Which US president was most significant? GRAND FINAL

This poll is closed

Which US president was most significant?

George Washington (Ind, 1789-1797) 17%

Thomas Jefferson (D-R, 1801-1809) 2%

Andrew Jackson (D, 1829-1837) 1%

Abraham Lincoln (R, 1861-1865) 29%

Franklin Roosevelt (D, 1933-1945) 13%

Harry Truman (D, 1945-1953) 2%

Ronald Reagan (R, 1981-1989) 6%

Barack Obama (D, 2009-2017)30%

Total votes: 403

Saracen's Fez

TSR is asking the question: Which US president was the most significant? As we build up to Presidents' Day on 21st February, we're holding a tournament of US presidents and asking you to vote to determine which was the most significant in history. We've been through the pool stage, heats and semi-finals, and we've now reached the grand final!

If you want to know who beat who to get this far, check out the hub thread here . :biggrin:

Our eight grand finalists are are:

George Washington (Ind, 1789–1797)
George Washington (1732–1799) was the 1st president, having led the separatist forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War. He led the establishment of a constitution for the new state, and has been commemorated in the state of Washington, the capital Washington, DC, and monument including the Washington Monument. He did, however, fail to take any action on slavery, believing this could split the new country.

Thomas Jefferson (D-R, 1801–1809)
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was the 3rd president, having been the 2nd vice-president and the 1st secretary of state. Having played a key role in drafting the constitution, his presidency saw the Louisiana Purchase from France, which doubled the US’s land area and led to the clearance of indigenous tribes from the purchased area. He was also a noted polymath and writer.

Andrew Jackson (D, 1829–1837)
Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) was the 7th president, having served in both houses of Congress and been a general in the US Army. He was the only president to ever pay off the national debt, but also signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed most Native Americans from their land. He also survived the first ever assassination attempt against a president.

Abraham Lincoln (R, 1861–1865)
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) was the 16th president, having previously been a lawyer and congressman. As a supporter of the abolition of slavery, his election as president with the votes of northern states led southern states to begin seceding and eventually led to the Civil War. He delivered the Gettysburg Address as a call to democracy, and engineered an end to slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment. He was assassinated by Confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth.

Franklin Roosevelt (D, 1933–1945)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) was the 32nd president, having previously been governor of New York. Having taken office during the Great Depression, he introduced the New Deal to stimulate the economy. His presidency also coincided with the Second World War, and having initially declared the US neutral, he took the US into the war after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. He died in office in 1945, having been the only president to serve more than two terms.

Harry Truman (D, 1945–1953)
Harry S Truman (1884–1972) was the 33rd president, having previously been a senator and briefly vice-president. Taking over following Franklin Roosevelt’s death, he implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of democratic Europe and oversaw the creation of NATO. He also authorised the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the start of the Korean War. His attempts at a liberalising domestic agenda were largely obstructed by Congress.

Ronald Reagan (R, 1981–1989)
Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911–2004) was the 40th president, having previously been a Hollywood actor and governor of California. He is particularly known for his economic policy, favouring lowering both taxes and government spending and deregulating the economy, but also for foreign policy as the Cold War reached its peak, giving his 'Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!' speech in West Berlin in 1987. He also survived an assassination attempt in 1981. He won re-election with the most electoral votes ever recorded for a candidate.

Barack Obama (D, 2009–2017)
Barack Hussein Obama II (1961–) was the 44th president, having previously been a senator from Illinois. He is most significant for being the first African American and non-white person to be elected president. He oversaw the response to the 2008 financial crisis, which led to a strong economic recovery, as well as instituting healthcare reforms. He continued US involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and intervened in Libya, as well as signing the Iran nuclear deal. His domestic agenda was significantly constricted by a hostile Congress towards the end of his presidency.

Once you have decided, please vote in the poll attached to the thread. This poll will close on Presidents' Day, Monday 21st February. At that time, we will crown our winner and the most significant US president in history!

If you like this idea and want to see more from the History forum, please let us know by posting in this thread.

(edited 2 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Saracen's Fez

This is honestly so tough now, the problem with having about 250 years of history is it's hard to compare one thing to another!

Washington easily.

Volunteer Section Leader

The final is upon us!

Quoting everyone who posted in previous rounds

Quotes

Reply 4

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

Really interesting to see that Obama has taken the early lead. Obama has scraped through the earlier rounds just to be in the final.

My vote went to Franklin Roosevelt

Reply 5

Vertigo_descent

Original post by Starship Trooper

Washington easily.

Between him and Jefferson for me.

Obama 4life :cool:

Wanted to go for someone with a legacy relevant to today, so it was between Truman and Reagan. It's perhaps an unfortunate reflection on the world today that I went for the latter (though to be fair Reagan didn't do a bad job of ensuring the Cold War was ultimately won).

Reply 8

Andrew97

Entertainment Forum Helper, Debate & Current Affairs Helper

Truman was the only one in a billy Joel Song so….

Reply 9

Mesopotamian…

It was a close call between Truman and Lincoln for me.

Reply 10

Sinnoh

Original post by Andrew97

Truman was the only one in a billy Joel Song so….

Well, if you don't count Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan and Nixon

Reply 11

Andrew97

Entertainment Forum Helper, Debate & Current Affairs Helper

Original post by Sinnoh

Well, if you don't count Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan and Nixon

I meant in the final but missed Reagan was here lol

Reply 12

Rakas21

Washington was a great general but by this time the war of independence was over.

Jefferson was objectively quite a good present and Jackson not too bad.

Lincoln was a great war time leader although overrated by Liberals. Despite being hailed as freeing slaves he once stated that if he could have won the war without freeing a single one, he would have.

Roosevelt won WW2 for the US once Japan gave him a opportunity to enter the European theatre (Hitler was the far greater threat on almost every industrial metric).

Truman starting the cold war in Korea was a great thing but the start of the US lacking the resolve to wipe out their enemies.

Reagan was a greater leader who liberalised the economy but perhaps lacks the global achievements of others.

Obama while not a bad president failed in half his aims and his foreign policy successes in Iran and Cuba were dismantled.

I'll go Jefferson I think. I would not have supported US indepdence, Jackson was not as good, Lincoln is remembered for what people want to believe, not what they do. The British and Russia would have likely won without the US. Truman, Raegan and Obama are not quite in the same league.