I’ve always thought the whole “greatest President” bit was pretty simple.
Washington was the greatest president of the 18th century, Lincoln of the 19th and Reagan of the 20th.
But I think both of the others would have agreed George deserves the #1 spot.
You left out Calvin Coolidge.
Coolidge was great because he didn't have an agenda other than governing, vetoed almost every bill he saw and made a concerted effort to stay out of the news.
"Silent Cal"
Wouldn't that be a blessed relief?
Respectfully I dsagree.
I know my views are not among the majority, but here is how I see it:
In my opinion Lincoln does not deserve mention in the same sentence as Washington or Reagan.
Washington presided over the birth of the nation.
Lincoln presided over the death of 600,000 Americans who killed each other in a war he could have avoided or ended at any time.
Reagan presided over the end of the most potentially disasterous conflict in the entire known history of the world.
“Washington was the greatest president of the 18th century”
Pretty much a back-handed compliment, given only 2 were president then.
I won’t say what I think of Lincoln.