Greatest American

Seems like a neat enough show, but I don't agree with the peoples' choices for the top 25.

I'm going to make up my own list. Jump on in and do the same! Yay. I guess you can do either 5 and/or 25. Include reasons for your picks, and for your non-picks that seem like obvious choices if you want.

Muhammad Ali - loud-mouthed, brash, arrogant, but he could back it up. Later, an incredible man who transcended beyond the boxing world as a diplomat and a truly magnanimous person.

Andrew Carnegie - what a capitalist should be.. serves as a replacement for Henry Ford because of his generosity/charity and because I can't stomach anti-Semitism.

George Washington Carver - humble, brilliant man (he actually turned down a six-figure job from Thomas Edison just to keep on doing what he loved on his own terms).

Frederick Douglass - an MLK before there was one. I usually think of him as the symbol of the struggle for civil rights, even if it was 100 years in the making.

Thomas Edison - simply a genius who was pretty crafty as well.

Albert Einstein - a genius as well, and an incredibly sensitive guy, too (read some of his thoughts about religion and war).

Benjamin Franklin - sort of sagely, in my mind. I consider him a sort of grandfather of America.

Billy Graham - impeccable character and integrity.. one of the few men who if you say something bad about, you're actually saying something about yourself rather than your target.

Bob Hope - simply a great man who can make you laugh at the world.

Katharine Hepburn - image of what a proud, strong woman should be.

Thomas Jefferson - LA purchase, Declaration of Indepence, and their effects.

Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis - in a similar vein to Katharine Hepburn.

Martin Luther King Jr. - civil rights, so strong but subtle with his ideas and delivery.

Abraham Lincoln - excellent politician, lots of perseverence, didn't hold a grudge against the South.

Malcolm X - King appealed to peoples' minds, Malcolm appealed to peoples' hearts.. more a man of the people.

Marilyn Monroe - American icon, sex symbol.

Audie Murphy - greatest war hero, in my opinion.

Jackie Robinson - broke the color barrier, but only able to because he was courageous and smart about it.

Theodore Roosevelt - brass balls, conservation, extension of federal powers, social justice, foreign policy.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt - bit the bullet and pulled the nation out of the Great Depression.. good policy-maker in my opinion.

Babe Ruth - symbol of American culture.

Frank Sinatra - same as above.

Jimmy Stewart - great personality, symbol of American culture again.

Mark Twain - personal hero.

George Washington - Cincinnatus, incredible leader, father of America in my opinion.

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Top 5:

Frederick Douglass

Albert Einstein

Benjamin Franklin

Thomas Jefferson

George Washington

[Edit: added reasons, to keep up with Robinson ]

Awesome topic Don!

Top 25 who and why

Martin Luther King Jr.- Civil rights hero

James Madison-diplomatic genius

James K. Polk-diplomacist president

Benjamin Franklin- diplomatic genius

Albert Einstein- brilliant

Andrew Carnegie (when he was old)- made money, charitable, patriot

Daniel Webster- brilliant lawyer and brilliant negotiator

Teddy Roosevelt- amazing president

William Walker- badass filibuster/army privateer

Susan B. Anthony- women's rights

Frederick Douglass- black rights

John McCain- my personal hero

Henry David Thoreau- civil liberties

Audie Murphy- great soldier

George Patton- fantastic commander

Dwight D. Eisenhower- great general, great president, worked for civil rights

Thomas Edison- inventor

Jackie Robinson- broke color barrier

John F. Kennedy- good president, faught for civil rights

Wright Brothers- first aviators

Malcom X- black rights

Henry Ford- excellent businessman, invented assembly line

Colin Powell-great american

John Quincy Adams- best diplomat in history, held together country

Chuck Yeager- aviation hero and pioneer