile racist who has almost destroyed America with the Fed Reserve and Income Tax.

[Jeff Chandler]

Reagan and Johnson should both be on that list. And perhaps Nixon for opening up trade with China.

[hosepipe]

[ 8. Harry S Truman Harry S Truman took over after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He made one of the hardest decisions in American History by deciding to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He presided over the end of World War II and set precedents for leadership during the beginning of the Cold War. ]

Well duuuugh.. the choice was allow for more than a Million(MORE) deaths of U.S. servicemen(invading japan) -OR- drop the BOMB...

Even a cave man could make that choice..
Truman over saw FDR's administration of commies..
THEN made the U.S. look like idiots in the Korean War..

[ml/nj]

Ronald Reagan is number one- far and away.

It said most influential, not greatest. Lincoln destroyed what the others had built before him. I'd say that's pretty influential.

ML/NJ

[BuffaloJack]

Geez, at least 3 of the ones listed were socialists.