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Fascinating.
The best president? Washington. At the end of the revolution, he commanded the army and had incredible popular support. The people of our new country were accustomed to royalty, and a majority of colonists expected (and hoped) that Washington would install himself as king. What did Washington do? He surrendered hid sword to congress. That was the defining moment of our nation. I know of no other time in history when a leader voluntarily surrendered power for an "idea".
Second best? Probably Lincoln. He took the presidency at the height of national divisiveness and forged a nation. He commanded a terrible but unavoidable war and made the difficult and sometimes illegal decisions he needed to make. Few people realize how incredibly close the north was to losing that war. Another thing; the brutality of reconstruction and it's bitter legacy would have been different if Lincoln had not been killed. It was not in his heart to punish the south or it's people.
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My work here is nearly finished.
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