Update - Best President (pre 1900) results

The nominations for best president (pre 1900) are finally closed. It was a tightly packed field, and just a single vote was enough to carry the day. In reverse order, the results are…


Honourable mention: John Quincy Adams
John Adams (1)
James Garfield (1)
William Henry Harrison (1)
Thomas Jefferson (1)
George Washington (1)
And scraping home by a nose…
Abraham Lincoln (2)

Well, the people have spoken. Honest Abe’s achievements are undeniable, but I also have some sympathy for William Henry Harrison, on the compelling grounds that “that president governs best who governs least”. By dropping dead after a month he achieved that if nothing else. That said, for myself I will stick with George Washington, if for no other reason than that, like the original Cincinnatus, he served his time and retired as promised, voluntarily reliquishing power after two terms. It was an unparalleled act of republican virtue for the time, and an example which every subsequent President felt honour-bound to emulate until that arrogant little squit FDR.

Speaking of FDR – nominations will open anon for the coveted and long-awaited title of Worst President, coming up next…


Cincinnatus, yesterday. Like Washington, he was obviously far too plebeian for FDR to learn anything from. I mean, the man actually worked for a living, you know.