Badassery is a characteristic that runs through the veins of every president America has had (except Nixon). Sure, Lincoln is often ranked as the best president, but any history buff could tell you that the Emancipation Proclamation is overrated, since it didn’t really “free the slaves.”

5. George Washington (1789-97)

We have to start with G-Wash, because he’s George “Father of the United States” Washington. The man did awesome things. When one of his generals died in the French and Indian War, he turned to his troops and pulled the ultimate, “Hey guys, I got this,” and then proceeded to lead them all safely away from battle. Also, he was unanimously voted president with all 69 electoral votes, and in his farewell address gave the country a basic outline of what not to do, to which America responded by doing everything he said not to … Oops?

4. Zachary Taylor (1849–50)

Okay, so Zachary “Rampage” Taylor is definitely the dark horse. Yes, he died in office, and yes, it was in a super lame way from getting really sick from some cherries and iced milk. His nickname was “Old Rough and Ready” and the guy had the potential to be one of the best presidents. He was literally in the military for 40 years, and he was in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War and the Mexican-American War. That’s four wars, and then he just casually went on to become president, which is a lot more than most of our modern presidents can say.

3. Andrew Jackson (1829–37)

So, this choice might be a wee bit controversial. Stonewall definitely was not a good guy. The Trail of Tears is honestly one of the most understated American tragedies, but because of this, I propose that Andrew Jackson is the Batman of presidents. Batman is a famous orphan, and so is Jackson. His father died three weeks before he was born, one of his brothers died in battle, the other of smallpox and then his mother died of cholera, which left Jackson an orphan by the age of 14. Batman ends up training and becoming the Caped Crusader in order to protect the innocent people of Gotham, and Jackson got into the politics, and eventually went on to become the “people’s president.” The guy had some questionable ways for sure, but he protected the country.

2. Jimmy Carter (1977–81)

When you look up “wrong place, wrong time” in the dictionary you’ll find a picture of Jimmy Carter. Jimmy “Coach” Carter was the kind of president who you could imagine going to school with. He’s the guy who would bring you soup when you didn’t feel well, and would lose Mario Cart on purpose just so you could get an ego boost. The fact of the matter is, he’s a good guy, and even won the Nobel Peace Prize to prove it. He also mediated conflicts in Ethiopia, North Korea, Liberia, Haiti, Bosnia, Sudan and Venezuela, to name a few. In short, his theme song is “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” and honestly, who wouldn’t want to friends with him?

1. Teddy (1901–1909) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-45)

These guys are the dynamic duo of politics. You definitely can’t have a list of presidents without naming them somewhere. Here’s just a glimpse of what awesome relatives the Roosevelts were. Teddy “Dragon” Roosevelt was once shot at a speech he was giving, but didn’t seek medical help and continued to talk for another 90 minutes, even referencing his bloody shirt in the speech. Franklin “Ended World War II” Roosevelt married his fifth cousin once removed. If there is any guy who screwed over the system it’s this guy. He had freakin’ polio and lost the use of both of his legs, so when he gave speeches he literally strapped both of his legs to the rails of the train to appear to be standing. He would also put on steel leg braces in case he didn’t have to be strapped to anything. So Roosevelts, we tip our hats to you because you can’t be tamed. And we love it.