Who's the Greatest American?- Page 2

Posted: 6/20/05 at 4:46pm

Wow the Republican smear of FDR has worked really quickly if he didn't nail #1 by a mile. Absolutely positively the greatest President, he (and his wife Eleanor, who really was a sort of co-president) did so much it's almost impossible to understand it all.

Equal rights, educational reforms, nutritional guidelines, caring for the elderly, the national highways, rural electrification, women in the workforce (and government)...gosh it looks silly to even try to list all that and I didn't even scratch the surface.

A rich man who cared about the poor, a sick man who radiated health & confidence, FDR was truly a remarkable man, someone who in many ways created the world we live in today.

Sadly, he was a Democrat, so the Republicans won't rest until his reputation and accomplishments are dragged through the mud.


Updated On: 6/20/05 at 04:46 PM

[One Song Glory]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 5:21pm

Abe Lincoln.

[ConvinceMe2]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 5:24pm

JFK?????

[Millie42]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 5:29pm

"Agreed... FDR should be #6 - either that or drop one of the colonial guys... "

Colonial guys. My heart just broke a little.

James Madison and Alexander Hamilton deserve props, too!

[Millie42]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 5:33pm

"Sadly, he was a Democrat, so the Republicans won't rest until his reputation and accomplishments are dragged through the mud."

I certainly don't believe that is true. I think people just don't know all that was done in those years.... they know he did "stuff" but what exactly? So, they aren't going to rank him first. Washington and Lincoln are who people are familiar with (and with just reason because they absolutely rock, as well)
A smear campaign? I must have missed that.
Plus, most people should know there has been quite the political re-alignment since the 30s.

[Millie42]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 5:39pm

Definitely on my list, too, Undi. :)

John Marshall is wonderful as well!

oh no...dont get the history dork/constitutional junkie started (me)!

[Plum]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 5:39pm

Definitely a smear campaign, Millie. FDR was the antithesis of everything today's Republican Party advocates, and it absolutely drives them up the wall that he was such a blazing success.

[kjklo]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 8:23pm

When a B-movie actor turned right-wing puppet figure outranks Thomas Jefferson (even in a laughable TV poll) then we're in a lot more trouble than we think.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 6/20/05 at 9:10pm

Oh Barbie.,.....I like that idea

[DoogieB]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:43pm

My friend's dad produces that show so I've been pretty active in voting. Now that it's down to the top five (Reagan??), I'd vote for Lincoln or Washington. Since you can vote for three different people if you like, I still don't know, either King or Franklin. If you watched the last episode with the debating--Franklin's spokesperson was terrible, I still have trouble understanding what things he really did.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:51pm

They had to put someone in there that represented the last 40 years. That would be Reagan.

[Plum]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 4:53pm

I have to say Reagan accomplished a lot as President. But that's about all I can say for him.

And my vote's still with Franklin. He's quite possibly the greatest-ever American diplomat, pioneered the study of electricity, started about 52 civic services...the list goes on and on.

[Nina]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 6:40pm

With all the wonderful individuals one that list who have contributed to the world, Jonas Salk, Abe Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, JFK, Einstein, the choice is very difficult. I can't decide between Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson. Maybe I'll just go with Tom Hanks. Such great Americans, each and every one.

Posted: 6/21/05 at 6:52pm

Oh my god, Nina! I hadn't really looked at the list, and when I read your post I thought, "Hmmm, the real choices must be kind of debatable if she's mocking them like that." They ARE real choices . . .

There is not enough scotch in the world to provide the drink I would like right now.

Even for a ridiculous 'poll' such as this . . . it's no wonder our society is in the state it's in.

[Taryn]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 7:13pm

Wait, John Adams is not on there at ALL?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 7:30pm

Adams didn't even make the top 100 -- Dr. Phil and Ellen did, though.

Updated On: 6/21/05 at 07:30 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 8:08pm

LORETTA SWIT

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 8:26pm

The entertainers (and I lump Dr. Phil in there) on this list - what the hell are they doing there? Why??

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 8:29pm

Well, I am a foreigner, so maybe I am missing something, but I am REALLY surprised that JFK is not on this list ! I always thought he was very important and very beloved in the USA !!!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 8:31pm

JFK might be more important than Tom Hanks, yes...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 8:43pm

JFK was top 25. But then so was Lance Armstrong(????).
The list has some truly stunning inclusions:

Mel Gibson?
Tom Hanks?
John Wayne?
Tom Cruise?
Brett Favre?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 8:45pm

Lance Armstrong was in the top 25??? Is it just the US or the entire world that's completely off it's rocker?

Updated On: 6/21/05 at 08:45 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 8:56pm

6 through 25 (alphabetical):

Muhammed Ali
Lance Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
George W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Walt Disney
Thomas Alva Edison
Albert Einstein
Henry Ford
Bill Gates
Bill Graham
Bob Hope
Thomas Jefferson
John F. Kennedy
Rosa Parks
Elvis Presley
Eleanor Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Oprah Winfrey
The Wright Brothers

Top 5:
Benjamin Franklin
Abraham Lincoln
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ronald Reagan
George Washington

Updated On: 6/21/05 at 08:56 PM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 8:57pm

Ronald Reagan? I'll never get that. The man is dead and just the mention of his name still gives me the creeps.

[Nina]

Posted: 6/21/05 at 9:00pm

Come now, Einstein may have been one of the greatest minds in history and Salk may have created a vaccine that eradicated polio and saved billions of people over the decades since, but could either them look good dancing around in white briefs and Ray Bans? There is just no comparing.