March 1, 2024 @ 8:00 AM

In this election year of 2024, I thought it might be helpful and encouraging to reflect on the top ten list of our nation’s best presidents. This is a time for reflection and encouragement, and it is a time to “raise the bar.” A time to consider leaders who have led in a positive moral direction. A time when elections were based on integrity, both that of the candidates and the election process itself. Though not necessarily perfect, there was a standard, and it was a high standard. U.S. Presidents were to model righteousness. They were not all believers in Christ, yet they were intentional about setting a righteous example for their constituents. It was more about doing the right thing and less about how to get away with doing the wrong thing. It was about what is in the best interest of the most citizens and not about the best interest of the individual candidates.

Individuals of previous generations did not typically aspire to the elevated position of “leader of the free world” for the glory of the job, but rather for the purpose of serving their country-- the land that they loved and to which they were 100% resolute and loyal. It is inconceivable that Abraham Lincoln was all about the status and prestige of being the 16th President of the United States of America as his beloved country headed towards certain civil war. His thoughts were of saving his country from self-destruction and saving the lives of heroic young men of both the North and the South from death, suffering and misery. President Lincoln was about saving lives and not about serving himself.

“The Best U.S. Presidents of All Time, According to Experts” by Michele Zipkin, Stacker News, and Peter Richman, Stacker News, Newsweek.com

1. Abraham Lincoln (2/1 809 – 4/15/1865)
2. George Washington (2/22/1732 – 12/14/1799)
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1/30/1882 – 4/12/1945)
4. Theodore Roosevelt (10/27/1858 – 1/6/1919)
5. Dwight D. Eisenhower 10/14/1890 -3/28/1969)
6. Harry S. Truman (5/8/1884 – 12/26/1972)
7. Thomas Jefferson (4/13/1743 – 7/4/1826)
8. John F. Kennedy (5/29/1917 – 11/22/1963)
9. Ronald Regan (2/6/1911 – 6/5/2004)
10. Lyndon B. Johnson (8/27/1908 – 1/22/1973)
 
When I was in elementary school, we celebrated both Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays separately. Both dates were acknowledged, but we only got one of the days off from school – Lincoln’s birthday one year and Washington’s the next. Now, of course, we acknowledge all presidents’ birthdays on a Monday in February. I do not know the dates of most president’s; birthdays, but I still remember the exact dates of Abraham Lincoln’s and George Washington’s. I also remember President Ronald Regan’s birthday, which is another important February birthday. It is the same day as my mother’s birthday.

PRESIDENTIAL WISDOM:

“O, Thou God that heard Solomon in the night when he prayed for wisdom, hear me. I cannot lead this people: I cannot guide the affairs of this nation without Thy help. I am poor and weak and sinful. Oh God, who didst hear Solomon when he cried for wisdom, hear me, and save this nation.”
Abraham Lincoln
 
Serving King Jesus, my President,
Elsie