I'm Number One! I'm Number One!
We complete our 2021 presidential power rankings on the first day of 2022. Check out the number #1 president of all time, and it ain’t even close.
On July 17, 1862, the 37th Congress of the United States passed the Confiscation Act. The premise of this law was to remove land and property from rebellious white dudes from southern states. Property in this matter also meant slaves. It was targeted primarily against Confederate officers and government officials, who had publicly sworn their allegiance to the disgrace that it was. WE’RE COMING FOR YOU REBS!
There are 14 sections of the Act. Section 3 states that anyone convicted of treason can no longer hold office in the United States. I’m wondering why we didn’t enact this. Did we somehow not convict anyone of treason? How did we forget this one years later after we won?
Section 8 sets up courts and gives marshal powers to seize property and sell it. Not sure if that means the United States could have sold slaves, but whatever, by this point, we are on a roll.
Section 11 is where we want to pay the most attention. It states:
That the President of the United States is authorized to employ as many persons of African descent as he may deem necessary and proper for the suppression of this rebellion, and for this purpose, he may organize and use them in such manner as he may judge best for the public welfare.
In September 1862, the Civil War was in full swing, and Robert E. Lee’s troops headed north. George McClellan and the Army of the Potomac engaged them to a stalemate at the Battle of Antietam. Even though George stood around and wrote letters to his wife while Lee retreated, Lincoln decided to use this momentum to issue the Emancipation proclamation on September 22.
Section 11 of the Confiscation Act gave Abraham Lincoln the legal clout to Emancipate the slaves in the Confederacy. The federal government granted them their freedom through executive orders, which President Obama created almost a century and a half later, according to Tucker Carlson.
The order went into effect today, January 1, 1863.
The most brilliant immediate impact the Proclamation had was it caused great confusion in the South. Slaves wondered if they could just get up and leave, while Confederate peoples themselves scratched their dumb heads as to what it meant for them. I’m picturing a lot of blank stares.
Freed slaves immediately joined the United States Army, and some of them were led into battle by Matthew Broderick. Even though the tide of the war didn’t turn for another year at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the Emancipation Proclamation was an innovative tool used to physically free people while at the same time winding people up in their minds over the audacity of such an Act.
It is just one example of why Abraham Lincoln tops the 2021 Dake Presidential Power Rankings, Rankings.
1: Abraham Lincoln
16th President
2017 Ranking: 2
2019 Ranking: 1
2021 C-SPAN Ranking: 1
Term – March 4, 1861– April 15, 1865
The Good:
Where do we begin? Let’s just keep it simple: Lincoln was a curious man, someone who understood the process of learning. He educated himself to be a better commander in chief, and because of that, the SEC is a college football conference and not an independent country.
The Bad:
Nothing. He did nothing wrong. He may have yelled at someone once, but it was probably because he was tired, and that person was annoying him. That person was bad. THAT PERSON!
The Okay:
One of the cool things about Lincoln was how he procrastinated. He wrote the Gettysburg Address on the train ride over there. Much like how I raced to the end to get these rankings done, I’d like to think it’s poetic that Lincoln is number one and written at the last possible moment. And it is written well, isn’t it?
Why did I rank him here?
Lincoln was the right man at the right time. Who else tops him? Washington? FDR? Chester Arthur? Trump? I don’t think so.
That’s it! That’s the DPPR for 2021. Over the next two years, I will read, write, and learn more about the presidents as I can, and do another ranking in 2023.
What do you think? Share your thoughts on how we are doing below!