#2 George Washington - 1st President: A fighter who commanded troops to victory against the world's mightiest army would usually grant an automatic #1 seed. He gets high marks for just about everythign he did, but here's where he fell short: the wealthy Washington may have been a brilliant strategist and commander, but as a hand-to-hand fighter, we have our doubts he could hack it with the top echelon.
#11 William Henry Harrison - 9th President: Among the more regrettable and weak-kneed presidents. The reasons most agree on this point are vast, but the only two you need to know are these: President Harrison invaded Canada (a country that doesn't have a word for "War") in the War of 1812 and, of course, he died a month into taking office. Weak.
#3 Woodrow Wilson - 28th President:As a candidate for President, Wilson showed cunning strength by promising peace (read: isolationism) in the election of 1916 only to enter WWI a year later. Ultimately, his push for the United States to kick ass around the world in the name of democracy earns him high marks. Would have been higher had he not earned a Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 - an award that won't inspire fear in your enemies on the battlefield.
#10 Martin Van Buren - 8th President: Points for serving under #1 seed and BAMF Andrew Jackson, but that's about it. As President, Van Buren refused to annex the most macho state of all, Texas, and struggled to contain the economic hardships that crystallized across the nation as the Panic of 1837. If you can't keep some math nerds - and their bullion - happy, we don't have high hopes for a fist fight.
#4 John Tyler - 10th President: Though historians may hold his presidency in low esteem, Tyler deserves credit for doing what Van Buren was too weak to do (annex Texas) while also forcing foreign governments to sign treaties that generally favored the U.S., including one in China that (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Wanghia) bitch slapped that nation across its ports. Those are good but this is best: When Van Buren died in office, Tyler essentially forced his way in, laying the ground work for the modern version of presidential succession. A fighter indeed.
#9 John Quincy Adams - 6th President: A fantastic president who helped declare an end to the War of 1812 (weak), President Adams worked to expand American infrastructure (could be handy in a fight, but not a recipe for kicking ass and, thus, Weak) and enacted a generally favorable view of Native Americans (WEAK!).
#5 James Monroe - 5th President: We could point to his aggression in Florida in trying and take over the Seminole Nation or his near-unanimous reelection (bad ass) as evidence of how he would succeed in hand-to-hand combat, but, really, there's only one reason we sure he'd fight hard: The Monroe Doctrine. Perhaps this U.S. policy is most responsible for our love of invading whomever we like wherever we like for nearly 200 years.
#8 John Adams - 2nd President: The short, pudgy elder Adams does not portend fear in the hearts of his opponents. What's more, historians claim his major presidential accomplishment to be a peaceful resolution of a political conflict with those across the aisle. That may be a feat in the halls of Washington, but not on the school yard, son.
#6 James Madison - 4th President: Yes he was a Founding Father and yes he was the Father of the Bill of Rights but there's also this: under his watch, a short French dude who later went by the name "Ziggy Piggy" was able to take over Europe. That said, look for some upward bracket movements here as Madison did grow the Army and Navy during the War of 1812.
#7 Thomas Jefferson - 3rd President: An intellectual who was fluent in five languages, Jefferson was also greatly interested in science, invention, architecture, religion and philosophy. If this were a brain battle, this Founding Father would be tops. Sadly for him, though, this is a battle of braun, a fight with fists (and weapons hidden under sleeves, we hope), and the amount of brute strength he likely possessed was directly inverse to the amount of smarts he featured.
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