25 Greatest Americans

http://tv.channel.aol.com/greatestamerican

They recently did a 'Top 100 Britons' over here which caused great controversy. I predict similar things for this.

Any thoughts? Who are your top 25 Americans?

 

it will be interesting to see what actual amercians will vote 4 and what the rest of the world esp in the uk and europe will percieve as great amaericans.

my vote is 4 thomas edison..not only a graet inventor but his surname is very similar to mine

 

John Wayne and Clint Eastwood

They kick ass :bang:

FNG

 

OMG, just seen the list.

Bush? ha ha ha
Einstein? Wasn't he German?
Bill Gates? Why? He's a rubbish programmer and got lucky with his business. The Apple blokes would get my vote about him
Elvis, he'd get my vote
Oprah? Eeek
Ali is the man as well
Franklin, doesn't he have a freaky forehead?

 

There's always some people in these lists that can't have been put there for any other reason than to give the less historically aware masses a recognizable face to vote on. In the Greatest Dutchman vote of a while back there was a famous soccer player and an assassinated populist (who nearly won). In this case, George Bush (arguably), Oprah Winfrey and Lance Armstrong...

Einstein was indeed a German, and I can't believe they're taking credit for him since his greatest theories and accomplishments were all made before he moved to the US.

Most of the other political and technological figures they have nominated would be on my list of Great Americans, but I couldn't exactly pick one guy and declare him the greatest. Most of them were part of a greater development that went beyond them alone (the Enlightenment, Industrialization or Aviation).

 

I'm just glad that Jerry Springer was not there...


But JFK is, while LBJ is not... :-?

 

i always thought george washington and bob hope were english?

 

look at that edison was there and i pick him b4 i saw the list!

 

as a point from above i would have to say that johann cruyff is the greatest dutchman!

 

No, he is not.

The influence of Johan Cruyff does not reach outside the little world of soccer. What he did was raise some national soccer teams to champion status for a short period. This does not have any lasting influence on the world, on the country he's from, or even on soccer itself. Meanwhile the list of great Dutchmen includes men who stood at the base of movements like humanism, the man who invented the microscope, artists whose work resounds through the ages and still inspires people worldwide; and last but not least it included men who shaped the country itself, gave it its identity and form and place in the world. Next to people like these, populists and sportsmen just shouldn't even be seriously considered.

Actually I thought the greatest Dutchman of all time wasn't even included in the list because people's knowledge of history doesn't reach down to him. IMHO the greatest Dutchman was stadholder William III, who also became King of England. Louis XIV's arch-enemy, a great politician and diplomat who managed to prevent the continental hegemony of the French for as long as he lived and after his death.

 

These shows should not be called "100 greatest" but "100 most popular".

The same show was on TV here too some months ago, Zinédine Zidane was ahead of Joan of Arc, Commander Cousteau or Edith Piaf were ahead of Napoléon....and so on.
Thank God at least the really greatest one won in the end....
But it's entertaining nevertheless.

From what I know about greatest americans(which is certainly not enough....)I would vote for Benjamin Franklin.

 

Well I guess thats what come from having little history.

:kill: :smok:

 

you have a point there i totally forgot about marco van basten now he was some player too!..singled handly won euro 88 for holland.

 

Well, I voted for my 3. Can't figure out why half of those folks are on there. :roll:

I would give equal billing to:
Washington
Lincoln
Graham
Edison
Jefferson
Franklin

The others just have to take a back seat. Naturally, some I would choose ain't even there.

 

Pardon my ignorance but who is Graham?

 

Billy Graham, TV evangelist and all round bible basher.

FNG

 

Cheers

 

Bush? Mwuhaahaha...
Einstein? He was German indeed :lol:
Bill Gates? One of the most succesfull bussiness in the world and the mst richest man in the world with over 40billion dollars, but to call it the greatest American in the world??? :roll:
Elvis? Why, just a drug addicted Rock and Roll singer, nothing special about him...
Oprah? See is the first black billionair (Roel is that the right word for miljarder? ) in history and was born in a poor black family living in a poor neighbourhood in some part in the US and now is an example to many people in this world today, she will get my vote.
Ali? Just a great boxer, don't know much about him, seen this documentary soe time ago, maybe he will get my vote...
Franklin? who's that?

 

Benjamin Franklin, mostly known as a Scientist/Inventor and Politician... best known for flying kites with metal bit attached in thunderstorms to test electricity etc...

http://sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html

Elvis - the man who kick-started Rock & Roll, or the man with a good agent?
How about Admiral Chester Nimitz? His Theories on Carrier warfare are still standard practice today...

 

That crown was taken by MR IKEA.