Greatest Wartime Presidents Ranked

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln held a fracturing nation together through four years of the bloodiest war in American history, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and never wavering even as casualties mounted into the hundreds of thousands. He was reelected in 1864 on the promise of finishing the figh

War Led: Civil WarPresidential Term: 1861-1865US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 620 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 10/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: Emancipation Proclamation & preserving the Union

added by IJRin 12 rankings

Franklin D. Roosevelt

FDR steered the country from isolationism to the arsenal of democracy, rallying the nation the morning after Pearl Harbor and coordinating a two-front global war effort. He won an unprecedented fourth term mid-war but died in April 1945, just weeks before Germany's surrender, lea

War Led: World War IIPresidential Term: 1933-1945US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 405 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 9/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: Pearl Harbor address, 'Day of Infamy'

added by IJRin 16 rankingsFranklin D. Roosevelt

George Washington

Before he was president he was the general who held together a starving, underequipped army at Valley Forge and crossed the icy Delaware to win at Trenton, arguably saving the Revolution itself. As the nation's first president he later faced the Whiskey Rebellion and neutrality c

War Led: Revolutionary War (as Commander-in-Chief/President)Presidential Term: 1789-1797US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 25 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 9/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: Crossing the Delaware, Valley Forge endurance

added by IJRin 7 rankings

Harry Truman

Thrust into office weeks before Germany's fall, Truman made the staggering call to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II, then found himself commanding troops again in Korea just five years later. His blunt, decisive style earned both fierce criticism an

War Led: WWII end & Korean War startPresidential Term: 1945-1953US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 36 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 8/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: Decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan

added by IJRin 7 rankingsHarry Truman

Dwight D. Eisenhower

The former supreme Allied commander brought his battlefield credibility to the White House and used it to negotiate an end to the stalemated Korean War within months of taking office. He then spent two terms navigating the Cold War's nuclear brinkmanship without firing a shot in

War Led: Korean War (ended) & Cold WarPresidential Term: 1953-1961US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 3 KWon the War: —Historians' Rating (higher is better): 8/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: Negotiated the Korean Armistice, 1953

added by IJRin 12 rankingsDwight D. Eisenhower

Woodrow Wilson

Wilson campaigned on keeping America out of the European war, then reversed course in 1917 to make the world 'safe for democracy,' mobilizing millions of troops in under two years. His postwar Fourteen Points and League of Nations vision reshaped global diplomacy, even though the

War Led: World War IPresidential Term: 1913-1921US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 116 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 7/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: Fourteen Points & entering WWI in 1917

added by IJRin 11 rankings

James Madison

The 'Father of the Constitution' found himself an unlikely wartime leader when the British burned Washington in 1814, forcing him to flee the White House. Despite the humiliation, he held the country together and claimed a symbolic win when the war ended in a status-quo peace, bo

War Led: War of 1812Presidential Term: 1809-1817US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 15 KWon the War: —Historians' Rating (higher is better): 5/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: British burning of the White House, 1814

added by IJRin 5 rankings

Lyndon B. Johnson

LBJ escalated American involvement in Vietnam dramatically after the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, sending hundreds of thousands of troops while also pushing landmark domestic legislation. The war's mounting casualties and the shock of the Tet Offensive eroded his support so badly h

War Led: Vietnam WarPresidential Term: 1963-1969US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 40 KWon the War: —Historians' Rating (higher is better): 6/10Reelected During/After War: —Signature Wartime Moment: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution & Vietnam escalation

added by IJRin 9 rankingsLyndon B. Johnson

James K. Polk

Polk deliberately provoked and then prosecuted the Mexican-American War to fulfill his expansionist vision, gaining California and the Southwest for the United States in under two years. He kept his single-term pledge not to seek reelection, having achieved nearly every territori

War Led: Mexican-American WarPresidential Term: 1845-1849US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 13 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 6/10Reelected During/After War: —Signature Wartime Moment: Declared war after 'American blood on American soil'

added by IJRin 6 rankingsJames K. Polk

William McKinley

McKinley led the country into the Spanish-American War after the USS Maine's sinking, winning a swift, decisive victory that made the US a global colonial power overnight. He was reelected in 1900 riding that success, only to be assassinated the following year at the height of hi

War Led: Spanish-American WarPresidential Term: 1897-1901US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 3 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 6/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: 'Remember the Maine' & swift Pacific/Caribbean victory

added by IJRin 3 rankings

Richard Nixon

Nixon inherited a deeply unpopular war and pursued 'Vietnamization,' withdrawing troops while expanding bombing campaigns, eventually signing the 1973 Paris Peace Accords to exit US involvement. He won reelection in a landslide in 1972 even as the war's legacy and his own scandal

War Led: Vietnam War (ended)Presidential Term: 1969-1974US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 21 KWon the War: —Historians' Rating (higher is better): 5/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: Vietnamization & Paris Peace Accords, 1973

added by IJRin 13 rankings

John Adams

Adams navigated an undeclared naval conflict with France, the Quasi-War, while resisting immense pressure from his own party to escalate into full-scale war. His restraint and diplomatic resolution via the Convention of 1800 likely cost him reelection but is now seen as a model o

War Led: Quasi-War with FrancePresidential Term: 1797-1801US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 0.1 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 6/10Reelected During/After War: —Signature Wartime Moment: Avoided full war with France, XYZ Affair diplomacy

added by IJRin 8 rankings

Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson sent the young US Navy and Marines across the Atlantic to confront the Barbary pirates demanding tribute, a bold projection of power for a fledgling nation. The successful First Barbary War, immortalized in the Marine Corps hymn's 'shores of Tripoli,' established Americ

War Led: Barbary WarsPresidential Term: 1801-1809US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 0.05 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 6/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: Sent Navy & Marines against Barbary pirates

added by IJRin 11 rankings

George H. W. Bush

Bush assembled a broad international coalition and launched Operation Desert Storm, liberating Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in a lightning 100-hour ground campaign after weeks of air power. The decisive, low-casualty victory sent his approval ratings soaring, yet a souring econom

War Led: Gulf WarPresidential Term: 1989-1993US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 0.3 KWon the War: ✓Historians' Rating (higher is better): 7/10Reelected During/After War: —Signature Wartime Moment: Operation Desert Storm's 100-hour ground war

added by IJRin 3 rankingsGeorge H. W. Bush

George W. Bush

After the September 11 attacks, Bush launched wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that toppled two governments but became prolonged, costly insurgencies with no clean resolution. He won reelection in 2004 as a wartime president, though the conflicts' aftermath continued to shape America

War Led: Afghanistan & Iraq WarsPresidential Term: 2001-2009US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 6.5 KWon the War: —Historians' Rating (higher is better): 5/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: 9/11 response, launched War on Terror

added by IJRin 8 rankingsGeorge W. Bush

Barack Obama

Obama inherited two wars and worked to draw down troop levels in Iraq while overseeing the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, a defining moment of his presidency. He later launched a new air campaign against ISIS after its sudden rise, showing that ending one conflict often meant

War Led: Afghanistan/Iraq drawdown & war on ISISPresidential Term: 2009-2017US War Deaths, thousands (lower is bette: 1.7 KWon the War: —Historians' Rating (higher is better): 6/10Reelected During/After War: ✓Signature Wartime Moment: Ordered raid that killed Osama bin Laden

added by IJRin 12 rankingsBarack Obama