(WHTM)-- Did you know four of the first five presidents were from the Commonwealth of Virginia? In a 40-year period in the late 1800s, six Ohioans were hailed as the chief.

Pennsylvania's first president? James Buchanan.

"Look, Buchanan struggled," Dickinson College history professor Dr. Matt Pinsker said.

Dr. Pinsker is a Harvard-educated professor at Dickinson College, Buchanan's alma mater. He concedes America's 15th president was one of its worst.

"He supported slavery at a time when people were moving against slavery," Dr. Pinsker said. "And he stood in the way of progress. And he didn't handle it well. And the country fell apart. So that's why he's kind of a failure as a president."

But what about Scranton-born Joe Biden, a proud politician from Delaware? Is Biden's Pa.'s second president or the first state's first?

"Both answers can be true at the same time," Pinsker said.

A completely unsatisfying answer.

"There's no Supreme Court of historians who decides what the rule is," Pinsker said. "Each state can claim its own in different ways. It's like asking who's the GOAT in basketball. It's nothing you can settle for sure forever."

But we know Pa. is not a presidential breeding ground, except for guys with the initials J. B. However, Pennsylvania voters have an outsized role in sending people to Pennsylvania Avenue. Commonwealth electoral votes secured victory for Donald Trump in 2016, Biden in 20.

"There's no doubt that in 2024, Pennsylvania will be a Keystone State," Pinsker said. "It's going to be critical in selecting the president."

Even if most oppose the seemingly inevitable matchup.

"Remember democracy is not the Greek word for perfect," Pinsker said. "And you don't get perfect choices."

But this historian worries about an imperfect modern-day America, in the grip of bitter partisanship.

"I am telling you, as an expert in the Civil War, we don't want to go there," Pinsker said. "We have to figure out a way to disagree without resorting to violence. Lincoln said ballots, not bullets. Whether you like the choice or not, you have to participate and try to shape it in a way that preserves democracy."

And it's widely speculated that Pennsylvania's current governor will one day run for the presidency. If he were to win, two states would lay claim to him. Josh Shapiro was born in Kansas City, Missouri.