Some clamored for him to become Emperor of America, but he turned it down, and later stepped down as President, setting the precedent for all elected officials: limited tenure. To answer the thread question: Thomas Jefferson or Theodore Roosevelt.
I'm for almost any of the first 7 presidents, the Alien and Sedition Acts notwithstanding, the reason being that these men generally were statesmen, not politicians. We got really lucky having Washington as our first president under the constitution, but can you name the eleven Presidents of Congress that were before him? Washington's humble ego set the bar for everyone who followed. It was he who, when offered a big long, glorious title said " 'Mr. President' will do fine."
I noticed all presidents on the poll are American! So I vote for Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. Never started a war. Always gave me one day off every year. Never gave me trouble.
I voted Reagan. He revived the economy after the disaster of the Carter presidency, rebuilt our military, and restored American confidence. Not to mention winning the cold war. Of the presidents specifically listed, he was certainly the best. And I didn't want to vote "other". I really don't think Reagan was superior to Washington, though. Without him there would be no United States of America. He could have made himself king. His authority gave the constitutional convention legetimacy. He was truly the "essential man". To think, I recall reading that some sniper during the revolutionary war had Washington in his sights, but decided not to shoot. There's a pivot point in world history if there ever was one.
I think the overall tactic during the Revolution was to send a wall of lead at the enemy and see who goes down. I had heard something about the enlisted man wasn't supposed to specifically target an officer, although if they got hit, they got hit. I'm sure not many guys paid attention to it. The bullet that was headed toward "Bloody Ban" Tarleton sure didn't care about class. Of course, it got his horse instead and triggered a series of tragic events that came to be known as the "Waxhaw Massacre", but that's between Ban and Buford. It's possible that the sniper was out of range or that the winds, etc. weren't right. If I was a loyalist sniper and "arch-rebel Washington", as the Brits called him in a contemporary news story, came within range, that boy is going down!!!
