Great Leaders

I was thinking about who were the truly great leaders of the United States over its history and came up with a simple list and concise reasons why I think these people deserve to be on it.

George Washington: without his timely leadership, the US probably wouldn't exist. He also stepped aside as military general and President, helping ensure civilian democracy would continue and no aristocracy would develop.

Thomas Jefferson: he provided intellectual leadership in bringing the early rural "common man" into the government and had the vision to make the crucial Louisiana purchase.

Andrew Jackson: he brought the western common man into the government and defeated the Eastern money interests in their efforts to dominate the nation. He also stopped early Southern secession-like efforts.

Abraham Lincoln: he saved the nation in its Civil War and led the abolition of slavery and the defeat of the expansionist slave states.

Ulysses Grant: his military leadership won the Civil War and his later leadership as Commanding General and later President helped maintain the victory by defeating southern reactionaries. He crushed the KKK and helped newly freed blacks gain effective freedom and voting rights. He also led the restoration of a gold-backed dollar which provided a sound financial base for the huge industrial expansion of the last half of the 19th century. [I provide more detail for Grant since his inclusion here is probably quite controversial.]

Theodore Roosevelt: he brought a "square deal" to the common man in the newly industrialized nation, leading efforts to prevent trusts from controlling the national economy. He also led the US into the world diplomacy and prevented nations like the Kaiser's Germany from reestablishing colonies in South America.

Franklin Roosevelt: he provided leadership for the people during the Great Depression, thus preventing fascist / communist movements from taking hold in the US. He also led early, prewar expansion of the US Navy and US air force that were cornerstones for the US military power in the entire later part of the century. [Yes, he did mess up much, too, and missed many opportunities, but he did enough to be "great".]

Ronald Reagan: he reversed the tide of creeping socialism in the US by promoting economic freedom and tax reform and reduction; his military expansion and firm leadership stopped the communist expansion that had begun again. This led eventually to the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and the freedom for millions of people in Eastern and Central Europe.

PS: Why isn't James Polk included for the final continental southwest expansion? Because that was going to happen from the inevitable flow of the people and economy. Texas had already broken off from the corrupt Mexican military dictatorship and the rest would have happened no matter what Polk did. Jefferson's Louisiana purchase set the western expansion of the nation in motion.