There have been 43 Presidents of the United States, but they are not all equal. There are certain presidents that outrank other ones, especially the top ten best presidents this country has ever seen. According to The Wall Street Journal poll, the top ten presidents in order from number one to number ten are as follows: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, James Polk, and Andrew Jackson. There are certain characteristic traits in all ten of these presidents that make them the greatest Presidents of the United States. Some of these traits are being confident, committed, and trustworthy. A great president must have confidence. To start off, the president must have confidence in himself. He has to have confidence that he can do the job, serve his country well, …show more content…
All three must be present in order to be considered one of the greatest Presidents of the United States of America. There are more characteristic traits out there that can also be found in a great president, but only the three are mentioned in this paper. All ten of the greatest Presidents of the United States has all three of these traits. They may not necessarily all be confident, committed, and trustworthy in the same manner, but they all have them in one way or another. Of course, all ten of these presidents, as all do, have flaws and made some mistakes, but that is just being human. The key is that he owns up to these mistakes and that he continues on being the President of the United States with all three of these character traits. If there are any future Presidents of the United States that wish to in the same rankings as these ten as the greatest presidents, then they will have to step up, acquire or already have these three traits, and serve this country well and to the best of their
Of the most powerful people in the world, the President of the United States of America hits the top of the list. Even though the policy agendas that presidents set as they take office often go unfulfilled, the office of President is still one of the most envied spots to have. But why could this be? It is because the United States is the most powerful nation in the world and with the President as the leader, he is said to have the most power in the world ("Top Ten Most Powerful Countries in the World"). With power comes responsibility and with this position he must govern a country while abiding by the rules.
A fantastic president would always be trying to come up with new ideas that won't affect people in a bad way. They would need to be great public speakers, honest, powerful, persuasive, and respectful. Most importantly though, they need to be able to lead their country through the specific problems facing them
The United States has an extensive list of presidents that will be remembered in the history books as “great” presidents. However, what are the qualifications that give those presidents that title? It’s inarguable that these great presidents were visionaries, used strong military presence during their presidency, successfully resolved conflict, and were environmentally conscious.
After all these years since the United States was born no one has forgotten the name George Washington. George Washington help the united states gain its independence. That wasn't all after we one independence George Washington was elected the first U.S. president. I believe that George Washington was the best president because he was our first its because of him how we are today even though the U.S. is going through a rough patch right now he left a great name for the United States Of America. George Washington was the right man for the job.
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan was a man not only measured by his achievements but by also his charismatic ways and by his abilities to unify the American people. Throughout the course of American Presidents many have had exceptional achievements that have benefitted the country’s overall well being, but no other President than Ronald Reagan has had more success than failures in his two presidential terms. The eight years of the Reagan presidency was one of the most high-powered periods, in recent U.S. history, resulting in a major refocusing of the nation's business, social, and international policy. At 69 years of age, Reagan became the oldest man ever elected president, receiving 525 electoral votes (the most of any presidential candidate) and again at 73 for a second term. When Ronald Reagan became president, he had a clear vision of what the nation should be and made clear the direction he hoped it would take during his administration. Reagan had a clear economic, social, and foreign policy agenda, and with political cunningness and personal persuasiveness he was able to achieve many of his goals.
Because of their positions in the government and their resulting influential abilities, presidents are either praised for advancing the nation, criticized for not doing anything to help the country, or even making the country’s situation worse. Their success as president is dependent on the success of the country. People don’t take into consideration the attempts presidents make, but only those things that help or hurt the country. This leaves room for there to be a good president who may not accomplish much and a bad president who may accomplish a lot.
Richard Neustadt identifies three specific traits a person must possess in order to succeed as president of the United States of America. He stated that “the presidency is not a place for amateurs” and candidates must meet specific traits if they are to succeed at commanding one of the world’s largest and strongest nations. The three criteria he believed that a man must possess in order to succeed as president include the power to persuade, a professional reputation, and a public prestige. Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan are three presidents who were elected to power at three very different eras of American history. The following research paper will examine how each of these three men succeeded and failed at meeting Neustadt’s criteria of presidential greatness. In addition, this research paper will compare and contrast the successes and failures of the three men and finally, the paper will conclude by offering a personal consideration of what I believe makes a truly great president.
The presidency of the United Sates of America has been an evolving office since the term of our first president, George Washington. This evolution has occurred because of the changing times and the evolution of society itself, but also because of the actions of the men who have become president. Starting in the 20th century, most have referred to the presidency as the modern presidency due to changes in both a president's power and the way that the office itself is viewed. As the office of the president has evolved so has who can become president evolved. Yet, even today there are certain individuals who because of their gender or race have yet to hold the office of the presidency. The men that have been president in our modern era have all had faults and greatness, some having more of one than of the other. The modern presidency is an office that many aspire to, but that few hold. The evolution of the office of the presidency has been one from that of a traditional role to that of a modern role that is forever evolving.
Rove, Karl. “What Makes a Great President.” Lecture. Rocco C. Siciliano Forum, Univ. of Utah. 13 Nov 2002. History News Network. George Mason Univ.’s History News Network, 30 June 2003. Web. 08 May 2011.
A presidents persona and character are determining factors of a president's policies and ideas. Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was one of the greatest, most influential presidents that there ever was. Theodore Roosevelt made America a stronger and more powerful nation due to all of his careers and achievements in his life.
Throughout the 20th century we have had many presidents, good and bad, but George Herbert Walker Bush stands out as far superior to his competition. For his great works he won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Only the elite can achieve such an honor. It is because of his reserved, diplomatic, protecting, and empathic nature that he reigns supreme. His presidency will live on for all to remember. For as long as the Earth is still spinning, all win remember George Herbert Walker Bush.
Richard E. Neustadt, the author of Presidential Power, addresses the politics of leadership and how the citizens of the United States rate the performance of the president's term. We measure his leadership by saying that he is either "weak or "strong" and Neustadt argues that we have the right to do so, because his office has become the focal point of politics and policy in our political system.
Ranking presidential greatness is a process, which is largely based upon opinion and personal judgment. With any ranking system, whether based on subjective or objective criteria, judgment and opinion is required to determine which factors best serve as indicators or measurements of greatness. While opinion serves as a major part of the decision-making process, a factual framework is also intrinsic to the process of ranking presidential greatness. This framework serves as the basis on which comparisons are made and can include factors such as those related to historical events, presidential accomplishments, presidential performance, personal characteristics, etc. The central focus of the paper is to discuss presidential greatness. I will begin by examining the American public's general conception of presidential greatness and their apparent views regarding the subject. In the second half of the discussion, I will examine how scholars have attempted attempt to define greatness and rank presidents; I will also include my analysis and criticism their arguments. The subsequent focus of this paper is to present my own definition of presidential greatness and the categorization and ranking processes that I have devised. I will conclude by presenting the president who according to my definition qualifies as the greatest president.
Understanding and evaluating presidents’ performance often poses challenges for political experts. The nation votes one president at the time and each presidency faces different tests. The environments surrounding a presidency have a tremendous impact on the success and failure of that presidency. In addition, the president exercises his power through a check and balance system embody in the Constitution. As stated in (Collier 1959), the Constitution created a government of “separated institutions sharing power.” As a result, a president works with others institutions of the government to shape the nation’s agenda. Thus, determining a presidential performance becomes difficult, especially when it comes to comparing the performance among presidencies.
Who was the greatest president of the United States? There have been many great presidents in the history of the U.S. Many presidents have led our country through very trying times. Some people believe Lincoln was the greatest president. However, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led our country at times when a great leader was needed. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the greatest president of the United States because of his New Deal, his great leadership skills, and his strong and deep connection to the people of the United States.