June 20, 2005
Greatest American Vote - Elvis and Oprah Eliminated
Two weeks ago we discussed on this site the voting at the Discovery Channel to select the Greatest American in our nation's history. First the public selected a top 100, reduced that to a top 25, and now we have the top 5.
Those removed from last week's list include Neil Armstrong, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Thomas Alva Edison, Albert Einstein, Thomas Jefferson (favored by many), John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley (?), Franklin D. Roosevelt (another surprise not to make the finalists), and Oprah Winfrey (who deserved to be a finalist as much as Elvis.)
As expected, the five finalists offer a more realistic representation of the Greatest American than do the earlier and broader lists. In alphabetical order, here are the remaining finalists for the Greatest American who are awaiting your votes for number one:
Benjamin Franklin
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Abraham Lincoln
Ronald Reagan
George Washington
The presidents on the list are two Republicans and one Federalist. Most Democrats must have voted for Elvis or Oprah. Obviously, the Federalists threw their weight behind one person. Sorry if your favorite pick was eliminated. Now, we have to choose just one, so make your selection from the above list and go to this Discovery/AOL site to vote online.
Let us know who your selected and why. I'm not predicting a winner until I see the exit polls from Ohio.
Posted by GM Roper at June 20, 2005 12:20 AM | TrackBackI notice that the Discovery Channel let's you vote three times. Does that make them Chicago type Democrats.....
OMG, I voted for three people for the same title... does that make me a Democrat? Oh, the horror, the shame....
Lincoln and Reagan, because both had a major hand in turning around the way things were going and stood tall for this country, despite massive opposition from... ahem, are you listening?...from Democrats.
Washington because he essentially created this republic when he turned down a kingship which our forebearers would have given him in gratitude for his services.
Posted by GM Roper at June 20, 2005 07:05 AM
Abraham Lincoln, he took a country that was torn in half and brought it back together. He had generals under him that did not want the war to end. He won the war and helped the country to come back together.
Posted by Ernie at June 20, 2005 02:47 PM
Washington is one of my all time favorites because of his wisdom, foresight, and the task of "inventing" the presidency.
Abraham Lincoln deserves high honors, too. Taking a principled stand in the face of overwhelming opposition must have been extraordinarily difficult, but while it is true that Lincoln sealed for all time the issue of "states rights," he also was part of the circumstances which ripped the union apart to begin with. To say that he solved the problems, I believe, is giving credit where it is not due; an America divided by race continued for another 100 years.
My pick was Ronald Reagan, hands down. It was Reagan's foreign policy that set this nation on its course into the 21st Century. He was faced with exponentially greater problems than either of the other two, the measure of the world's technological advancement. He led us away from MAD, and he did it through strength, extraordinary wisdom, and an understanding of human nature. At home, he took us from a period of post-Vietnam national depression and made us feel good about being Americans again. He trusted Americans to make the right decisions, and in many ways, I think he understood us better than we understood ourselves. I cannot imagine anyone alive today who could possibly step into his shoes.
Posted by Mustang at June 20, 2005 03:39 PM
