Just to counteract this negativity...

1) Abraham Lincoln
I cannot express how much I love this man. He had a soaring intelligence, and a sincere humanity that could still live with the necessities of the real world, however much it may have wounded his enormous heart. This man from Kentucky IS America.

2) John Kennedy

The Future took him over and changed him into a spokesman for Hope rather than a mere pawn in the game of political power. Like Lincoln, his extraordinary intelligence combined with a practical common sense that allowed him to KNOW what was good for his country.

3) Thomas Jefferson

It has become popular to bash thinkers, like Einstein and Jefferson. Without TJ, there IS no United States. If Washington was the matter, then Jefferson was the mind. The actual vision of America that we all unconsciously share is Jefferson's.

4) Woodrow Wilson

He had the impossible task of bringing his country into the modern world, after the posturing and boasting of Roosevelt. He succeeded to the point, that was possible, and then the world came to us - and he handled that with grace and power and truth. Probably the most intelligent man ever in American politics.

5) George Washington

He was not a great President as such - but he was first - and mostly he established the idea that RESPONSIBILITY and steadfastness are the qualities most to be wanted from a leader. He was also whip-smart and practical and does not get the credit he deserves.