POLL: Greatest American

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It's been a while for me and a poll, but this one's a doosy. I was watching the Discovery Channel last night, and they had on a program call "The Greatest American". What they did was take nominations by the people for the last month, and the 100 most cited nominations were on the list. They announced numbers 100 through 26 last night on the show. If you go to AOL, and type in Greatest American in the key word search, you can see the list of 100-26. Of the top 25 nominations, they are putting them up for a popular vote, and selecting the top five, and then of the top five, selecting down to 1. I thought we would do the same thing here on SP.

Some notes about the poll before we get to the voting. First of all, there are actually 26 people on the list of the top 25. The Wright brothers are grouped together as one entry as the inventor of the airplane. Next, there is a large modern bias in the selections. Of the 25 choices, 9 of them are alive today, and 21 of the 25 acheived their fame in the 20th or 21st century. I will list them in the poll aphabetically, so as to avoid any personal bias. One final trend I noticed is that politicians dominate the list. They are followed by inventors and scientists, then social reformers, and even a few athletes. The remaining people on the list are a mish-mosh of everything from billionaires, entertainers, talk show hosts, and even a TV evangelist. Sadly, there is not a single artist or writer in the top 25 - especially horrifying that people like Emerson and Thoreau didn't even crack the top 100.

I know I said I did not wish to influence the voting, but I couldn't resist one comment. Of the 25 possible choices, I completely agree that 23 of them unquestionably deserve to be on the list. The two that I don't agree with is current president George Bush and former president Bill Clinton. Regardless of what your political affiliation may be, neither of these men deserve to be on a list with these other giants.

One last thing - I certainly don't expect that this poll be exclusive to the Americans at SP, and I am quite interested in seeing how others view the great Americans, as non-Americans will take patriortism out of the equation and vote for those that had the best interest of society as a whole - or at least factor such thoughts into their decisions. While I expect that these people are famous enough that everyone will know them, if there is someone on the list that you don't know, go to AOL and you can get their biographies.

Enjoy! - And feel free if you wish to comment on your selections in the form of a reply!

Poll Information
This poll contains 1 question(s). 45 user(s) have voted.
You may not view the results of this poll without voting.

Poll Results: Greatest American (45 votes.)

Greatest American (Choose 5)
* Muhammed Ali - 9% (4)
* Lance Armstrong - 0% (0)
* Neil Armstrong - 4% (2)
* George W. Bush - 2% (1)
* Bill Clinton - 2% (1)
* Walt Disney - 7% (3)
* Thomas Edison - 29% (13)
* Albert Einstein - 31% (14)
* Henry Ford - 9% (4)
* Ben Franklin - 9% (4)
* Bill Gates - 16% (7)
* Billy Graham - 0% (0)
* Bob Hope - 4% (2)
* Thomas Jefferson - 27% (12)
* John F. Kennedy - 4% (2)
* Martin Luther King - 40% (18)
* Abraham Lincoln - 29% (13)
* Rosa Parks - 0% (0)
* Elvis Presley - 7% (3)
* Ronald Reagan - 4% (2)
* Elanor Roosevelt - 0% (0)
* Franklin D. Roosevelt - 11% (5)
* George Washington - 33% (15)
* Oprah Winfrey - 2% (1)
* The Wright Brothers - 13% (6)

 

It was a toss up between Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, or Henry Ford. I chose Gates in the end.

 

So far, Edison is the only one selected by all. My choices were Edison (obviously), Washington, Franklin, Lincoln, and Jefferson.

 

As you, except I would need to spend some time deciding between Edison and Martin Luther King.

 

Wahington, Lincoln and Roosevelt are the three greatest American leaders, IMO. They stood at the moments of crisis, which could have undone the American experiment by a just a slight breath. They provided the leadership, which brought America through those trying times and America was that much better in the years following them as a result. They are all proof of the heroic theory of history, a theory which historical revisonsists have sought to deconstruct in recent years. They were the right men at the right time.

My other choices were Jefferson and Einstein. But Einstein is only marginally an American.

Jefferson is my own personal favorite American. He had his faults and contradictions. Nevertheless, he was a true American patriot, and Renaissance man - a great president, statesman, philosopher, writer and architect. His statements on religion, liberty, the rights of man and the pusuit of happiness linger long in one's mind, after most others have faded. It was Jefferson's gift to articulate the human condition in such optimistic and hopeful terms. His beleif that the common people could be entrusted with governments of their choosing and thereby, they could become masters of their own destinies, despite thousands of years of entrenched authoritarian rule, still define what America is really supposed to be.

Franklin is a good choice also, And regarding American writers, he was the greatest American writer of the 18th century. His science on the formation of laws of electricty is considered equal, during his time, to that of other giants, such as Newton and the laws of physics.

But he was somewhat of an opportunist and came to the Revolution after his own dreams of becoming a royal minister to King George III were dashed. He was a terrrible husband and a poor father, even by the standards of his own time. He spent a large portion of his life in Europe; first in England promoting himself, and then in France, promoting his country and the Revolution.

Nevertheless, he became such a great patriot in his later years that he deserves the title which is often given - the First and Quintessential American.

[ June 06, 2005, 20:49: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]

 

We had the British versions (seperate male & female I think not too long ago)

American wise: Martin Luther King for me.

 

@ Chandros

One interesting thing I read about Thomas Jefferson was towards the end of his life, he was asked what he felt his greatest accomplishment was. Most people would expect that he would say being the 3rd president of the U.S. He did not. He said his greatest acheivement was founding the Univeristy of Virginia, followed by writing the Declaration of Independence.

 

We had the Greatest Finn competition some time ago and not surprisingly it was won by Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, whom I also voted for.

I'm not very familiar with early American history so I can't really say much about the founding fathers or anyone else from that period. My ignorance pretty much forces me to pick someone more recent and Martin Luther King probably wins that. I've allways had great respect for him and his speeches about tolerance. He gave his life to promoting equal rights, which is allways something to be admired.

 

My problem is with what is the definition of "The Greatest American." To me it would have to be someone that history will remember as having made great contributions to America and the world. That disqualified almost 50% of the choices for me. Some of them were so badly disqualified it was almost insulting to the remainders that they made the list. I tended to stick to the scientists and inventors.

 

I voted for Bill Gates, Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and the Wright Brothers.

 

Aldeth - You are right. That was how Jefferson wanted to be remembered. Here's a good link:

http://www.monticello.org/jefferson/dayinlife/wishes/home.html

I am going to make my first trip to Monticello in just a few weeks. I can't wait.

 

Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, Reagan and Ali.

Good poll, Aldeth.

 

Cassius Clay

 

I'm sorry, but surely there must have been some greater Americans than most of these guys?

Bill Graham?!
Lance Armstrong?! Yeah, the guy is tough and has faced adversity but does that really qualify him as one of the 25 greatest Americans of all time? Why is he better than 100s of other sportsmen?

I went for Edison, Einstein, Gates, and the Wright Brothers. Didn't think any of the others were particularly great.

 

Well, Lance Armstrong, I can take him, but Bush?! Clinton?! Maybe I don't know much of American History, but, what they have to do with people like Edison, Einstein, Jefferson or Washington?

 

Edison, Einstein, Wright Brothers and Reagan.

 

I went with Elvis and the scientists/inventors. Not sure who of the politicians did what, so I didn't wote for them.

 

benjamin franklin
a - he was down to earth, no fancy dressing, no fancy moves, no fancy legacy. If Americans now would have a little of his modesty, this is would be a different world.
b - he involved in everything, diplomacy, politics, science, publishing, newspaper-ing, writting etc.
c - he worth usd 100.

 

It has got to be Einstein. What he did with physics revolutionised everything.

 

Oh, we were supposed to pick more than 1, well, I only picked one. Martin Luther King, despite him being a nutty minister he was the catalyst that changed the American society for the better in a great way.