Top 10 Best US Presidents
Make some room on Mount Rushmore. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for those presidents who have cemented their place in American history.
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00:00We begin with equality, that's the origin, isn't it?
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for those presidents who have cemented their place in American history.
00:12Which will give us more wealth, better living, and greater happiness for our children.
00:19Number 10. Barack Obama.
00:22The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together.
00:33Barack Obama had an impressive presidency, chalking up a series of historic wins.
00:39The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was his greatest legacy.
00:43An expansion of Medicaid plus the creation of health insurance marketplaces led to an additional 40 million insured as of 2023.
00:50We have worked tirelessly over the past year to get Americans of all walks of life to forge a reform package finally worthy of the people we're still here to serve.
01:00Obama began his presidency in the middle of the Great Recession.
01:04He negotiated with Republicans to provide economic stimulus, ending the economic bleeding and sparking a prolonged period of growth.
01:11He worked with Congressional Democrats to draft the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
01:17While imperfect, this helped to regulate the financial industry.
01:21Under his leadership, the U.S. military eliminated Osama bin Laden.
01:25His State Department normalized relations with Cuba and crafted a nuclear agreement with Iran.
01:31Today, the United States, together with our close allies and partners, took an important first step toward a comprehensive solution that addresses our concerns with the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear program.
01:43Number nine, John F. Kennedy.
01:45John F. Kennedy had a short but memorable presidency before his tragic assassination.
01:50His youth and oratory inspired an entire generation of Americans.
01:54Kennedy prevented a potential nuclear confrontation by successfully navigating the Cuban Missile Crisis.
02:00I don't think we should be gloating too much.
02:04It was just as much a victory for them as it was for us.
02:08During this tense standoff with the Soviet Union, the world was brought to the very brink of nuclear war.
02:13Kennedy's advocacy of the civil rights movement helped give his successor the momentum to get civil rights legislation passed.
02:20I'm therefore asking the Congress to enact legislation.
02:24Giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public.
02:29Hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments.
02:35Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, an international symbol of America's commitment to humanitarian aid.
02:42His moonshot speech inspired the entire country.
02:45Before the decade was out, the U.S. would win the space race against the Soviets, landing on the moon in 1969.
02:52We choose to go to the moon.
03:00We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things.
03:04Not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
03:08Number 8. Lyndon B. Johnson.
03:10But really, it's all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.
03:20While Lyndon Johnson may have increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, his impressive list of domestic accomplishments warrants his inclusion on this list.
03:28His Great Society Initiative targeted both economic and racial injustice.
03:33He willingly gave up generations of white votes in the South to pass both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
03:42We believe all men are entitled to the blessing.
03:47The bills transformed America, striking major blows against segregation and voter suppression.
03:52He also supported the creation of both Medicare, a government health insurance program for seniors, and Medicaid, a health insurance program for low-income individuals.
04:01Johnson started the War on Poverty, launching programs like Head Start and the Economic Opportunity Act, aimed to create jobs and provide job training.
04:11Now, I got all kinds of federal programs in mind on health, education, literacy, jobs, you name it.
04:17We're going to change this country top to bottom.
04:20Number 7. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
04:22Unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.
04:29Dwight D. Eisenhower was president during some of the early years of the Cold War.
04:33His policy of containment against the Soviet Union helped to maintain balance between the world's two great superpowers.
04:39Though he entered the war in Korea as part of a UN police action, he avoided greater conflict.
04:44But the idea that the nation's greatest war hero was going to go to Korea and give it his personal attention was very reassuring to people.
04:52Eisenhower was also president during one of the most prosperous periods in American history, providing a tax break for large infrastructure expansion.
04:59The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 created the interstate highway system, providing arteries for travel and the free flow of goods.
05:07He maintained a balanced budget for three of his eight years and generally experienced low inflation.
05:13Budgets were balanced and defense spending was down.
05:18The middle class became America's happiest place to be, and they loved Ike.
05:24Number 6. Harry Truman.
05:26We will be the first great nation in all the history of the world to feed and support our former enemies as well as our friends.
05:37Harry Truman's presidency had a rough start.
05:40The immensely popular FDR died soon after the start of his fourth term and during the Second World War.
05:45Truman took the reins and, for better or worse, ended the war by employing the use of the atomic bomb in Japan.
05:51How could I face the people when it's finally over and say that I had the power to possibly end the war long ago?
05:59Spare the lives of their loved ones, and I chose not to use it.
06:03He then launched the Marshall Plan, helping to rebuild Europe and contain communism.
06:08The Truman administration played a central role in the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO,
06:14which helped maintain a prosperous and safe Western order, acting as a bulwark against Soviet expansion.
06:20Truman fought to protect FDR's economic legacy and his fair deal attempted to expand FDR's social safety net for lower-income Americans.
06:28Our country is very fortunate that we had the right man at the right place and at the right time.
06:365. Thomas Jefferson
06:46Thomas Jefferson has always been lionized as one of America's greatest founding fathers.
06:51In recent years, his more complicated legacy as a slave owner has surged to the fore.
06:56Still, even critical historians have to acknowledge Jefferson's accomplishments.
07:00Before the Revolutionary War, Jefferson was responsible for drafting the Declaration of Independence.
07:05As president, Jefferson was responsible for the Louisiana Purchase from France, a massive westward expansion of territory.
07:12Napoleon was willing to sell the whole kit and caboodle, not just New Orleans, but the entire Louisiana Territory, for a cheap price of $15 million.
07:22He repealed naturalization laws, allowing for a greater expansion of immigration.
07:27He avoided war with Spain, and most importantly, petitioned Congress to pass a law prohibiting the importation of slaves.
07:34Thomas Jefferson died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and almost 40 years before slavery was abolished.
07:414. Theodore Roosevelt
07:43Teddy Roosevelt, too, is a president with a complicated history with racism, but his progressive reforms can't be ignored.
07:50He fought to regulate an out-of-control business sector, becoming known as a trust-buster.
07:55He again lit into greedy corporations he felt unjustly wielded their power to gouge the public.
08:02He pushed for health legislation.
08:04He also passed some of America's first consumer protections.
08:07The Pure Food and Drug Act regulated food and medicine, and paved the way later for the Food and Drug Administration.
08:13Roosevelt also believed in conservation, establishing the national parks system, and preserving vast swaths of American wilderness.
08:22The conservation of our natural resources and their use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem in our national life.
08:32A fierce advocate of the Spanish-American War and the expansion of America's presence in the world, Roosevelt still fought for peace where he could.
08:40He even earned a Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
08:45The first Nobel given an American in any category.
08:493. George Washington
08:51George Washington, the father of the American army, is about to assume a new role as the father of America, the first president of the United States.
09:02George Washington was perhaps a bit reluctant to serve as the country's first chief executive, but his dignity and integrity set a precedent for most who followed him.
09:10Washington established the tradition of having a cabinet of expert advisors.
09:14He advocated for religious tolerance, and his leadership led to the ratification of the Bill of Rights.
09:19His administration created the First Bank of the United States and the U.S. Mint.
09:24During his second term, he avoided entering the war between Britain and France.
09:28Hamilton is right. Mr. President. It's too fragile to start another fight. Sir, do we not fight for freedom?
09:34Sure, when the French figure out who's going to lead them.
09:36Later, in his famous farewell address, Washington presciently warned against the dangers of foreign entanglements and factionalism.
09:44Without Washington's wise, humble, and measured leadership, American democracy may have ended before it truly began.
09:51If I say goodbye, the nation learns to move on. It outlives me when I'm gone.
09:592. Franklin D. Roosevelt
10:02Franklin D. Roosevelt faced a wide range of challenges as president.
10:05He was first elected in the depths of the Great Depression.
10:08His leadership enshrined a series of social welfare programs called the New Deal.
10:13If you believe in that New Deal that I believe in, you will have done your part towards the restoration of the purity and the success of representative government.
10:26Through the Works Progress Administration, he put America to work constructing infrastructure projects all over the country.
10:32Social Security provided a financial safety net for the country's oldest citizens.
10:36As Hitler marched through Europe, Roosevelt pushed for the Lend-Lease Program to keep America's allies afloat.
10:42We shall send you in ever-increasing numbers ships, planes, tanks, guns. That is our purpose and our pledge.
10:54After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, FDR's steady leadership during World War II was pivotal to preventing the world from falling to fascism.
11:02His diplomatic efforts, as well as those by his wife Eleanor, laid the foundations for the eventual creation of the United Nations.
11:09Throughout the long, tedious conference, he fought for unity and emerged with both of his major goals.
11:15Germany was to be removed as a threat to Europe, and the United Nations would become a reality.
11:22Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
11:26James Madison, the father of the Constitution, defended American sovereignty and brokered a lasting peace with the British.
11:33The biggest danger to our rights today is not from governments acting against the will of the majority,
11:39but from government which has become the mere instrument of this majority.
11:43Bill Clinton. He oversaw an economic boom and helped create a budget surplus.
11:48He managed to balance the budget and bring us actually into over $100 billion surplus.
11:58John Adams. Adams helped draft the Declaration of Independence and narrowly avoided war with France.
12:12Woodrow Wilson. His 14 points paved the way for the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.
12:18The 14th and most influential point proposed that countries form an alliance
12:23to guarantee the political independence and territorial integrity of great and small states alike.
12:30Ronald Reagan. His policies helped to win the Cold War and reduce nuclear stockpiles.
12:35So in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride,
12:40the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all.
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13:02Number 1. Abraham Lincoln.
13:04God damn thing of any human meaning or worth until we cure ourselves of slavery and end this pestilential war.
13:15The presidents of the early 1800s set the conditions that allowed America to splinter apart.
13:20They left the mess for Abraham Lincoln, who was soon presiding during a civil war.
13:25Lincoln fought to preserve the Union.
13:27His Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was a pivotal moment in ending the, quote,
13:32peculiar institution of slavery, which was ultimately abolished by the 13th Amendment.
13:37Two years ago, I proclaimed these people emancipated, then, thenceforward and forever free.
13:45Lincoln's oratory was legendary, and his moral convictions were on full display during his Gettysburg Address.
13:52Lincoln also established the first federal income tax, stabilizing the tax base.
13:57His two national banking acts promoted a stable and uniform currency.
14:01His leadership saw America through its most turbulent period,
14:06setting the stage for the Reconstruction Era.
14:08I'd like your states restored to their practical relations with the Union immediately.
14:14Who do you think deserves the title of the greatest U.S. president?
14:17Cast your vote for the top POTUS and let us know who's got your seal of approval.
14:22Done is show the world that democracy isn't chaos.
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14:35Thanks for watching!