I admit that I have been watching some of the Discover Channel's series about the greatest Americans

So far it has been mostly disturbing for me to see who has been left out and who might have been let into the realm of greatness a bit prematurely.
This list is, I believe, a Rorschak Inkblot test for the American psyche.

I decided it would be fun to play a game with the list (linked above):

Choose one of the people selected by the American public as the greatest among us and argue for their removal from the list.


Then suggest someone who, in your opinion, is on the list justifiably. Or, alternatively, really should be on the list.


The next debater then argues against the selection of the person who posted previously and continues the cycle.


I'll take a crack at it...

OK, right away I desire to remove Ellen DeGeneres from this list. Are you kidding me? Who sat back in their La-Z-Boy fondling their remote control and managed to pluck Ellen out of their brain as their vote for the greatest American? I mean really, I understand that it takes guts to do stand-up to a live audience, and she did come out as a lesbian to a national crowd of television viewers...
But really now, Gertrude Stein managed to come out to TWO countries and did it almost ninety years ahead of Ellen. And besides, Ellen might have a good delivery but Gertrude wrote all her own material!
Among her list of accomplishments for our country are: "Made it to syndication", and "made a lesbian go straight". I'm shocked we don't already have an Ellen DeGeneres quarter and collectible stamp...


My suggestion for a person who deserves their place on the list would be Elvis Presly, the King.

If I'm following what you're saying, you want us to 1) argue against the person recommended by the previous participant, 2) argue against someone already on the list, and 3) suggest or endorse someone for the next participant to debunk. Right?


1. Okay, starting with your recommendation: Elvis Presley. Nothing against "the King", but there is a dearth of musicians on their list - in fact, the only ones I spotted were Ray Charles and Madonna. If we're going to include another musician, I would think there are more than a few somewhat worthier than Elvis. Like maybe George Gershwin or Aaron Copland or Woody Guthrie or Billie Holiday or Cole Porter or James Brown or John Philip Sousa or Tommy Dorsey or Scott Joplin or Judy Garland or Fats Waller or Frank Sinatra or Leonard Cohen or Philip Glass or Charles Ives or Mahalia Jackson or Glenn Miller or Bob Dylan or Louis Armstrong or Irving Berlin.

And, before I'd add Elvis, I'd want to add those who made his career possible: Jimmie Rodgers, Frankie Laine, Chet Atkins, and - especially - Hank Williams.


2. As for dispensing with someone already on the list, I'd have to go with ousting George Lucas. I mean, come on - the guy has directed - what? - THX 1138, American Grafitti, and four of the awful Star Wars movies? And he gets a place on the list ahead of such American directors as Woody Allen, Robert Altman, Tim Burton, Frank Capra, Charlie Chaplin, Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood, John Ford, John Frankenheimer, D.W. Griffith, Howard Hawks, John Huston, Buster Keaton, Stanley Kubrick, Ernst Lubitsch, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese, Preston Sturges, Orson Welles, and Billy Wilder??? Puh-lease.


3. And as for endorsements or additions, well there are obviously quite a few people that I feel do belong on their list. But, as this is a political site, I'd have to say that the inclusion of such noted politicians as Jackie Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush are a bit surprising when we don't include people like James Madison, John Jay, Aaron Burr, Andrew Jackson, Salmon P. Chase, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft, J. Edgar Hoover, Adlai Stevenson, and Earl Warren. Maybe they're not as "great" as Barbara Bush, but I'd say they were somewhat more influential.

For my addition, I'm going to go with Eugene V. Debs, labor leader, civil rights and anti-war activist, and five-time candidate for the US Presidency on the Socialist Party ticket - the last time garnering a million votes while in federal prison. He had been arrested under the Espionage Act of 1917 for opposing World War I and was sentenced to ten years and permanent disenfranchisement:
His sentence was commuted by Warren G. Harding and his citizenship was posthumously restored in 1976.

I say about 50% of the list stinks to high heaven! LOL- I mean, really, Madonna or Barbara Bush? Hello? Will anyone even know thier names in America in 100 years?

I say the list, well, is pretty much "Poeple" magazine type fluff- so many poeple, from historical standpoint, on this list, doesn't belong there, to the point it is jus pop media stupidity.

Really- Brett Favre? Ellen Degeneres? Yet, possibly the most prolific and talented musician of the last century, Duke Ellington, is not on there? Lance Armstrong is there- but no Louie Armstrong?

1. Eugene V. Debs was a great American. You can't argue against that.

2. Obviously the list this list is way too weighted towards recent people. The real problem I have is the people who aren't great but are actually bad Americans. Donald Trump, Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh. Dr. Phil. Those are bad people. Especially Henry Ford, the man spread virulent anti-semitic hate around the world for years of his life. In addition he gave material support to Hitler and was generally a maniac. I don't care how good of a business man you are, if you help Hitler get started you're not great.

3. One person they're definitely missing is Grover Cleveland, one of the most principled men ever to be president.

Eugene V. Debs was a real heavyweight. Thanks so much, Wertz, for finding someone so hard to impeach. But I'll give it a try.

Eugene V. Debs does not represent the mainstream in this country, sort of like eggplant will never take the place of french fries next to your hamburger. The guy was a socialist. He wanted the playing field leveled so everyone had the benefits of a job, transportation, shelter, enough food to eat, freedom from oppression. But when you use the word "socialist," all of a sudden it doesn't matter what it entails; the label scares people away, much as the word "liberal" is used to marginalize and dismiss the thoughts of people with views not in line with conservatism.

But this is Casual Conversation, right?

I've got to agree that the list is so fluffy as to be empty calories when referring to the "100 Greatest Americans."

My suggestion to be included in the list and to lend it gravitas would be Dorothy Day.

And what about Robert Goddard? Alan B Sheppard or Sally Ride?

And Patton makes the grade but Marshall doesn't? What did Patton ever do to qualify, (save be played by George C Scott?)

As for Eugene V. Debs... I never heard of him...

Damn, PE, Dorothy Day - talk about unimpeachable! I'll leave the task of arguing against her to someone else.

Dorothy Day was basically a social worker whose activities have done little to shape this nation. A much better choice is Francis Schaeffer. A bit on my boy Frank from wikipedia.



Without Frank we'd probably have that stiff Gore serving his second term and we'd be praying to Allah five times a day.

Well Wertz, I am disappointed in your failure to argue against Dorothy Day. And PE, your thought you were such a smarty pants in suggesting her name.

After thinking for quite awhile, I have finally finalized my argument against Dorothy Day. And the answer was right in front of my nose. Is everyone ready? She doesn't qualify because she is not an American. She was a ANGELsend by that Grand old man in the sky(God, or whatever name you would like to call him or her).

Seriously, after reading her biography, she was such an angel.

On the second part of your question, I would like to nominate Thomas Alva Edison, the scientist and inventor of 1093 patents.

It's a dumb list. The "100 Best of" almost anything is dumb, but this is one spectacularly dumb list.

Inclusions...........................................Exclusions

1. Brett Favre..........................................Johnny Unitas
2. John Edwards.......................................Everett Dirksen
3. Rush Limbaugh.....................................William F. Buckley
4. Tom Hanks...........................................Marlon Brando
5. George Lucas.......................................Orson Welles
6. Barack Obama......................................Harold Washington
7. Condoleeza Rice...................................Shirley Chisholm
8. Barbara Bush........................................Gloria Steinham
9. Pat Tillman............................................John McCain
10. Dr. Phil McGraw....................................Dr. Albert Kinsley

Somebody was smoking something stronger than cigarettes when they came up with this list. It's like those insipid countdown shows on VH-1 where "celebrities" you've never heard of dis ones you have. It's a nod to name recognition and star power than it is to actual historical impact and import.

For example, I'm down for Barack Obama, but C'MON! What's the guy done but give one great speech? Barbara Jordan gave a great speech at the Democratic National Convention but I don't see her name there.

Where are the authors, the artists, the painters, the physicians, the scientists?

This list is as deep as a mud puddle and just about as useful.

I agree with the incredulous group here. This list is just terrible.

Having far too much time on my hands, I broke it down and found that an overwhelming number of people on the list, 80% of them, gained their fame in the 20th century. We can't think further back than that?

Here is my breakdown of the list:


Those whom I was surprised wasn't on there are Medgar Evers, Edgar Allen Poe, Juliet Gordon Lowe, William Howard Taft, James Monroe, and that it has George Washington Carver but no Booker T Washington. I'm not sure how this nomination process was done; Discovery channel does not explain it.

Good Merciful Heavens Poe isn't on the list. He certainly one of (if not the) greatest in what little literary tradition we have in this country.

Which reminds me that they snubbed William Faulkner, Earnest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck.

Which begs the question, what bizarro world have I arisen in when George HW Bush, Micheal Moore, or :shudder: Madonna is "greater" than any of these men on their worst day?

Persons who become familiar with Faulkner's works will have their perspective on life changed.

A person familiar with GHWB's term may well have his/her mind changed, if nothing else...

This is a horrible list, but consider the source—Discover Channel—those people who give us endless nights of choppers and monster garages.

My first thought was to ask for a recount, but I changed my mind. It could get worse. Britney Spears might get on the next one.

Jim Moyers

This 100 List is rather lame and unimaginative.
Brett Farvre????

What else should I expect from the Discovery channel. I am surprised Jesse James didn't get on as well, or Ally Sheedy, Hey what about Shemp......or Johnny Knoxville...how about the Monkeys for their deep contributions to music and cinema......

...and Henry David Thoreau and John DosPassos and James Baldwin and Walt Whitman and Eugene O'Neill and Gertrude Stein and Carl Sandburg and Thornton Wilder and Emily Dickinson and Stephen Crane and T.S. Eliot and Ralph Ellison and Norman Mailer and Willa Cather and Nathaniel Hawthorn and Flannery O'Connor and Gore Vidal and Arthur Miller and Robert Lowell and Alice Walker and Saul Bellow and Joseph Heller and H.L. Mencken and Audre Lourde and William Gaddis and Louisa May Alcott and Thomas Pynchon and Ezra Pound and Carson McCullers and Tennessee Williams and Dorothy Parker and William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Shirley Jackson and William S. Burroughs and Isaac Asimov and Jack Kerouac and William Carlos Williams and...


But, hey - at least they included Hugh Hefner.

Ain't no NASCAR drivers in there either!

Some list......

I actually watched part of the special on it today- made me wanta freakin' puke! You know, it is really like American idol for recognizable Americans- I was upset- I would expect this kind of weak crap from the networks- but common, it is SUPPOSED to be an educational channel- not ET!

This list is truly awful. Madonna is on the list, but Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring (the book that pretty much single-handedly launched the entire environmental movement) isn't. I vote Rachel Carson on, and Chuck Yeager off.

My mother and father knew Chuck Yeager well. She worked at Aviano airbase when he commanded a squadron over there. He was an incorrigible drunk, and mediocre leader.... his drinking problems always got him into trouble. He finally lost his command after driving a jeep through the wall of the Officer's club, and my father took over his squadron.

A pilot- an incorigible drunk? Whoda thunk it? LOL

I still think his records, despite his personality, make him eligible.

There are a great deal of Americans that belong on that top 100 list that I probably wouldn't hang out with personally LOL

Let's get this list straight. Let's start with the A's



If only one sports figure was on this list it would have to be Ali, Louis or Ruth, with Jesse Owens in fourth, a good choice.

Maya will be right up there with Jupiter Hammond within 50 years, pretty much in obscurity.

Can't argue with Susan, definitely America's greatest fighter for the rights of women.

Lance, please, he rides a bicycle, real Americans drive cars.

Neil more as a representative of the feats of American technology. I'll let him and Glenn get credit there.

Edited to add: I guess I will replace Maya and Lance with James Madison and J.S. Mill.

True


The irony of that statement is, in today's military he would have likely never flown, or been quickly grounded for his disciplinary problems. He simply wouldn't have that record to begin with, so frankly, I don't think his record is worthy of '100 best' as he was a bad leader. Example: I know a group of pilots at Kunsan who just received article 15s (and most likely will be grounded, or just as bad, assigned to drone aircraft) for singing a bawdy song about gold bond powder (nothing remotely out-of-bounds in the lyrics), and sending it to two e-mail addresses of friends. Of course, those friends thought it was funny, and e mailed it to two other friends, and so on, until someone received it who decided it was unbecoming. The result=career ending action for a song.

What about John Boyd? That man is the most important officer the Air force ever produced. A genius who changed the tactics of warfare (for all the forces) and established the oversight committees, and exposed waste, fraud and abuse. Few have even heard of him.

Some of these "Great Americans" left me dumbfounded. What, in the name of all things sacred, are : Brett Favre, Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Hugh Hefner, Katherine Hepburbn, Michael Jackson, Maddona, Dr. Phil, Martha Stewart, Steven Spielburg, Rush Limbaugh and Tiger Woods doing on that list?

Additions I would have made would be: James Madision and John McCain.

Emphatic Rejections: Michael Moore-No explanation necessary
Richard Nixon-Yeah, thanks for ushering in an unprecedented wave of cynicism, you great American you.
Obama-He's done nothing thus far to consider him good, needless to say great.
Marilyn Monroe-I was looking down the list of people...Teddy Roosevelt, MLK Jr., Malcom X...Marilyn Monroe? What?
Babe Ruth-Womanizing drunkard...Great?
Martha-Criminal
Madonna-No explanation necessary.
Jacko-Nothing but bad music...Oh, and possible child molester.


CP

Well, the sad fact about this list is that it is not the Dicover Channel's making.
It is based on the many nominations from Americans across this country.

This list is no better than high school superlatives in which the popular kids get every nomination. I remember running a campaign to get a kid wit hthe last name "Bacon" to win the superlative for "Most likely to bring home the bacon"
... sadly, he wasn't popular and high school kids have no sense of humor.

This is why I see this list as a cross section of the present American psyche.
Condi Rice is a great American simply because she is a prominent conservative, George Bush is great even though we aren't even sure if his policies will work, etc...


Anyway, it's fun to argue the old "What makes someone a 'great' American?" and to make light of the list at the same time. In that light, I'll take a shot at knocking John McCain off the list just because Conservpat suggested him:


John McCain?!? Are you kidding me? Why would we want a bad pilot who can't even get away from a bamboo cage after five years to be on the list of great Americans? If he were so great he wouldn't have been shot down in the first place! And now that he is free and involved in American politics he can't get one of his bills to escape the Senate. If he wasn't busy flip-flopping from conservative ideology to liberal and back again he just might actually get something done.
I don't see how we can look up to a fence sitter when so many great Americans were able to choose a position and charge headlong into it without looking back.


For example, Daniel Boone would be an example of a great American who was able to take a stand on something he believes in. Now there is an American who should be on the list.

After viewing the nominees list today, I began looking around for places that were discussing this list and decided to become a member at this website as a result(so bear with me). I'd say of all the great Americans this country has produced, Benjamin Franklin should be at the top or at least in the top five. I know this is an obvious choice, but I really can't think of another American that deserves the top spot more. His numerous contributions to society, his undying commitment to excellence and his rise to enormous success and prosperity from relatively humble origins make him the epitome of American values. His many morsels of sensible advice are charmingly American in spirit. Statesman, inventor, writer, philosopher, scientist; he did it all.

A lot of the rest of this list is utter junk. There are 100 better Americans than Hugh Hefner, Dr. Phil, Michael Moore; maybe the American People were thinking "most easily recognizable Americans." I'm surprised Bugs Bunny didn't make the list.

I suppose it isn't a bad thing that this list was created, though; it gets people talking about our history and all the greatness we have produced. I think the most embarassing thing is that most Americans don't know or care enough about our history to really appreciate and recognize the greatness of some of our older people(18th and 19th century). Hopefully another list will emerge, less commercially oriented and not viewer-chosen, that will actually give people a desire to learn about all our greats.

Man, I could come up with a list of 100 of just the writers, artists and musicians left off the list. Here's some of the glaring omissions I noted (in no particular order):

Ernest Hemingway
John Steinbeck
Georgia O'Keefe
Mary Cassatt
William Faulkner
Audubon
Robert Johnson
Willie Dixon
John Lee Hooker
Howlin' Wolf...jeez, I could go on and on with blues greats alone
John Muir
Chief Sitting Bull
Chief Joseph
Sacagawea
Albert Bierstadt
Winslow Homer
Louis Tiffany
Frank Lloyd Wright
NC Wyeth
Dorothy Parker
Edgar Allen Poe
Grandma Moses


And so on.

Rush Limbaugh?!?! Michael Jackson?!?! A raving drug addict and a pedophile freak? Give me a mother-lovin' break!! I don't know what to say about the Americans who voted for this list...pretty darned sad.

If raving drug addicts are automatically excluded you better cut Poe from your list.

Believe it or not, Michael Jackson is a great American. He's a musician who has changed people's lives forever. He also isn't afraid to show his true colors (no pun intended). He likes kids (not sexually), and he isn't afraid to tell you.

He might have a slight drug problem, but I don't think abusing presciption drugs excludes you from a 100 Greatest American list.

You have to respect the man. He's been through two long, tough, and painful lawsuits; both which he was proven to be innocent.

Jimmy Hoffa---sure he was corrupt but he helped American workers understand they had power and didn't need to suffer abuse to hold a job. I will never join a Union but I will never cross a picket line either.

Matt Groening -- He gave us the Simpsons. Nuff said?

Jesse Owens-- for the best kick in the teeth to Evil ever to take place.

Umm - JS Mill was British......there are plenty of other good Americans to put on the list, you don't need to start stealing our philosophers!

Silence Dogood-

Since this whole thing started have been thinking about who would be THE Number #1 Greatest American ( to narrow things down a bit), and I logged on tonight to make basically the post you have.

I could not think of anyone who was so utterly unimpeachable in character, practically invented the ideas for america of hard work, civic responsibility, industriousness, who rose from poverty (did not have an education past 10 years old) and made enough wealth to live comfortably at 42y/o.
Not that he stopped working...





He was President of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery and was outspoken against the horrible treatment of Native Americans. I dont have him on record for doing anything for women (other than being utterly charming), but then neither did anyone else of that time.

What Ben Franklin was- that I believe the US could use more of - a relentless diplomat while remaining true to the ideals of the new Republic; he was just damn good with people. After working tirelessly for French support during the Revolution, he was the first to contact British emissaries and negotiate terms after Yorktown. He was about 80 years old at the time. ( Besides being a signer of the Declaration of course) He constantly and humorously worked for compromise amongst differing factions of his peers. He was deemed a 'sage' within his time and some 20,000 people came to his funeral.

He said, " there is no such thing as a good war or bad peace". As well as the better known " those that would trade freedom for security deserve neither freedom nor security".

I cant think of anyone who contributed more, who's life more closely resembles the values the country was raised upon, having been a Revolutionary and a diplomat, believed in freedom, spirituality AND science, lived an ethic that has historically stood the test of time but also whos ideologies still stand, those which we might occasionally need to return to or aspire towards.

Any challengers?

Ha, ya got me there. At least Poe was brilliant (tho mad, I’m sure) and wasn’t a raver.

No, I don’t "have" to respect him. You can if you like, but to me, he’s a talent wasted, grown into a sad, abnormal freak of nature.

And no, he was not found "innocent"; he was found “not guilty”. There is a difference. And just because the court found him not guilty doesn’t mean that is the case. After he starts eating again so he doesn’t look quite so pathetic and sympathy-inspiring, he’s contemplating a move to Europe, a la Roman Polanski. His trial was a carefully choreographed show…and it worked!

I would never classify him as a "great American". Many others have done the same good works without the ego-stroking, freakish sideshow.

I just wanted to clear the air on Edgar Allen Poe: There is no actual proof that he was either drug-addicted or maniacal. If you were to read his essays you would find that he was ridiculously brilliant and intended to create the feeling of madness and insanity in his works. His effectiveness in his craft was his undoing.
Poe DID have a problem with binge-drinking. He admitted that he was prone to drinking himself to oblivion on rare occassions or during tough times.

Anyway, if we were to include American authors in this list I would insist upon Poe and Twain as the top two.


I would like to strike nearly all of the athletes from the list and add Jim Thorpe to it.


Anyway, would it be possible for us to organize our own list for the masses to vote upon? It would be nice to set up some criteria so that people whose legacies are in question could not be voted on.

Lance rode a bike to 6 straight Tours, which has never been done before. That is way more challenging and takes much more self discipline than pressing a gas and break pedal on an oval track. Sorry, I'll debate that one to you until I'm blue in the face.

I agree, James Madison, but I think there are better people to replace than Maya.

I'll be right there to back you up too. While I don't agree with leaving his wife and kids for a superstar once you hit it big...that just seems to be the American way.

Lance has done wonderful things for the sport of cycling in America and more importantly been a beacon of hope for cancer patients world wide.

I'd also like to point out that he was recognized as the most recognizable sports figure in the world recently. I agree, crappy personal background, but hey, people don't seem to worry about that sort of thing with Clinton, and he was president, why would they care about Lance? It's not like Lance was getting sexual favors while riding in the Tour. And, Michael Jordan's personal background is questionable as well, no one has brought that one up.

I nominate Ozzy Osbourne because he was the first man to to take biting bat's heads off by storm. That takes a lot of guts (and some weak taste buds).

I would also add Mike Tyson because he bit his opponent's ear off in a boxing match. This contributed largely to society and popular entertainment.

In my opinion, all these nominations are focusing too much on intellect. We need more nominations related to others things. Hence why my 2 nominations above are related to biting and not thinking.

Hey, don't forget that Tyson nibbled on McBride's nipple in his last match! And, if you are using that criteria, you would have to nominate Monica Lewinsky as well.

Sorry, Armstrong and Angelou are still off my list.

The B's

X-Ball, Lucille
Bell, Alexander Graham
X-Bush, Barbara
X-Bush, George H. W.
X-Bush, George W.
X-Bush, Laura

Lucille is a close one. If any female comic was deserving to be on the list she would be it. I only got room for one comedian, Bob Hope. The Bush's, I only got room for two First Lady's at most, Abigail Adams and Eleanor Roosevelt. It is too early to judge GW and GHW was a one-termer, I think he was a decent Prez but not in the top 100 Americans.

While I am on the B's I'll throw this out for thought, John Brown.

All those you X'd are off of my list. I would put a link up, but that's considered spam, so you'll have to take my word for it!

They should add our 11th president to the list. James Polk. He expanded out country and firmly believed in the manifest destiny.

Choose one of the people selected by the American public as the greatest among us and argue for their removal from the list.


This is easy...Clint Eastwood has no business here. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Clint Eastwood. But I'm not sure where he'd be on a list of the 100 greatest actors, much less all Americans.

For his replacement, I noticed a glaring omission on the list....I didn't see one single native American. I think that needs to be corrected. How 'bout Sitting Bull?

Also, what does it say about this list that the closest thing there is to a philosopher on it is...Dr Phil? Seriously...is Jerry Springer there too? Come, on, this is a joke. Literature is also glaringly absent...where is Ralph Waldo Emerson? Henry David Thoreau? Samuel Clemens, even? Not a poet there, either (Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Frost)? (I hope it goes without saying that looking at these omissions, the inclusion of Clint Eastwood is even more puzzling). Is there really not one single American poet, author, or philosopher of note? I'm mildly surprised Pee Wee Hermann didn't make the list.

SirAjh

You can't nominate Ozzy, he's British...

Sheesh, thats the second time I've had to do this on this thread. C'mon people!

ok, sorry guys. Take ozzy off the recommendation list.

Hmmm. Maybe we should add Mark Felt (aka Deep Throat)?

And the winner is .....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4631421.stm

Ronald Reagan, nudging out that lightweight Abraham Lincoln. Oprah is the greatest american women of all time. I guess Harriet Tubman et. al. should have got chat shows.

The complete top 10 is:

1 Ronald Reagan
2 Abraham Lincoln
3 Martin Luther King
4 George Washington
5 Benjamin Franklin
6 George W Bush
7 Bill Clinton
8 Elvis Presley
9 Oprah Winfrey
10 Franklin D Roosevelt

Ronald Regan is the greatest American?!

You all'd better thank you lucky profanity filter right now... I think I'm going to be ill.

Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey in the top ten.... speechless

This lost any credibility after the last episode aired. I don't even know what to call it, but this list seems to have been compiled by people who either do not have knowledge of or do not respect our nation's history and heritage. Even the celebrity panel seemed to not even know or care who Ben Franklin was, and as terrific of an American as Dr. King was, I think he was probably at least a couple spots too high. Of course, Reagan was great, but I don't even think he should have been top ten. I have to say it is a decent list, but by consequence of it being the result of popular vote not a very "considerate" list. Too many presidents and media figures and not enough scientists, authors, and thinkers.

I think we can chalk the modern ones off as being part of a partisan battle. Clinton and Bush don't belong on the list and I personally can't see the merit of Reagan in being on the list. 1st place is an obviously skewed result.

Not voting on the list because the person has flaws?? Well, Jesus, Buddha, Moses, and Mohammad weren't citizens.

I would place George Washington in the first spot. Sure he had flaws, but he had the powers to make or break or neuter this nation. He chose the difficult route and made it.

Ben Franklin is the quintessential American because he was the Enlightenment figure in the wilderness. His faults and qualities have become distinctly American.

Martin Luther King, Jr. should be up high on this list. He stood on the side of right for the entirety of his country even when detesting certain segments of the society was a more natural reaction.

Abraham Lincoln may have been involved in a war. He may have had a slow start as the chief executive officer. But without Lincoln the United States may very well have Balkanized.

Greatest religious leader? . . . . .
Roger Williams

Greatest female American?
Susan B. Anthony

Labor Leader?

Cesar Chavez or Samuel Gompers

Greatest celebrity?

Babe Ruth

Others worthy of merit on this list IMHO are Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Edison.

FDR qualifies and perhaps even Eleanor too.

Reagan gets #1


Aquilla must be exhausted from all those phone calls and email alerts he sent.

Elvis Presley and Oprah are greater Americans than FDR?
Even Bush and Clinton are better than FDR...

*bumps head on table*