Best And Brightest

Gearing up for the big Fourth of July holiday, contemplating just where I will spread my freedoms most thick, I can not decide between the savings I will enjoy at Macy's or my local Toyota dealership. With those choices still so difficult to discern, I will instead turn my thoughts to the history of this great land of ours. Specifically, those who have been selected to lead our nation through nearly two and a half centuries. A recent survey conducted by Siena College of two hundred and thirty-eight scholars came up with their answer for the Best President Ever. Scholars would know, since they're so very scholarly.
Before we open the envelope and announce the winner to our readers here, I ask you to take the test yourself: Forty-three previous chief executives to choose from, leaving Barack Obama out for the time being, since his stats are still being compiled. If you were to ask any of the kids at my school for their favorite president, it would probably come down to two: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. This may be, in large part, due to the fact that kids know of many of their accomplishments: chopping down cherry trees and walking miles to return change. Kids also get days off school to celebrate their birthdays. That is also probably why some of them would tell you that Martin Luther King was their favorite president.
Solid reasoning, and maybe enough for most adults as well. Of course, there are those who insist on naming Richard Nixon just to be contrary, or Franklin Pierce just to get everyone running to Google to see if there really was a U.S. president named Franklin Pierce. Appearances on currency is another quick way to gauge popularity, with George and Abe getting high marks there as well, though our largest current bill denomination doesn't carry the portrait of a president and no, it is not Sacagawea.
So, let Sarah "Quitter" Palin continue to sing the praises of Ronald Reagan, and pity poor Andrew Jackson who came in last. For now, let's toast Franklin Delano Roosevelt as our survey's Best President Ever. Though he only shows up on the dime out of sympathy, he helped drag our country out of a depression and through a war being fought on two fronts while creating massive new social programs that remain cornerstones of our American society today. Now, if Obama can just get three more terms, I'm sure he'll be right there in the running the next time this survey is taken.