I'll give you a second. Think of your answer.
Got it?
Did you say Lincoln? Most do.
I recently watched a video where a guy was interviewing students at UC-Berkeley and asking them this exact question – and some of the answers were shocking. Most people said Lincoln – that seems to be the default answer, and for good reason. Lincoln was an immense figure in U.S. history.
However, lots of the other answers were just, well, shocking – many couldn't name one, or when they were asked for reasons for their selection they couldn't come up with any. Anyway, the question spurred my mind into action, and I thought I'd give a quick top three – for argument's sake, I'll exclude Lincoln from consideration (interestingly, my three come roughly from the same era of American history).
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889, 1893-1897)The only President elected to nonconsecutive terms, Cleveland was a tireless reformer. While some of Cleveland's policies as a President were controversial (including his support of the gold standard and his intervention in the Pullman strike), he was widely respected for his character. One biographer wrote, "in Grover Cleveland the greatness lies in typical rather than unusual qualities. He had no endowments that thousands of men do not have. He possessed honesty, courage, firmness, independence, and common sense. But he possessed them to a degree other men do not."
After election to his first term, Cleveland ignored the typical spoils system for appointments and instead vowed to presidentially appoint only those who would do their jobs well. Cleveland also undertook efforts to modernize the Navy and created the Interstate Commerce Commission. Cleveland was a Democrat, but was also a staunch believer in limited government, and used the veto more times than any president before. Interestingly, Cleveland is the only president to be married in the White House.
Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1909)America's youngest president. America's cowboy president. A man of impeccable character, energy and and achievements, T.R. was the man who coined the term "speak softly and carry a big stick." Roosevelt became president in 1901 when McKinley was assassinated. A Republican president, T.R. was just as well known for his exploits as a naturalist, explorer, soldier and author as he was as a politician. Roosevelt pushed for the completion of the Panama Canal and negotiated the end to the Russo-Japanese War, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize.
Roosevelt declined to run for reelection in 1908 (remember, there were no term limits then) but ran again in 1912 as a third party candidate, coming in second to the next president on this list. As Roosevelt was campaigning in 1912, an attempt was made on his life. A bullet passed through his metal eyeglasses case and lodged in his ribcage. Roosevelt, drawing on his experience as a soldier, reasoned that since he wasn't coughing up blood he wasn't in any immediate danger. He went on to give a 90-minute campaign speech while the bullet wound bled.
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)America's only President to ever hold a Ph.D., Wilson was one of America's most idealistic presidents. In Wilson's first term, he worked with the Democratic Congress to pass the Federal Reserve Act, Federal Trade Commission, the Clayton Antitrust Act and the Federal Farm Loan Act and America's first-ever federal progressive income tax in the Revenue Act of 1913. That's a lot for one term, and during Wilson's second term he guided the U.S.'s inevitable entry into World War I.
Towards the end of World War I, Wilson took personal control of negotiations with Germany and issued his Fourteen Points, which enumerated his ideas for a peaceful post-war world. He worked hard to establish the League of Nations, a project that earned him the Nobel Peace Prize. Sadly, Wilson would never see the U.S. enter the league he helped create, in part because Wilson refused to budge from his idealistic positions. During a debate with the Senate in 1919, Wilson collapsed and suffered a stroke. His refusal to compromise meant the U.S. would never ratify the legislation that would enter them into the league.
