Ranking the first ten Presidents of the U.S.A.

I'm something of a presidential historian and spurred on by my current reading of A Patriot's History of the United States by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen, I thought it would be fun to rate the first ten Presidents of the United States as I see it:

1. George Washington - He set the precedents for all presidents to follow and it could have been disastrous for the young republic. But he did things right (though even Washington couldn't avoid controversies). Author and historian Larry Schweikart said it best, "It's hard to imagine, say, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson setting the same kinds of incredible precedents that Washington set, both for decorum and for efficiency. Adams would have (as he later did) alienated half the country, and Jefferson would have lacked the diplomacy to pull the Federalists along."

2. Thomas Jefferson - With the Louisiana Purchase, he doubled the size of the United States. Jefferson believed in small government and believed that people should govern themselves. He also banned the slave trade as president and had the vision to fund the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

3. James Monroe - Monroe had one of the greatest cabinets ever assembled and he had the wisdom to let his cabinet secretaries do what they did best. The Missouri Compromise managed to keep the young republic together and the Monroe Doctrine laid the course for generations to follow.

4. James Madison - Got us involved in the War of 1812 which many historians think was a completely unnecessary war. I disagree. Though Madison made many mistakes that led us into the War of 1812--like imposing economic sanctions on much of Europe which nearly ruined New England--the war itself was a good thing in the sense that we showed the world that we weren't to be taken lightly.

5. John Quincy Adams - The best Secretary of State ever, his presidency was "stillborn" because of the controversial election of 1824 and he never accomplished anything of note because of that.

6. John Adams - When you have the Alien and Sedition Acts synonymous with your presidency, you don't qualify as a very good president.

7. Martin Van Buren - Founded the Democratic Party (historians wrongly point to Jefferson as the first Democratic president) and helped Jackson become the first Democratic president. He had zero noteworthy accomplishments in office.

8. John Tyler - No accomplishments of note. He replaced Harrison after Harrison died in office. Congressional gridlock marred his tenure. But he's still better than Jackson.

9. William Henry Harrison - Perhaps it's unfair to rank Harrison (he was only president for thirty days). But he didn't damage the United States whereas Jackson did.

10. Andrew Jackson - Contrary to popular opinion, Jackson was not a small government guy. In fact, government expanded under Jackson even more than it did under Lincoln. Jackson's dislike of the second Bank of the United States has been misrepresented. He did take down the second BUS but he did it so he could appoint partisan political hacks in banks Jackson controlled. And Jackson virtually committed genocide against the Indians--Trail of Tears anyone? His presidency was filled with corruption and Jackson ignored the Constitution whenever it suited him.

It's interesting to note that seven of the first ten presidents rank below average to awful in my book. However, Jefferson, Washington and Monroe rank as three of the best presidents ever. No surprise that Jackson was the first Democratic president. He set the precedent that nearly all future democratic presidents would follow: Corruption and disregard for the rule of law. No wonder modern Democrats want to claim Jefferson, not Jackson, as the first Democratic president.