The Presidents of the United States

Tonight is the State of the Union, where the President of the United States addresses Congress and the nation about where the county's at, and where it's going. Sometimes I watch, sometimes not. Regardless, I've been fascinated by the office of president for over thirty years.

In kindergarten, I had slim volume titled The Book of the Presidents, and it featured lush, color paintings and photographs -- along with bios -- of every president up through Reagan (then the current office holder). I read it for days.

In honor of that book, of my long-time interest in the presidency, and of the State of the Union, here are my rankings of the Top 10 presidents of the United States, presented without comment.

1. Abraham Lincoln

2. Franklin D. Roosevelt

3. Thomas Jefferson

4. James Madison

5. Dwight D. Eisenhower

6. Barack Obama

7. George Washington

8. Theodore Roosevelt

9. John F. Kennedy

10. John Adams

I almost included LBJ instead of Adams, but these lists are all a bit haphazard, so six of one, half a dozen of the other.

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Left to my own devices

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