| Many high school yearbooks used to include lists of Senior Superlatives, like Best Dressed, Best Couple, Class Clown, and Most Likely to Succeed.
On this Presidents’ Day, we might have some fun applying our own inventory of Superlatives to graduates of the White House, assigning some of them tags that marked them as outstanding.
To avoid exacerbating our current ill-tempered culture, the lists below contain only the presidents who have taken that final step from the graduation stage into the Great Beyond. Living presidents—George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump—are out of bounds.
So, here we go.
Best All Around: George Washington (1789–1797)—Here’s the man who led Americans to victory in the Revolution, put down his sword, and returned to his estate until his country called him into service as president.
Washington was our only president elected unanimously by the electoral college and the only one who belonged to no political party. He had a hand in making the new Constitution, was the first delegate to sign it, and made every effort to honor it as commander-in-chief. A man of great gravitas, he brought dignity to the presidency.
Best Dressed: Harry Truman (1945–1953)—This former haberdasher was meticulous about the apparel he wore, how it was made and even the material that was used. As president, he favored “double-breasted suits with large, peaked lapels.” He was well-known for his love of good footwear and at one time owned 96 pairs of shoes, including 41 sets of slippers.
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