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By and large I agree with this list, except that I would shift Truman down several notches - probably out of the top 10 - and Lyndon Johnson (reluctantly) up a couple notches. I don't think that Truman did anything particularly distinctive that anyone else would not have, and I think Johnson's manuevers were crucial to the breaking of Jim Crow - whatever his shady motivations. That's just MO.

Truman gets on the list mainly because of his guts. The man was hated while in office by both Dems and Repubs, but he was grounded in unimpeachable morals (ever faithful to wife, Bess, unlike the bevy of Democrats (xcpt Carter) who followed him)...he integrated the armed forces, fired the "American Ceasar," fought with a Democratic Congress...'bout the only knock against him was he was a bit soft on the poliferation of Commies invading the government, Hollywood and the media of the time.

I think Johnson's manuevers were crucial to the breaking of Jim Crow - whatever his shady motivations.

For the same reason, Ike should be moved up the list. His appointment of Republican Federal Judges in the deep south are what began breaking the back of Jim Crow.

As to the criticism of not doing anything about the Hungarian Revolution is bogus. The fact is that in 1956, the only thing we could have done was either go for all out nuclear war or get our asses kicked in a conventional European land war against a much larger Soviet Army.

As to the tin foil hat stuff about Panama, the writer says this;

"On Christmas Eve, 1989, George Bush ordered the invasion of Panama, a sovereign neighbor, to remove the arguably popularly supported head of state..."

There was nothing popular about Noriega. He was a pure thug who had his hired goons beat and kill opposition leaders and eventually sent them after Americans who happened to venture outside the Zone.