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The 5 Most Badass Presidents of All-Time

By Daniel O'Brien February 15, 2008 4,099,831 views
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#1.
Theodore Roosevelt

Checking Teddy Roosevelt's resume is like reading a How-To guide on ass-kicking manliness. He was a cattle rancher, a deputy sheriff, an explorer, a police commissioner, the assistant Secretary of the Navy, the governor of New York, and a war hero. Out of all of his jobs, hobbies and passions, Roosevelt always had a special spot in his heart for unadulterated violence. In 1898, Roosevelt formed the first U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, known as the Rough Riders. Most people already know of the Rough Riders and their historic charge up San Juan Hill, but few know that, since their horses had to be left behind, the Riders made this charge entirely on foot. You just could not stop this man from violencing the hell out of a San Juan Hill.


Teddy Roosevelt, a split second before spitting in the invisible
face of death, and pimp slapping it with his tiny neck-hand.

And don't think that Roosevelt lost his obsession with violence when he became president, or he might just come back from the dead and murder you, (and how do you kill a Teddy Roosevelt that's already dead!?!). He strolled through the White House with a pistol on his person at all times, though, with his black belt in jujitsu and his history as a champion boxer, it wasn't like he really needed it.

It wasn't just his war record or the fact that he knew several different ways to kill you that made Roosevelt such a badass. It wasn't even the fact that he kept a bear and a lion at the White House as pets, (though that certainly helps). Teddy Roosevelt was a badass of the people. Roosevelt received letters from army cavalrymen complaining about having to ride 25 miles a day for training and, in response, Teddy rode horseback for 100 miles, from sunrise to sunset, at 51 years old, effectively rescinding anyone's right to complain about anything, ever again.


The last thing you saw before a brutal ass-kicking

Did we mention he had asthma growing up? He did, and after he beat asthma to death, he ate asthma's raw flesh and ran 100 straight miles off the energy it gave him.

Greatest Display of Badassedry:
While campaigning for a third term, Roosevelt was shot by a madman and, instead of treating the wound, delivered his campaign speech with the bleeding, undressed bullet hole in his chest. On the other end of the spectrum, reasons why certain members of the Cracked Editorial Staff have called out of work over the last year include:

"A cold."
"A stubbed toe."
"It's raining."
"There's a spider near the door."

Most Badass Quote:
This quote actually comes from a fellow politician at the time of Roosevelt's death: "Death had to take him sleeping, for if Roosevelt had been awake there would have been a fight." We have no witty commentary for that. That is just straight up badass.

Some men have to work to become badasses. But some are just born into it. You've just read about the first type, now read about the second in our article about The 9 Manliest Names in the World. Or check out the Daily Nooner, and watch a respected journalist say the words: sacred undergarments.



Theodore Roosevelt becomes a lot less impressive when you hear one of his speech recordings.

11/6/2009 11:38:46 PM
Alceister

Second the need for mention of Jimmy Carter, if not on this list than at least in these comments... the man was attacked by a giant, swimming rabbit!

The world must never forget.

11/5/2009 2:11:48 PM
tartcouplet

Dude, if u were as suave as JFK i garuntee u could use the "serious discussion" line. in fact i will absolutely try it, maybe throw in the hilarious accent he had too. and for the record, i think his wife was hotter than half of the chicks u mentioned

11/5/2009 8:29:36 AM
choppin_meat420

Here's another good Jackson quote:

"Yes I have; please give my compliments to my friends in your State and say to them, that if a single drop of blood shall be shed there in opposition to the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man I can lay my hand on engaged in such treasonable conduct, upon the first tree I can reach."

Essentially, South Carolina decided it didn't want to pay import taxes and decided it could nullify federal laws, prompting Jackson to make the above quote. He also asked Congress to pass the Force Bill which would allow him to use military force against South Carolina.

There's also the time when Jackson decided to ignore the Supreme Court. Note that this isn't entirely unprecedented--the Federalist papers argued that this was a valid way for the Executive branch to check the Court's power. Unfortunately, this instance led to the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears is certainly a black mark on Jackson's record. However, this was a time when leaving the Indians alone could be seen as a radically pro-Indian stance. One hundred years later, hundreds of thousands of Japanese people were herded into camps and the government sponsored a study that injected nearly 400 black men with syphilis. I don't think Jackson should be judged too harshly on this point.

11/5/2009 12:00:10 AM
cthulhu

Wow. After seeing the class of tooky that JFK got, it makes any sexual conquest of mine (or any other man) look like nothing.

11/1/2009 4:27:31 PM
2wingo

Teddy Roosevelt originally was president of the New York City Police Commissioners; he was made vice president to keep him from policing the hell out of New York. When the president was shot and Teddy received his promotion, the Ohio state senator Mark Hanna was reaction was quoted, "Now that damn cowboy is president."

10/3/2009 7:49:09 PM
MaeglinSilmion

After reading the quote for Teddy Roosevelt, did anyone else think "holy crap. Teddy Roosevelt was the chuck norris of u.s. presidents"?

9/28/2009 7:21:23 PM
kaelmcg23

I like this page, however there are a few details that highlight the badassery of jackson and roosevelt.
first, when jackson allowed the guy to take the first shot, he took it in the shoulder, then dropped on one knee, took aim, and shot the man through the face. he then proceeded to walk over to the face-shot man and piss on his corpse. I am not kidding, this s**t is historically corroborated. andrew jackson, when he was elected allowed the general public to hold a rager in the whitehouse, and was given a 100 lb round of cheese. he ordered the whitehouse staff to leave it on the floor of the whitehouse foyer. didn't matter because only he could move it. eventually it started to mold and the stench of 100 lbs of moldy mold permeated the White house untill he left office. there is evidently still a stain. he also kept a pet parrot that wasn't allowed on the floor of congress because it swore too much. he also had a special day of the month in which he hacked up the phlegm caused by having something like 19 bullets in his body.
Roosevelt: when he was off chillin in the backcountry of the dakotas, (he had decided to f*****g build a ranch, pretty much for the hell of it) he went to a bar in a place called something like devils asscrack, south dakota and ordered a coffee. four or five cowboys who had been living in devil's asscrack for a few years or so, made fun of his beverage choice. he asked them if they wanted to take it outside. they did. The next day these cowboys could be found working on roosevelt's new ranch, and wincing from the thunderous hailstorm of blows and moustache thrashings received the morning before.
and there was a river in south america called the river of doubt, because no one had ever traversed it successfully. and by successfully i mean without getting smashed into small bloody pieces then consumed by piranhas. It is now called the Roosevelt River. guess why.

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9/23/2009 10:43:39 AM
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Um I vote for Andrew Jackson because his eyebrows were off the hook!
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9/20/2009 8:37:35 AM
bustedbeauty

I love Teddy Roosevelt! I'm an asthmatic, and he give people like me hope! Now if only I didn't have 20,000,000 allergies XP. Anyway, he is definitely the most bad-ass person ever! He can even beat death...I'll tell you how!

Anyone remember Obama's inauguration? If you say no, you fail. Doesn't matter if you like the guy or not, it was freakin historic. Anyway, I remember watching the end. My boyfriend, my brother, and I kept watching to see if anything funny happened. Then...there he was. And old man with white hair who looked EXACTLY like Theodore Roosevelt. We started screaming "Oh my God, Teddy! IT'S TEDDY MOTHER F*CKING ROOSEVELT!" So basically we went clown-sh*t insane over it. I know, we're nerds. Don't care, it was Teddy back from the dead!!!

9/19/2009 1:50:45 AM
MILFORS98675309

cracked you totally missed the boat on this one. i'm pretty sure FDR would have just wheelchaired over any mob and then bent them over and stuffed their asses full of welfare programs.

9/18/2009 6:00:28 PM
DJM

Best article, though Andrew Jackson shouldn't be below George Washington. I think to chose this you have to ask yourself who would win in a battle royale. Teddy would definitely win, but Washington would be ousted before Old Hickory.

9/16/2009 9:32:19 AM
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9/15/2009 8:30:06 PM
cherry668

Love the Lethal Weapon reference

9/10/2009 2:12:11 PM
aewton

Jackson should be higher. He refused to submit to a British officer during the Revolution and got sabred in the face, at the age of 14, proceeded to contract smallpox as a prisoner of war (at age of 14). Went on to pull a major upset at New Orleans, and won a few wars with various native american tribes.

9/8/2009 9:38:51 PM
swiss

My dad dated blaze star back in the 60s.

9/8/2009 2:12:24 PM
Jasner

Roosevelt knew jujitsu?
That wasn't even popular here until twentyish years ago.

9/8/2009 1:10:33 PM
ToastMeister
Cracked stuff on