Most Overrated President

[Sheilbh]

Washington can be considered great just one thing.  He quit.  Something so rare, and so important that King George called him "the greatest character of the age".  Oh he did other important things, other things that people have done and have been called great for it, but resigning his commission in the army and only serving two terms is perhaps the most important thing that separated the founding of the US from other colonies in the Americas, and most of the revolutionary regimes in the world.

No doubt.  He embodies the genius of the American revolution which was its radical conservatism.  It avoided the (alleged) excesses of the French revolution and I think the fundamentally counter-revolutionary fears that held back the Libertadores from achieving similar greatness.  You had a revolution of the propertied class - although, unfortunately, that property did often include men.

But that, in my view, is it.  In terms of achievements he is surrounded by greater men - but again that could add to his deserved reputation.

I'm tempted to say Lincoln or Washington, both are very highly-rated presidents who have not been included in the poll. This immunity or sanctity is suspicious

The more I read of Lincoln the more I think he's possibly the greatest statesman ever.  I think he's a genuinely extraordinary man.

Washington's resignation can't be overstated in importance.  It's why the American Republic survived and England's Republican under Cromwell did not (and Britain saw unrest and instability for nearly 100 years after).

Cromwell was always torn as to whether his purpose was, ultimately, to create a Godly commonwealth or to be the kindly constable who would 'set and heal the wounds'.  That ambiguity runs through the Commonwealth - especially institutionally. 

Interestingly, given his reputation as, if nothing else, a devout man, many of Cromwell's contemporaries suspected his religious feeling wasn't nearly as strong as he suggested and was, perhaps, manipulated for political advantage.

But the Commonwealth had other issues.

[Admiral Yi]

Alleged excesses. 

[Razgovory]

The early US had plenty of issues to deal with as well, some which were not resolved without civil war, but even at it's most dire moments the federal institutions of government were maintained.  There are few states in the world that have so long a history of smooth continuity of government as the US.  Something that is a bit astonishing as it's one of the younger nations in the world.

[Neil]

But the Commonwealth had other issues.

Like illegitimacy.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I'm tempted to say Lincoln or Washington, both are very highly-rated presidents who have not been included in the poll. This immunity or sanctity is suspicious

The more I read of Lincoln the more I think he's possibly the greatest statesman ever.  I think he's a genuinely extraordinary man.

I am inclined to agree and I'm fairly certain that his assasination was a great tragedy for the USA, things would have gone a lot better under his oversight. However, he is rated 11 out of 10, so we have to at least entertain the possibility that he is overrated 

[Martinus]

You had a revolution of the propertied class - although, unfortunately, that property did often include men.

Both the French and the Russian revolutions started as revolutions of the propertied class. The thing is that they didn't end there.

If the American revolution took its ideals to the logical conclusion - the way the French and the Russian ones did - and freed the slaves, there would have been blood. Lots of it.

[Martinus]

I guess you could say that the reason why the American Revolution suceeded without a complete overhaul of the social order is because the enemy it had was weak - the British colonial rule simply did not have the same kind of resources the Russian or the French absolutism (including their external allies) could potentially throw to fight the revolutionaries.

That is why it did not need to resort to "summoning the chtonic forces" of the lower, property-less classes in order to win - it could do it without upsetting the middle class's dominance.

So, without detracting from Washington's statesmanship, the American revolutionaries simply had an easier time preventing a blood bath - they weren't necessarily more reasonable or ethical than their French or Russian fellows - they were just lucky.