NJforever NJforever

JU's Top 10 Americans

▼

JU's Top 10 Americans

Are We Better Than Those on Discovery Channel?

from JoeUser Forums
Recently, Bakerstreet wrote an article about Discovery Channel's Top 100 AmericansLink. I must say, that list is, more or less, an embarrasment. I mean come on; John Edwards? Madonna? Dr. Phil? Teddy Roosevelt came behind Oprah, for crying out loud.

So, I decided we should have our own Top Americans thing. 100 would require so many people voting, I don't think it's such a good idea. To that effect, I cut it down to the Top 10 Americans. Just post your vote here, and after a bit, I'll count them up and announce the top 10 Americans according to JU. The polls are open, let the voting begin!
blogging
19,651 views 44 replies
Reply #26 from JoeUser Forums Top
By the way, baker, my omission of Washington was not as much because of a bias as because I already had three of the early patriots on the list. I feel that Thomas Paine's assistance in writing pamphlets for the patriot cause helped stir a number of people who would otherwise be fence sitters into action. Patrick Henry, was of course, one of the chief reasons the Bill of Rights was written. And Benjamin Franklin deserves as much credit for his inventions and contributions as an ambassador as his role in founding the country (I could have easily interchanged Thomas Jefferson in this role). My omission of Washington wasn't a slight, just a choice due to the shortness of the list.

Just thought I'd clarify THAT point before getting slammed for omitting Washington...lol
Reply #27 from JoeUser Forums Top
Some interesting votes, and even a little debate! This is turning out a little like the British one; they even had debates in Parliament about that one. I stand by my choice of Washington, because without him, this country never would have lasted, in more ways than one. His military skills helped win the Revolution, and his role in writing the Constitution, not to mention his time as president, win him Greatest American to me. But as I said before, interpret this any way you like. Makes the list a bit harder, like Bakerstreet said, but it also makes it a bit more fun, in my opinion.
Fences - Organize your desktop icons today!
Reply #28 from JoeUser Forums Top
I stand by my choice of Washington, because without him, this country never would have lasted, in more ways than one. His military skills helped win the Revolution, and his role in writing the Constitution, not to mention his time as president, win him Greatest American to me.


NJ,

I must admit I wavered a bit before omitting Washington, for the very reasons you cite. But I wanted to kind of cross the historical spectrum, so I could only allow so many from each era. I chose Paine and Henry because their contributions were in their literary and oratorical skills that helped shape the opinions of the colonists (and, in the case of Paine, recruit volunteers), and as such they are often relegated to the backseat, while Washington's unquestionable military genius and leadership acumen take the forefront. They were, in many ways, the "wind beneath Washington's wings", and I thought it fair they deserved recognition. As for Jefferson vs. Franklin, it was a virtual coin flip, Franklin winning similarly because of his tendency to be relegated to a "lower" status, while his extreme popularity in Europe heled garner overseas support for our cause. When it comes to the colonial era, it just can't be done without omitting a great number of worthy Americans.

As to Lincoln, I feel that individuals like Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and others, contributed more towards the elimination of slavery than did Lincoln. An expanded list would have included them before Abe, who, I believe was in many ways, a product of the times (don't believe me? John C. Fremont garnered only 6% less of the popular vote than Lincoln in 1856; a divided Democratic Party, as Lincoln faced in 1860, might well have made Fremont, NOT Lincoln, the first Republican president and precipitated the Civil War under HIS administration).

In case you haven't yet guessed from my list, I believe that writers and orators have done a great deal more in shaping the nation than politicians. Politicians are often put in place by the rhetoric of the writers and orators.
Reply #29 from JoeUser Forums Top
Gid: I'm not a huge Washington fan, either. Not that I think he did anything wrong, I just think his "first President" thing generally overshadows people who made huge contributions.

I don't fault you, like I say it is a matter of criterea. Unless you come up with something more descriptive than "greatest", it is impossible to really come up with a good list.

Again, that doesn't excuse people who nominate Michael Jackson and Ellen Degeneres. We can sit and debate whether Theodore Roosevelt or Washington could be included, along with hundreds of others, and never sink to that level...
Reply #30 from JoeUser Forums Top

Seriously (and thanks).

Thomas Jefferson

Ben Franklin

George Washington

FDR

DDE

James Monroe

Andy Jackson

Paul Volker

MLK

RWR

Reply #31 from JoeUser Forums Top
"Paul Volker"? I would be curious to hear why he'd rate in the top ten.
Reply #32 from JoeUser Forums Top

The interesting thing about this is that you can interpret it anyway you want. Mason's answer is very good in that you wouldn't normally think of that but they are pretty great people.

NJ, you have gotten some great responses.  But delete the JFJ ones.  Satire has its place. and this is not it.

Reply #33 from JoeUser Forums Top
Sorry, JFJ, but it is pretty clear not only that you knew how to spell Winston Churchill, but that you knew he was a Brit. If you want to vote, be my guest, but try to pick someone you either know or think is an American.
Reply #34 from JoeUser Forums Top
Andy Jackson


By the way, was that to butter me up? You know he's my favorite.
Reply #35 from JoeUser Forums Top

By the way, was that to butter me up? You know he's my favorite.

No, I think he was the greatest no BS president (and only one) we ever had.

Reply #36 from JoeUser Forums Top

"Paul Volker"? I would be curious to hear why he'd rate in the top ten.

He ran the Fed in the 80s during the most critical period of monetary control since the depression and did an excellent job.  He was vilified by both left and right, which means he was doing something right! He also set the tone for Greenspan (and all successors I hope).  In short, he was the greatest Fed Chairman in the history of the US.

Reply #37 from JoeUser Forums Top
I am not going to bother to read this whole thing, but I vote MLK Jr.
Reply #38 from JoeUser Forums Top
MasonM has a great list, but i think it applies to the whole world, as in the world's greatest people list.

I'm not american, so i wont vote. But I think you should think of what makes America great today, and choose the people who've done something about it.

10 people is a hard choice with so much history tho...
Reply #39 from JoeUser Forums Top
10 people is a hard choice with so much history tho...


I know. That's why I decided against making my own, and instead made it a vote. I could spend my entire life coming up with a Top 10 Americans list and never be completely happy with it, but this makes for a nice blend of opinions.

By the way, you could still vote. Would be nice to get an "outsider's" opinion.
Reply #40 from JoeUser Forums Top

By the way, you could still vote. Would be nice to get an "outsider's" opinion

Very true.  Go ahead and make a list Island Gurl.  It will be refreshing to see what others think of us.

Reply #41 from JoeUser Forums Top
OK, well here's an ousider's viewpoint. Those of you who have called me an anti-American may be surprised to learn I've spent a couple of hours researching this and trying to whittle down my list to the following...12 (sorry that was the best I could do) in no particular order:

1. Martin Luther King Jr
2. Rosa Parks (the black lady who refused to give up her seat for a white man on the bus)
3. Michael Apple (educational theorist - democratic schools)
4. Grandmaster Flash (hip hop's Bob Dylan)
5. Lucy Stone (suffragette)
6. Judith Butler (gender theory philosopher)
7. Frederick Douglass (black advisor to Lincoln during the civil war)
8. William DuBois (campaigner for black culture, founder of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, women's rights campaigner, risked his life for his causes)
9. Sholom Aleichem (Jewish immigrant, author of the book that inspired Fiddler on the Roof, the first Broadway show to deal with such deep issues)
10. William Glasser (educational theorist - problem-solving as behaviour management)
11. Sidney Poitier (paved the way for black actors in Hollywood)
12. Robert Johnson (early rock n roller)
Note when I say I was researching, I had heard of all of these people, but I couldn't remember them all and I wanted to check if there were any others who deserved a mention.
Reply #42 from JoeUser Forums Top

OK, well here's an ousider's viewpoint. Those of you who have called me an anti-American may be surprised to learn I've spent a couple of hours researching this and trying to whittle down my list to the following...12 (sorry that was the best I could do) in no particular order:

I never called you un-American.  Mis-guided, sure.

And while your list is fine, it suffers from the malady that NJ was trying to correct.  Contemporaries.

Not bad tho.  At least it has more substance than the discovery one.

Reply #43 from JoeUser Forums Top
"I never called you un-American."

I never said you did Dr Guy. Although, to be pedantic, I have no quarrel with the label "un-American", as I am Australian, and thus probably by definition unAmerican. But I would not count myself as anti-American, as some others have accused me.

I don't think you can quite accuse my list of the same obsession with contemporaries as the Discovery list. Several members of my list are dead, some for well over a century. But you're right that I haven't delved back several centuries. This is for two reasons really: I am Australian and thus don't have a very extensive knowledge of US history, and 2, people like George Washington are important to Americans because he founded the nation, whereas to me, an Australian, that has much less value. I understand why an American would put him on their list, but for an Australian, I find little reason to admire him. I don't mean that he isn't admirable, just that the reasons for which he is admirable are not particularly important to me.
Reply #44 from JoeUser Forums Top

I don't think you can quite accuse my list of the same obsession with contemporaries as the Discovery list. Several members of my list are dead, some for well over a century. But you're right that I haven't delved back several centuries. This is for two reasons really: I am Australian and thus don't have a very extensive knowledge of US history, and 2, people like George Washington are important to Americans because he founded the nation, whereas to me, an Australian, that has much less value. I understand why an American would put him on their list, but for an Australian, I find little reason to admire him. I don't mean that he isn't admirable, just that the reasons for which he is admirable are not particularly important to me.

Well, that explanation gives your list a lot more weight.  Had not thought about lack of knowledge of american history (but then my knowledge of Australian history is probably poorer).  Anyway, thanks for the insight.