When I was a kid I was big into history (I guess I still am a bit - I majored in it and all that), and I had this one book I loved that was just about the presidents (I think it went up to the first Bush) , and at the end it ranked them and gave them all ratings. I know a bit about the presidents, but I'm probably not qualified to rank all of them. I am, however, a bit of a 24 historian, and believe that I am quite qualified to rank the 24 Presidents. The ranking is as follows: (Yes, another 24 entry - this is it for now, I swear)

1. David Palmer



A senator from Maryland, before becoming President, Palmer was vital in stopping the explosion of a nuclear bomb in America, and played in a pivotal role in preventing the United States from going to war with three countries who many wrongly believed were responsible for the bomb, due to a forged audio recording. Assassinated while writing his memoirs after his term, Palmer, although he served just one term (like other great one-termer James K. Polk) will be remembered for his strong decision making abilities and his adherence to his principles, although his memory was tarnished slightly when the fact that he lied to the chief of police during his re-election campaign to protect his ex-wife was leaked to the press.

2. Wayne Palmer


David Palmer's brother, elected to serve after Hal Gardner, was the youngest president ever, when sworn in. Before serving in his brother's administration, he was a pitcher at Stanford, a marine, and got his JD at Yale. Early in his presidential term, he took hits from some for his inability to make tough decisions and displayed ham-handed decision making while paying Abu Fayed 25 million dollars and giving him Jack Bauer for the location of Hamri Al-Assad, when in turned out that Fayed was the terrorist responsible for attacks, rather than Assad. Palmer, however, made the difficult, but eventually proved as prudent decision to turn away suggestions from both within and outside of his organization to create detention camps for muslims. After an attack on his life, he was awakened from his coma to stop Vice President Noah Daniels from attempting to launch a nuclear bomb on Assad's country, and manages to convince the ambassador to provide valuable information. Later in the day, Palmer slipped back into a coma, where he remains. While the nation still hopes he will one day recover, he will always be remembed for his service in preventing a nuclear attack, and keeping civil liberties in a time of racial turmoil.

3. Allison Taylor

Taylor is still only in the first months of her term, and thus could easily move up or down on this list, depending on how she deals with her first major crisis, which is upon her - threatened terrorist strikes against American civilians in response to a planned invasion of Songala. So far, she has gotten credit for facing openly the Songala genocide, but has taken criticism from those who says it is not America's place, and that an invasion is not worth the risk to American men and woman serving in the armed forces.

4. John Keeler



Elected after David Palmer decided late in the campaign not to seek re-election, Keeler did not have much time to serve, being unable to continue the duties of the office, after Air Force One, with him aboard, was shot down from the sky. Perception of him fell after it was discovered he attempted to blackmail David Palmer out of the presidential race.

5. Noah Daniels



Daniels ascended to the Presidency after Wayne Palmer lapsed into a coma, and almost made a costly mistake by firing a nuclear bomb in his first day in office, and his aggressive conduct almost led to a war with the Russians, which, to his credit, Daniels was able to avoid. Daniels served out the rest of Palmers term, and left fairly unpopular, defeated in his reelection bid by Allison Taylor, and criticized by some for his reluctance to help in the Songala genocide.

6. Jim Prescott



Prescott, originally David Palmer's Vice President, served as acting President while President Palmer was recovering from an assasination attempt by way of a virus, and briefly earlier on the day Palmer contracted the virus, when he invoked the 25th amendment to gain control of the Presidency. Most of Prescott's term was ordinary, but he was criticized great for his near-attack of three middle eastern nations who he incorrectly believed were responsible for a nuclear bomb attempt on America - such a war was prevented by David Palmer's retaking of the office, but most believe it could have been catastrophic for America.

7. Charles Logan



A Princeton graduate, Logan was Lieutenant Governor of California, and afterwards the CEO of Western Energy Coal and Reserve before being selected as John Keeler's Vice President. Logan took over the office after Keeler was critically injured in the destruction of Air Force One. Logan was weak and indecisive in the crisis of his first day in office, leading to former President David Palmer, along with other unelected members of the administration making most important decisions. While Logan settled into office soon thereafter, it was a great blot to American history when it was revelead that he was behind the assassination of President Palmer, and partially responsible for the release of Sentox nerve gas. He is forced to resign, and in exchange for avoiding the embarassment of a trial is let off to live in house arrest on a ranch.

Not enough information: Harold Barnes - President before defeated by David Palmer

Hal Gardner - Vice President under Logan, takes over his term after Logan resigns.