1. Abraham Lincoln. Probably a cliché, but that’s a good thing.
2. Benjamin Franklin. Smart, practical, and clearly a cool dude for a party.
3. Teddy Roosevelt. Easily the most bad-ass liberal President.

Other nominees?

There’s been a lot written about how every generation reinvents Lincoln as an ideal President for today’s theories and challenges, and that often requires a pretty huge leap in logic. But as this Salon article points out, it’s really a stretch when the modern G.O.P. tries to claim that the tall lanky dude would fit in well with today’s Republicans:

How Would Lincoln Vote Today?

The author sums it up best himself in this paragraph:

Can anyone believe that a contemporary Republican politician who refused to join a Christian church, who was described by friends as “an avowed and open infidel,” who had written a book mocking the miracles in the Bible, who described evangelical voters as “priest-ridden,” and was a “warm advocate” of evolutionary theory, could be nominated for president by today’s Republican Party?

I’m gonna go ahead and answer “no” to that question.

And one more Lincoln link: This 2005 Atlantic profile of Lincoln and depression was really powerful and stuck with me.