Who was our best president? The top choice of Americans in a new Harris poll:
Far and away, Abraham Lincoln is ranked by Americans as the nation's greatest president, according to a poll conducted by Harris Interactive and released this week, just ahead of Presidents Day.
This was just a kind of popularity poll, though. The same poll put Ronald Reagan at No. 2 and put Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both in the top 10, which makes the results more about contemporary events than historical perspective. For No. 1, I would choose George Washignton, who came in fifth on this list. He had to take over a new form of government without a mentor or past experience to guide him. The whole success of our fragile nation depended on Washington getting it right, and he did.
