I seem to have come in late on this whole “Who’s the Greatest American?” thing. I haven’t seen any lists or anything, so I’m just talking off the top of my head.
Even after all the intervening centuries, and even with what we know of some of the more dubious activities in his private life, I’d still go with Thomas Jefferson.
Runners up to my mind would include FDR, Jonas Salk, Martin Luther King, and my wife. I’d also put my mom and dad, but they weren’t born in this country so I’m not sure they’d be eligible.
PAD
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Lots of naturalized citizens were on the list, like Tesla and Einstein.
(Aside: I tried watching that “town hall meeting” debate about the top five candidates, but it was just so painfully BAD.)
here’s the list: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/greatestamerican/top100/top100.html
Top 5: Abe Lincoln, MLK Jr., Ronald Reagan, George Washington and Ben Franklin.
James Madison. Come on, Father of the Constitution AND prematurely bald? Ya can’t get better than that…
BJJ
MY list:
Che Guevara (OK
Rosa Parks
Jackie Robinson
Martin Luther King
Mark Twain
huh.. not sure why only part of my message posted. Yes, I know Che was SOUTH American, but it doesn’t say 100 greatest NORTH American People.
FDR, Twain, Teddy Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman. Hubert Barnes. (My Grandpa) Mildred Barnes (My Grandma, and a Rosie the Riveter)
Travis
I’m still wondering how Reagan got in the top fiove along with Washington and Lincoln……
I browsed around the Discovery pages and the AOL pages and saw absolutely no explanation of how the top 100 were decided upon, or the top 5…and now all we can vote on is the top 5.
Did Discovery Channel and AOL host an earlier voting for the top 100…or was it decided upon by a group of ‘experts’…or what? Does anyone know?
Personally, I think when voting on such a topic, one should be prevented from voting for anyone who was alive during your liftime. Especially when it comes to politicians, history has to decide. Anybody who was cognizant during a President’s term is biased on judging whether that President had any merit.
Personally, I laugh (or cry) at the idea of Reagan being considered next to Washington and Lincoln. But I know I am just as biased as those who think he was great.
I’m going to give my nod to Washington. He helped put an end to the idea of America having a monarch; he only served two terms by his choice, put down the whisky rebellion, and freed his slaves in his will.
Hmmm.
My five are in no particular order and subject to change on a daily basis
1. Lincoln
2. John Steinbeck
3. Bruce Springsteen
4. Dashell Hammett
5. Thomas Jefferson
I think this was a kind of historical American Idol…they had earlier shows with like 4 Americans each, and viewers could go to the web and vote, with the winners advancing.
No, they didn’t do four at a time. They had a list of the 100 greatest Americans they created in advance. The first week, people were able to vote on the top 25 of that list, which by the time they got to that point, they gave in alphabetical order. From there, they did a show on the top 25, and opened voting again to pare it down to the top 5.
Thankfully, my choice (Benjamin Franklin) is still there; at one point, it looked like George W. Bush (yes, you read that right) was going to knock him or one of others out (although Washington and Lincoln seemed pretty safe).
you can vote for #1 here.
You get 3 votes, and then it locks you out from voting for a week from that computer. (tossing your cookies doesn’t help.)
You can also vote by toll-free number…I’m not sure if they put a limit on the number of times you can dial from one line…or if that’s even possible with caller-id blockage available.
Or through text messages.
Y’know, when I first heard about this–having no idea who was on the list or what the current voting numbers were like–I thought, “Watch conservatives grab control of this and try to put Ronald Reagan in the top slot.”
Lo and behold.
If it’s of any consolation, according to a recent “Daily News” article, Saddam Hussein speaks very fondly of him.
PAD
Gene Weingarten expresses my opinion on the matter pretty well.
My votes are Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Edison. Better throw Abe Lincoln into that mix too. Some amazing minds roaming in there.
There is nothing we Americans cannot reduce to a competition.
Ben franklin
George washington Carver
Ceaser Chavez
Thomas Edison
Robert Pirsig
Richard Bach (author of Illusions is that his name?)
Issac Asimov
Spelling may be off on some names
Jefferson, Lincoln, MLK jr, FDR & Me 🙂
Joe V.
What American inspired hundreds of millions [if not billions] around the globe when he gave concrete form to a dream spanning Man’s history?
Neil Armstrong.
But, no, he doesn’t rate a place at the top.
Oh well …
I’m still wondering how Reagan got in the top fiove along with Washington and Lincoln……
I boggle.
That he was in the top 100, okay, I can’t really quibble with that (well, I could, but I won’t). But top five? That’s just… frustrating, and indicative of a lot of America. :/
The refrain about Reagan being responsible for the fall of communism – rather than just the weight of it’s own corruption – has been repeated and accepted by so many people on both the right -and- left that it is no longer something you can argue. His position in the top has been bought not with money or deeds but sheer repetition and we may as well just all accept it and move on. Who cares if he ignored AIDS or sanctioned illegal arms deals? He tore down that wall!
It’s not America that’s voting…it’s a very small group of Discovery channel watchers, and maybe some AOL customers.
Hmm, wait, that sounds a lot like…elections…
Ok, maybe it IS America voting…
So Madonna, Michael Jackson and Dr. Phil make the list, but Norman Borlaug doesn’t?
And people wonder why the world’s oging to hëll in a handbasket….
I’m partial to George Washington or Abraham Lincoln.
Washington, because his defeat of the British during the Revolutionary War was nothing short of miraculous under the circumstances. And if Washington had lost the war, Jefferson, Franklin and some of his other contemporaries mentioned on the list would have ended up in the British gallows or as exiles.
Lincoln, because, despite tremendous odds and the most costly and brutal U.S. war to date, managed to not only force a deeply devided nation back together again, he also successfully abolished slavery in the process.
“devided”? Yow! I meant divided, of course.
It is a simple choice, (glassy eyed stare)the greatest American would be George W Bush. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated by the Republican party. …..Sleep Data, Sleep………
That was really quite bizarre. For me, it’s Ben Franklin without question. And so I went to the website via the link proffered up earlier in these comments, cast my vote for Ben Franklin and a little screen popped up saying “Thank you for voting for Ronald Reagan”. I would have voted for him if the contest were “Greatest American President that served between 1981 and 1989”, but only grudgingly at that point. I now need to vote lots of times simply to cleanse myself of that dámņ Reagan vote.
It’s a shame none of these made the list:
Chief Joseph
Sitting Bull
Crazy Horse
Geronimo
Hiawatha
You people must be having fits. The horrible Ronald Reagan is topping the list, and so is the evil Bush-hitler!
No doubt you will all be forced into the same tired “the voters are idiots” routine if one of them wins.
God forbid it’s Bush! But so what if he’s voted the greatest American?
Remember … BUSH SUCKS!
Curious, since I can’t seem to look at the list from work…
Any modern Democrats on the list? Do the Clintons come in below or above Michael Jackson? Or do they make it at all?
There is nothing we Americans cannot reduce to a competition.
Both the British and the French did this before us. The British voted for Sir Winston Churchill. The French voted Charles de Gaulle as their #1. (At least they had an author, Victor Hugo, in their top 5).
I hope John Adams (my personal fave) and George Washington get some love too.
I thought the Greatest American Hero was some curly haired teacher named Ralph…
I’m gonna stump for “them” to add Reagan’s head to Mt. Rushmore. No, not carve it, I want his REAL head there.
Yeah, we Canadians did it too, though it was rather embarassing, because to prove the system was a complete wash, a Radio DJ in alberta asked all his listeners to vote for him. He ended up 34th. The top ten list looks like this, however:
1 Tommy Douglas
2 Terry Fox
3 Pierre Elliott Trudeau
4 Sir Frederick Banting
5 David Suzuki
6 Lester B. Pearson
7 Don Cherry
8 Sir John A. Macdonald
9 Alexander Graham Bell
10 Wayne Gretzky
So apparently we have three former prime ministers, another former politician, three influential scientists, an inspirational cancer activist and a hockey star and announcer as our top ten citizens of all time.(Not in that order) Oh, and Bell wasn’t Canadian, nor Naturalized (He chose to retire to the same small Island I hail from, and built the silver dart there). The top 100 list is surprisingly rife with actors and musicians.
1. T. Edison (come on this look at what he did).
2. N. Telsa
3. Henry Ford
4. A. Bell the telephone changed our world
5. Tom Carvel we all need ice cream and who doesn’t luv a fudgie thw whale
“Yeah, we Canadians did it too, though it was rather embarassing, because to prove the system was a complete wash, a Radio DJ in alberta asked all his listeners to vote for him. He ended up 34th”
Yes, but where did William Shatner place? And Terrance & Phillip?
PAD
One would hope that Bob and Doug McKenzie as well as Leslie Nielsen would have rated as well. (Stab in the dark, Paul Gross probably made the top 100 list, didn’t he?)
If they (the voters) insisted on placing in the top five the greatest Republican President of the 20th century, then there’s no contest, that’s Teddy Roosevelt.
Regan doesn’t come close.
I thought the Greatest American Hero was some curly haired teacher named Ralph…
Yes. Ralph Hanley (Hinckley the first few episodes, then they changed it so he wasn’t confused with the attempted assassin of Ronald Reagan)
Harry Chapin.
Yeah , Harry Chapin.
I miss him
BBayliss: “I’m gonna stump for ‘them’ to add Reagan’s head to Mt. Rushmore. No, not carve it, I want his REAL head there.”
Right on! Dig up his dead body, cut off the head, and place it on Mt. Rushmore. THAT will show everyone that YOU have real CLASS!
Some of the people on that list make me want to cry. Dr. Phil?! Who the hëll thought it would be good to put him on there.
BBayliss: “I’m gonna stump for ‘them’ to add Reagan’s head to Mt. Rushmore. No, not carve it, I want his REAL head there.”
Okay kid…I know that yo think that “historical” landmarks are boring, but you’ve just GOTTA see how they’ve spiced up old Rushmore!
If only this had happened *before* Neil Gaiman wrote “American Gods.”
Shadow turned the corner, following Mr. Wednesday as the speech contiuned…
“And then we see that in 2000 the Amercians decided to ….HOLY SHÍT!!! Even I’M not that messed up! Forget it pal, this country’s just too weird for me!”
Just thinking…
Should we be looking at the greatest person who just happens to be American…
Or…
the person to is greatest in representing/upholding the “traditional” American values?
Those can be two very different lists.
Pat: Henry Ford
Luigi Novi: Yeah, except for that whole “being friends with Hitler and approving of theories” thing.
Hey the greatest american is just a copy of the greatest candian aired months ago by CBC. It was Alexander Graham Bell.
-Aaron
My Top 10 (in no particular order)
1.Albert Einstein
2.Nikola Tesla
3.Mark Twain
4.Theodore Roosevelt
5.Ben Franklin
6.Thomas Jefferson
7.JFK
8.Marylin Monroe
9.Humphrey Bogart
10.Stan Lee (I am a comics fan after all!)
I think a tie for # 11 would be Joseph Hanna & William Barbera.
Michael J Norton