Could Barack Obama join a select group of U.S. Presidents?

Now that the presidential primaries are over it is now official that the Republicans and Democrats are running Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton respectively as their candidates.

Trump has never served in public office in any capacity and if he wins will be the first since Eisenhower to win the presidency with no prior public service experience.  The only other presidents with this distinction are George Washington, Zachery Taylor, and Ulysses S Grant though all these men served in the United States military and each commanded the army during war.

If Hillary wins she will obviously be the first women president in United States history which is certainly a landmark, but as I watched Obama's speech it dawned on me that if Clinton wins it will also put our current president in a rare category.  Only nine presidents have been elected to two terms and had their party win the next election.  They are:

President	Party	Historical Ranking
Thomas Jefferson	Democrat-Republicans	4
James Madison	Democrat-Republicans	14
James Monroe	Democrat-Republicans	16
Andrew Jackson	Democratic	7
Abraham Lincoln *	Republican	1
Ulysses S Grant	Republican	36
William McKinley *	Republican	19
Franklin Roosevelt	Democratic	2
Ronald Reagan	Republican	15

                 * - Elected Twice ; Died in office

Will Obama join this group?  Only if Hillary wins.

As you can see this list contains many of the best presidents in US history.  To serve two terms and still be liked enough at the end of your presidency that your party can still win the next election is a rare thing in American politics.  The following fact about this list of men is even more interesting to me when thinking about the future.

President	Currency
Thomas Jefferson	$2 bill ; Nickle
James Madison	$5000 bill (discontinued)
James Monroe	$100 Silver Certificate (discontinued)
Andrew Jackson	$20 bill
Abraham Lincoln *	$5 bill ; Penny
Ulysses S Grant	$50 bill
William McKinley *	$500 bill
Franklin Roosevelt	Dime
Ronald Reagan

Notice the guy at the end whose been left off?  Republicans have been trying to get Reagan's face on US currency since he left office but the Democrats have prevented it thus far.  That hasn't stopped Republicans from immortalizing Reagan's name where ever they can all over the country.

Contrast that with Obama.  Despite what Republican say, Obama has been a good president.  He inherited a divisive war, a crumbling economy, and a polarized voter base yet right now he's finishing strong enough to be a positive force to help get Hillary and other Democrats elected.  That is what it means to leave a legacy.  Compare that to George Bush who was considered toxic to Republican candidates by the end of his presidency.

Obama has been a much better president than most Republicans are willing to admit just like Reagan was a better president than most Democrats are willing to admit.  My guess is it won't be long until we start seeing Obama's name on schools, airports, and parks all over the country just like Reagan.

Perhaps we might even see some comprise in Congress and in time we will see Reagan on the $50 dollar bill and Obama on the $100.  Crazier things have happened.

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