Who is the Greatest American, if you can vote for anyone?

[CalebHayes]

You get one vote and you can choose anyone who is currently or died an American citizen.

I think I would go with Robert Kennedy. But it's extremely hard.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Eleanor Roosevelt

ER gets my vote. Overcame adversity, was a positive person and symbolized what's good about this country around the world.

I would like to see guys like Jonas Salk and Walter Reed get more credit. These are folks that helped the WORLD.

[bluestateguy]

23. Mookie Wilson?

I'm going to assume you're not the real guy, right? I always felt he was an underrated player, which is unusual seeing as how New York teams always have so many overrated players. Ahem, cough, Derek Jeter...ahem.

I think even in Buckner had picked up that grounder in 1986 that Wilson would have been safe, and Knight would have had to hold at third.

[Captain Hilts]

25. You are most astute Blue State Guy

There's no way Buckner would have beaten the Mook to the bag even had he fielded that ball cleanly. Seeing that Stanley hadn't broken towards the bag sealed the deal.

To be honest, Mookie was a lousy lead-off hitter. He should have batted second, third or fifth.

I think I'll go nominate Mookie for the supreme court in that other thread...

[Yupster]

44. New book came out recently

about the 86 Mets. The title was something like "The Year the Bad Guys Won." Anyway, it was a nasty book about what a bunch of assholes the Mets were in 86.

Among the very few decent players on the team were Gary Carter, Ray Knight, Tim Teufel and Mookie Wilson.

You're right though that Mookie just didn't have the on-base percentages necessary for a decent leadoff batter. I would say sixth or seventh would have been a better spot for him to bat. He also had no arm at al.

[MrSlayer]

2. Jefferson or Edison.

Between those two for me.

[Hepburn]

3. FDR n/t

[Captain Hilts]

4. Hey Hepburn...

I like the name and the vote!

[B Calm]

40. FDR had a dream and carried it out.

[VOX]

42. Have to go with FDR, too...

He took the helm of the ship of state in one of the darkest times of modern history. Not only did the U.S. endure under FDR's leadership, it was reshaped in a way that protected its institutions and improved the lot of all citizens.

The current neocon agenda appears intent on undoing much of FDR's New Deal. :grr: And that must not be allowed to happen.

[SouthernDem2004]

5. George Washington. He could have been our first king but went with

Democracy instead.

[CalebHayes]

7. He also had quite a few slaves.

[SouthernDem2004]

8. True but it was a different time. /nt

[CalebHayes]

11. In my mind he wasn't evil or anything but having so many slaves...

is why he can't be the greatest american.

[bluestateguy]

19. I'd classify him as great, but not greatest

I can't excuse him for being a slaveowner, but he preserved representative democracy by being a cautious president and setting precedents for responsible uses of presidential power.

He also issued a prescient warning about entanglement in foreign wars.

[mopaul]

6. probably me

and i'll kick anybody's ass who says otherwise.

[hfojvt]

51. get in the ring then

I doubt if Ali is really scared. Prettiest face in boxing, you know.

I guess I would like to nominate Jonas Salk.

[AutumnMist]

9. Lincoln or Jefferson

Is my vote

[mopaul]

10. ray charles

[malmapus]

12. Teddy Roosevelt? wait...Mel Brooks!

He did pretty good with conservation and creating the national parks. Don't know if I agree with his visions on other issues, but he did help our military a bit.


EDIT: ok I was thinkin Teddy at first but y'know I'm goin with Mel Brooks. I love the guy!! He's brought laughter to untold number of people out there. Plus he's a sheep now on PBS, I'm always watching Jakers! with my daughter heh.

[bluestateguy]

13. Mila Kunis

There's your number one reason for having a lenient immigration policy:

[Mojambo]

27. Open borders. Definitely open borders

She is so smoking hot.

[Cyrano]

14. Hugh Hefner.

[mopaul]

16. now ya got me all teary-eyed

the man belongs on mt. rushmore with two hot babes on each arm.

[CalebHayes]

15. MLK, Malcolm X, ???? Anyone???

[terrya]

17. MLK, Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez

It's difficult to come up with just one single Greatest American.

[Rick Myers]

18. Jefferson, MLK, FDR, Einstein

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

20. Jefferson. n/t

[stlsaxman]

21. MOPAUL Hands down!!!

heheheh actually i'd have to draw up a "short list"...

Eldridge Cleaver
Abbie Hoffman
Bobby Kennedy
Hoffa (heheheh)
Dorothy Day
Timothy Leary
Paul Wellstone
Woody Guthrie
Dr. Martin Luther King
Frank Zappa
Patti Smith
BartCop
Randi Rhodes
and too many more to name...

but you are definately up there, Mo! ;)

[NoSheep]

22. One vote!!!!! Damn. I can't pick just one. But if I had to........

Alan Lomax. Why? He brought the American people's music out for the rest of the world to hear and experience. He showed how there are greater things to strive for than financial wealth. He brought the depth and breadth of human personal emotion and experience to sheltered and formally educated youth. Got them to see that "the common folk" are valuable and worth fighting for and protecting. Otherwise marginalized hidden in the backwoods folks were able to share their knowledge and love of life with the more "sophisticated". :patriot:

[stlsaxman]

24. Lomax! Hear Hear!!!

I forgot Louie Armstrong (just because he's gotta be my favorite stoner of all time)

[Mojambo]

26. I will nominate Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain. n/t

[candy]

28. Sitting Bull----no contest.

[CalebHayes]

39. nice

[XemaSab]

29. FDR and Lincoln

for presidents, but MLK, Cesar Chavez, Ben Franklin, and Barbara Lee get honorable mentions.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

30. Aaron Copland.

Honorable mention:
Mark Twain
John Steinbeck
Ernest Hemingway
Emma Goldberg
Frederick Douglass
Tom Paine
Bob Dylan
Charles Ives
Frank Lloyd Wright
Martin Luther King
Richard Wright
Joseph Heller
Judy Collins

and, many more. Sorry, politicians rate pretty low on my list.

[Ronnie]

31. James Madison

"The Father of the Constitution" among other things.

http://www.leftjustified.com/leftjust/lib/sc/ht/fed/mbio.html

[recovering democrat]

32. Repub choices?

Has anybody noticed that the two "greatest American" finalists that most commonly are hyped by the right wing are Bush and Reagan - and no others.

Regardless of our diligent, philosophical and realistic votes, one or the other will probably be the winner, because all of the freeper/republican types will vote for Bush or Reagan only.

I find it hard to choose among many of these. The ONLY two I can reject easily and move on happen to be Bush and Reagan. Kinda sad, isn't it?

[Cyrano]

33. Repub choices of Bush and Reagan are totally predictable.

I'd love to post a poll on FreeRepublic which included Lee Harvey Oswald. My guess is that he'd outpoll both Reagan and Bush.

[ComerPerro]

56. That's exactly why they will both do very well

Because conservatives will vote in lock step for either one of these two pathetic losers.

Meanwhile, honest Americans are voting for actual deserving people.

[barb162]

34. George Washington

[union_maid]

35. MLK

Martin Luther King, a real American hero. Not that Rosa Parks wasn't. She was, but he did give his life for the cause. He knew better than anyone that he'd never survive what he was doing. I remember during the era of assinations, how people said that Kennedy gave his life for his country. Well, he did, but presumably he didn't really expect what happened to him. Martin Luther King must have considered every day borrowed time and it never stopped him. He made us a better country than we were before and died at 39 for his efforts.

[LibDemAlways]

36. MLK

RFK a close second.

[B Calm]

37. President Clinton / A brave man that wouldn't resign, but instead

stood up and stared into the face of vindictive hypocritical political smear mongering republicans that tried and failed to undermine democracy.

[EFerrari]

38. Abigail Adams

From Widipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams :

Abigail Smith married John Adams in 1764. The young couple lived on John's small farm at Braintree (later renamed Quincy) or in Boston as his practice expanded. In ten years she bore six children: Abigail Amelia (1765-1813), future President John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), Susanna Boylston (1768-70), Charles (1770-1800), Thomas Boylston (1772-1832), and an unnamed daughter (stillborn 1775). Abigail Adams is remembered today for the many letters she wrote to her husband while he served his country in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the Continental Congresses and the Constitutional Convention. Passages from those letters figured prominently in the Broadway musical 1776 (and the 1972 film of it, with Virginia Vestoff as Abigail Adams).

She is perhaps best known for her request that he and the Continental Congress "remember the ladies" -- that they consider the needs and rights of women as well as of men in forming the new country. . .

[OneBlueSky]

41. personally, I'd vote for Louis Armstrong . . .

the quintessential American story . . . came from nothing, but his unparelleled talent carried him to the top of American popular culture . . . and his work defined the parameters of every genre of American popular music in the 20th century . . .

he also smoked pot every day . . . :)

[cestpaspossible]

48. He was my second choice

[DarbyUSMC]

43. Why didn't any of the settlers or explorers excuse themselves and

shove off when they saw the land was inhabited? Or at least act like guests instead of conquerors? They all make me sick. That we celebrate Columbus day is lame. So ---that eliminates a good portion of candidates for "best American." Politicians are all scoundrels; even the ones that seem better than others. It's a dirty business.

There are probably thousands of good candidates whose names we wouldn't recognize. Good, hard working, kind hearted, regular people who go about doing what they can to improve life for people. They don't expect recognition and would never think of themselves as "great Americans." So I nominate Jim Barton from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. A great American.

[OrlandoGator]

45. Thomas Jefferson.

No question. He's close to the best human ever in my book.

[Yupster]

46. George Washington

He could have molded the country whichever way he wanted. He chose a pretty good direction.

[cestpaspossible]

47. Woody Guthrie.

[nomatrix]

49. Thomas Edison

It's electric. We wouldn't be here without him.

[chknltl]

50. Jack Johnson n/t

[shraby]

52. Rosa Parks because she

had great personal courage to do what she did and instigated changes throughout the south for the better.

[fhqwhgads]

53. how about norman borlaug?

hey look. my first post.

norman borlaug's agricultural innovations spurred the green revolution and are credited with saving the lives of over a billion people. he won the nobel peace prize in 1970.

Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation (not THAT heritage foundation!)

anyway, i think he should be somewhere on the list.

[chknltl]

57. welcome to the Democratic Underground fhqwhgads nt

[jeffrey_X]

54. Jackie Robinson...nm

nm

[drthais]

55. I scrolled down to see if anyone

had said 'Jimmy Carter'
(my pick)

but I DO like the suggestion of Aaron Copland