If this blog was serious, I'd say Abraham Lincoln was the Greatest President this Republic has ever been lucky enough to elect at just the right time, put him in the top three and call it a night. But we don't do serious here, and so here he is at number 70, sandwiched between a baseball writer and .... well let's just say you won't be surprised by who comes in at #69. So take this all with a grain of salt, people.
George Washington was, as I have noted, incredibly important to the United States. If he'd been slightly different, perhaps more ambitious, the country and government would likely be completely different in its form. Having said that, Lincoln was a "greater" president because of the circumstances. While Lincoln's reasons for prosecuting the Civil War had less to do with freeing slaves and more to do with keeping the country together, it doesn't diminish his accomplishments. At the end of the war, the slaves were free, and the Union was preserved. This IS a big deal.
Let's not forget that Lincoln inherited a country in REALLY bad shape. I mean, you think the Democrats were pissed at Bush in 2000? Lincoln was elected with merely 40% of the popular vote and wasn't even on the ballot in nine of the states. NOT EVEN ONE LOUSY VOTE in the then nascent GOP's column in those states. Then people got so pissed off they took up arms against the government. The magnitude of this situation cannot be overstated.
Lincoln rules though because he was more than just the best leader this country has ever seen. He was an amazing writer, and the Gettysberg Address is still extremely eloquent and something of a humorist in addition to a remarkably cunning politician. On top of all of this, this man was probably a manic-depressive who with the weight of the world and the fears and hopes of a nation pressing down upon his shoulders somehow managed to buckle down during this country's darkest hour and keep from putting a bullet in his own hea.... oh damn, that was inappropriate. Well uhmmm.... they named Lincoln Logs for him.
Anyway, next on the list #69. 'Nuff Said. Just you wait for it.
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