Lincoln Tops List of Past Presidents

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He saved the Union.

One Hundred and forty-five years after he became president, Abraham Lincoln appears at the top of a list published by CNN.com that ranks the nation's presidents. Using a list of categories, each president from George Washington to George W. Bush was ranked. When combined, it was quite easy to see who bubbled to the top AND who wallowed in the dregs of the rankings.

It's still a little early to judge the presidency of George W., but as one would expect, he came near the bottom of the list; he was number 36.

Abraham Lincoln came out on top based on his leadership (during the Civil War), moral authority (on the issue of slavery), and vision (keeping the United States together). James Buchanan (who?) came in dead last for his lack of leadership (he squandered the opportunity to address the slavery issue during the 1850's), moral authority (slavery again), vision (that peculiar institution in the south), and job performance (because of you know what).

All 42 presidents (remember that Coolidge's two terms were separated by Roosevelt, but he's only ranked once in the survey) were scored in the following categories: