The 100 Greatest Americans
Evidently, the Discovery Channel is starting a new series where Americans will vote for the "Greatest American" from a list of nominees submitted by ordinary folks around the country. Check out the list (copied from here, found on Southern Appeal)
Abraham Lincoln
Albert Einstein
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Hamilton
Amelia Earhart
Andrew Carnegie
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Audie Murphy
Babe Ruth
Barack Obama
Barbara Bush
Benjamin Franklin
Bill Clinton
Bill Cosby (William Henry Cosby, Jr.)
Bill Gates
Billy Graham
Bob Hope
Brett Favre
Carl Sagan
Cesar Chavez
Charles Lindbergh
Christopher Reeve
Chuck Yeager
Clint Eastwood
Colin Powell
Condoleezza Rice
Donald Trump
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eleanor Roosevelt (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt)
Ellen DeGeneres
Elvis Presley
Frank Sinatra
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Frederick Douglass
George H. W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Lucas
George Patton
George Washington
George Washington Carver
Harriet Ross Tubman
Harry Truman
Helen Keller
Henry Ford
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Howard Hughes
Hugh Hefner
Jackie Robinson (Jack Roosevelt Robinson)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jesse Owens
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Stewart
John Edwards
John Glenn
John F. Kennedy
John Wayne
Johnny Carson (John William Carson)
Jonas Edward Salk
Joseph Smith Jr.
Katharine Hepburn
Lance Armstrong
Laura Bush
Lucille Ball
Lyndon B. Johnson
Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone)
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little)
Marilyn Monroe
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Martha Stewart
Martin Luther King Jr.
Maya Angelou
Mel Gibson
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan
Michael Moore
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.)
Neil Alden Armstrong
Nikola Tesla
Oprah Winfrey
Pat Tillman
Dr. Phil McGraw
Ray Charles
Richard Nixon
Robert Kennedy
Ronald Reagan
Rosa Parks
Rudolph W. Giuliani
Rush Limbaugh
Sam Walton
Steve Jobs
Steven Spielberg
Susan B. Anthony
Theodore Roosevelt
Thomas Edison
Thomas Jefferson
Tiger Woods
Tom Cruise
Tom Hanks
Walt Disney
Wrights Brothers (Orville & Wilbur Wright)
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. If this is the current state of American culture, of which I think it's a pretty good representation, then it's time for us to pray, pray, pray.
posted by Chad @ 11:45 AM
13 comments
13 Comments:
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If Pat Tillman is on the list, than Ted Williams should be on the list too. Thousands of Americans have given their lives in service to this country - he just happened to be famous. As for Dr. Phil and Oprah...no comment neccessary.
Barack Obama and not Booker T. Washington????? Puhleaze!!!
As I look at the list, evidently the only rule our fellow Americans use to judge someone as great, beyond the few obvious picks like Lincoln and Washington, is for that person's name to be well-known. As someone said in a comment to a post about this on another blog, it's further proof that we shouldn't be electing our leaders, either.
Sad.
Where are St. John Neumann, St. Frances Cabrini, St. Katharine Drexel, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton? Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha? The North American Martyrs?
Sad.
Where are St. John Neumann, St. Frances Cabrini, St. Katharine Drexel, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton? Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha? The North American Martyrs?
Fulton Sheen too!!
wow. Ellen Degeneres? Really?
Worshipper of Steve Jobs I may be, I don't see how he's one of the hundred greatest Americans.
Actually, I agree with Steve Jobs. Without him we would not have the PC technology that we do.
The real question is: what makes a person great? Has Steve Jobs made a contribution to computer technology in the U.S.? Yes. Is his contribution any greater than one of my advisors, Dr. Fred Brooks, who designed one of IBM's first minicomputers back in the 60's and is still hard at work on virtual reality? Probably not. It's just visibility and marketing that separates out the 80+ people on this list that shouldn't be there from the 80+ people that probably should be.
Why is Patton on there? He may have been a good general, but that was it. Nimitz at the very least ought to be on there.
Patton's on there because there are just enough people out there who remember the movie about him.
I think Robert E. Lee should be on there.
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