The Goods (part 1)

We now move to the good presidents. They were better than average (or adequate), but not great. Some died before they could rise higher or fall lower while others served only one term for one reason or another. This is the first grouping of good presidents. They are listed chronologically.
1. John Adams (1797-1801): Adams' historical reputation suffers for three reasons. One, he followed Washington and preceded Jefferson. Two, he was not re-elected in 1800 (thanks to the 3/5 clause). Three, those pesky Alien and Sedition Acts are more despised today because of Bush haters than they were in 1800. Another lesser factor is today's psychobabble has crept into the culture to such an extent, that Adams loses points for his personality. Well, Adams continued many of Washington's policies, created the navy, and kept the U.S. out of a war with France that his own party demanded. Not too bad.
2. Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809): Most historians rank Jefferson with the greats. He did have an amazingly successful first term with the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark Expedition. He was easily re-elected. Jefferson's second term was a disaster. He caused a depression by ending all trade, gutted the military so it was not prepared for the War of 1812, and was less popular in New England than George W Bush is in San Francisco today. As a result, I split the difference and place him here.
3. James Madison (1809-1817): Madison's tenure was dominated by the War of 1812. He did what he could to avoid it, but failed. When the war was over, the US was lucky to survive (The White House got torched) and actually came out the victor thanks to Andy Jackson. Madison's big mistake was eliminating the Bank of the United States which made financing the war difficult.
4. James Monroe (1817-1825): The Times were a Changin'. The economy was beginning to shift, America no longer feared Europe, and the Federalist Party died leaving only the Democrats. Monroe had three major issues to confront. In 1818-1819, he sent Andy Jackson to take out Indian guerrillas wrecking havoc in Georgia. The end result was the acquisition of Florida. In 1819, the North and South had their first spat over slavery. The Missouri Compromise set the precedent of compromise between sections on the slavery issue. Some have attacked this as the North approving slavery. However, it bought time. By the time the two sections came to blows over slavery, the North could overwhelm the South. Lastly, when those pesky Russians and crazy Frenchmen eyed the Americas for conquest, Monroe (and Britain) issued his doctrine banning European colonization of the New World. His doctrine has guided American foreign policy ever since.
5. James K. Polk (1845-1849): Polk avoided war with Britain and settled a longstanding border dispute over the Canadian Border. He solved the bank problem with his independent treasury. He led America to victory in the Mexican War and conquered the Southwest. (There is some controversy over who started it and some blame Polk for manufacturing a war for slave interests).