Some Presidents enjoy history-changing terms of office and find
themselves elevated to the Pantheon of greatness. Other Chief
Executives, however, do as much (and sometimes more) once they
leave office as they ever did in power. Here, then, for your
Friday History List enjoyment, are the top five ex-presidents:
5. Herbert Hoover – With his presidency devastated (along with
the nation) by the Great Depression, a personally repudiated
Herbert Hoover was trounced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the
1932 election. Because his image was so tarnished, Hoover
largely stayed out of the public eye in the 1930s, resurfacing
in 1941 to speak out against American entry into the Second
World War, and a possible alliance with the Soviet Union against
Germany (he correctly foresaw that helping the Russians defeat
Hitler would give them control of much of Europe). After the
war, President Truman sent Hoover to Germany to assess its need
for economic relief and the state of U.S. occupation; one of
Hoover’s innovations was a s