1. Warren Harding
   George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's rise to power coincided with a time of extreme conflict in the United States. By force of will -- and good fortune -- Lincoln was able to defeat the Confederacy and preserve the Union.

1. Woodrow Wilson
   Andrew Jackson
2. Zachary Taylor

For a time, Wilson did everything he could to preserve America's isolationist stance during WWI. But in the end, he committed troops to the cause and helped the Western Allies push back and defeat the Germans.

1. Ulysses Grant
   Herbert Hoover
2. Harry Truman

Harry Truman was rushed into office after the death of his predecessor. With Japan's attacks still taking a toll in the Pacific, Truman opted to drop two nuclear bombs, ushering the world into a new and scary age.

1. Dwight Eisenhower
   Gerald Ford
2. George H.W. Bush

Bush became the Navy's youngest pilot ever (age 18) during World War II and served through the entire war. In 1990, he was faced with a major choice -- confront Iraq's aggression or let Saddam Hussein run roughshod through the Middle East. He chose to fight.

1. George H.W. Bush
   Teddy Roosevelt
2. James Madison

James Madison wasn't just a Founding Father, he was also a major contributor to drafts of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. After the U.S. struggled during the War of 1812, Madison championed a stronger national military.

1. Abraham Lincoln
   Franklin Roosevelt
2. Lyndon Johnson

During the slog of the Vietnam War, North Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive, a massive strike that took the American public by surprise. It stole so much confidence from Johnson's administration that the president announced his retirement just two months later.

1. William Mckinley
   Franklin Roosevelt
2. Dwight Eisenhower

When the Japanese decided to bomb Pearl Harbor, America could no longer dodge World War II. Roosevelt, or just "FDR," endured most of the epic era with resolve and courage, but the stress eventually took a toll on his health.

1. Barack Obama
   George W. Bush
2. Bill Clinton

On the heels of the 9/11 attacks, Bush and his men rationalized that Saddam Hussein was a sponsor of terror... and thus, he should be toppled. A coalition force invaded and overthrew Hussein, who was executed.

1. John Kennedy
   Richard Nixon
2. Woodrow Wilson

Wilson wasn't president during Vietnam. The Vietnam War was active during five presidential terms, including the Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Nixon, and Eisenhower administrations.

1. Gerald Ford
   William McKinley
2. Franklin Pierce

In 1899, the Filipino people were tired of being subjected to the rule of Spanish and then American leaders. They decided to revolt against the Americans, sparking the short-lived Philippine-America War, which was won by President McKinley.

1. John McCain
   George W. Bush
2. George H.W. Bush

George H.W. Bush and other Western allies saw Iraq's aggression as a clear threat to international peace. A huge coalition force threw Iraq out of Kuwait and set the stage for a much bigger confrontation that would play out in later years.

1. Abraham Lincoln
   Franklin Roosevelt
2. All of the above

Lincoln was assassinated at the end of the Civil War. Roosevelt, too, died just as his war (WWII) was drawing to a close, leaving major decisions to his successor.

1. James Madison
   George Washington
2. No one

Britain still seethed about its losses in the American Revolution, and hostilities broke out during the War of 1812. James Madison and America survived a serious existential threat during this war, which lasted until 1815.

1. Ronald Reagan
   Gerald Ford
2. John Kennedy

The "domino theory" posited that if Vietnam fell to Communism, then Communism would spread throughout the region. President Kennedy resolved to stop the contagion before it could multiply.

1. Bill Clinton
   Gerald Ford
2. Dwight Eisenhower

When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, the world held its collective breath, hoping that it wasn't the start of World War III. Dwight Eisenhower sent American troops to the Korean Peninsula, where they helped other United Nations troops push back the North.

1. William Harding
   Andrew Jackson
2. Harry Truman

WWII ravaged President Roosevelt's health, and he died in the war's waning days. Harry Truman succeeded him and had to make some of the most consequential decisions in history.

1. Jimmy Carter
   John Tyler
2. William McKinley

McKinley successfully concluded the Spanish-American War by ousting the Spanish from the Philippines. Then he was forced to immediately put down unrest caused by Filipino nationalists during the Philippine-American War.

1. Harry Truman
   Lyndon Johnson
2. Ronald Reagan

In 1964, American ships reported an attack committed by North Vietnamese forces near the Gulf of Tonkin. The event, which may have been exaggerated or invented, was used by President Johnson as a reason to escalate American forces in Vietnam.

1. Warren Harding
   John Tyler
2. James Polk

In 1845, Mexico and America were squabbling over Texas, and the U.S. offered to buy a chunk of land ... but Mexico wasn't selling. James Polk responded by sending American troops to the Southwest, and they invaded Mexico, too.

1. Woodrow Wilson
   James Madison
2. Donald Trump

At the end of the War of 1812, the American president James Madison and Britain agreed to the terms of a peace treaty. There was just one catch -- the British fleet sailing for New Orleans didn't get the news in time, and then suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of inferior American forces.

1. Jimmy Carter
   Richard Nixon
2. Barack Obama

Regardless of how you feel about Nixon, he was handed a raw deal with Vietnam. There was no way to win the war, so instead he reframed the conversation and spoke of "winning the peace."

1. Gerald Ford
   John Kennedy
2. Dwight Eisenhower

American military involvement in Vietnam dragged on and on, beginning with military advisors, escalating to full-scale war and then retreating with a whimper. It was Gerald Ford who announced the official end of America's Vietnam misadventure.

1. Jimmy Carter
   Ronald Reagan
2. George W. Bush

After the 9/11 attacks, the Bush Administration claimed that it had evidence of Iraq's ability to store and potentially use weapons of mass destruction. That rationale provided a (rather unsubstantiated) reason to invade Iraq and kill Saddam Hussein.

1. Teddy Roosevelt
   Andrew Jackson
2. William McKinley

William McKinley rose through the ranks of the Union Army to become a true American hero. Then, he successfully navigated the treacherous waters of the Spanish-American War.

1. Woodrow Wilson
   Barack Obama
2. Franklin Roosevelt

Wilson and Roosevelt didn't really have any choice but to join the World Wars. Barack Obama didn't have any say in the Iraq War -- he inherited that conflict from George Bush.

1. Abraham Lincoln
   George Washington
2. Calvin Coolidge

In 1791, George Washington was forced to a deal with a rebellion over taxation of whiskey. Washington led thousands of men to put a stop to the rebellion. Only a handful of men died.

1. Abraham Lincoln
   Richard Nixon
2. George W. Bush

During the Civil War, Abe Lincoln traveled to the front at least 11 times, gathering information from his generals in hopes of better understanding the country's predicament. As the legend goes, he was even potentially within range of Confederate guns at least once.

1. Ronald Reagan
   Woodrow Wilson
2. Richard Nixon

Wilson pledged time and again to keep the U.S. out of World War I, and his stance helped him win reelection in 1916. No sooner had the votes been counted than he began initiating plans to dive into the European conflict.

1. John Kennedy
   Abraham Lincoln
2. John Tyler

Just before he was assassinated during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln authorized the creation of the Secret Service. But the original goal of the service wasn't to guard the president's life -- it was to stop counterfeiting.

1. Franklin Roosevelt
   James Madison
2. Abraham Lincoln

In 1865, the Union was suffering in the Civil War and Lincoln's reelection prospects looked dire. But then Sherman captured Atlanta and the Union scored other timely victories, and suddenly Lincoln went from failed Civil War leader to political icon.