Question: Who are your Top 5 Historical American Personages?
Scott: In no particular order...
1. Teddy Roosevelt -- "A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues."Andrew: Interesting. We didn't really define this so I'm taking it as people I'd want to meet.
2. Abraham Lincoln -- "Be excellent to each other... and party on, dudes!"
3. George Washington -- "It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company."
4. Ben Franklin -- "Hunger is the best pickle."
5. Thomas Edison -- "I never did a day's work in my life. It was all fun."
1. Ronald Reagan -- Our greatest President.There you go... the definitive answers. No doubt, you agree.
2. Mark Twain -- Our greatest wordsmith.
3. Teddy Roosevelt -- American's Blowhard in Chief.
4. Steven Spielberg -- I'd ask what happened... you used to be cool!
5. Abraham Lincoln -- Our greatest vampire slayer.
1) George Washington, the indispensable man; 2) Ben Franklin - what an amazing individual; 3) Bobby Jones (golfer) - a consummate gentleman and sportsman; 4) George Gershwin - a wonderful American musician; 5) Mark Twain - what a wonderful wit! bonus pick: Richard Woodward - a miller who immigrated to America in 1634 and was an early founder of Watertown, Mass., and important to America as I see it.
ReplyDelete1. Thomas Jefferson - all about that freedom thing that defines America.
ReplyDelete2. Albert Einstein - he got here late but who cares when a hall of famer joins your team.
3. Walt Disney - as much impact on the American imagination as Einstein had on physics.
4. Steve Jobs - 21st century's answer to Andrew Carnegie.
5. Dan Rather - the poster boy for modern American political decay and amorality.
Like Scott, in no particular order b/c they could all be #1.
ReplyDeleteBen Franklin: the original cougar hunter.
Frederick Douglass: American badassery at its finest.
P.T. Barnum: constructed the first aquarium in America. Among other things.
Sam Phillips (Sun Records): single-handedly discovered modern music.
Harriet Beecher Stowe: strange but true, pop culture is how we get things done over here.
George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Patton, Ronald Reagan
ReplyDeleteNext 5: Calvin Coolidge, Sam Houston, Edison/Tesla/Westinghouse in the same room.
It's sort of a vague, all-encompassing question, but here's the list:
ReplyDelete1) George Washington, Ben Franklin and John Adams. The general, diplomat and fiery revolutionary who risked everything for the American cause.
2) Abraham Lincoln. The wise and good man, martyred for the American cause.
3) Ulysses Grant. The humble soldier with the skills of Caesar and the toughness of a bulldog who preserved the American cause. Somebody has to do the dirty work.
4) Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. America's martyred prophet and America's Moses, establishing America's most vibrant homegrown religion, and civilizing the barren deserts of the American West.
5) Pete Rozelle, George Halas, Al Davis, Lamar Hunt, et. al. The makers of the golden age of America's game.
who I'd like to meet (and listen to and ask questions of):
ReplyDeleteRonald Reagan
Dolly Madison
Sacajawea
John Marshall
Robert E Lee
Winston Churchill (his mom was American)
This seems to have split into two categories:
ReplyDeleteThe top 5 political/cultural influences and the top 5 historical figures we would like to meet.
Most influential:
George Washington- Literally the father of it all.We couldn't have done it without him.
Thomas Jefferson - The articulator (is that a word? Hell,you guys know what I mean :) ) of our beliefs.
Mark Twain - The greatest and most articulate wit this country ever produced.
(Deep breath) Robert E Lee - It seems ironic to include a man who fought so well against the United States on this list but he was produced by this country,his values were informed by it,and he followed his belief in his duty as he saw it no matter where that belief took him.
Ronald Reagan - depending on how history turns out he either stopped our decline or just delayed it. His stand against The Soviet Union resulted in the freedom of millions of people.
Dwight Eisenhower- MacArthur and Patton were running backs- they were flashy,they scored touchdowns, they spiked the ball and did endzone dances and got the credit. Ike was the lineman,often overlooked and often unappreciated,but he was the one who shouldered the responsibility and ultimately got the job done.Honorable mention to Robert Rogers. Rogers is one of the big reasons that the British and their colonists,as opposed to the French and their colonists, won the French and Indian War. If France had won the war for the New World the United States as we know it wouldn't exist.
GypsyTyger.
Jed, The great Richard Woodward. LOL!
ReplyDeleteK, Disney and Jobs are interesting additions. I'll be Disney would be great to meet. Jobs is probably a jerk, but would still be interesting.
ReplyDeleteEdison/Tesla/Westinghouse in the same room.
ReplyDeleteFIGHT!!!
tryanmax, Interesting list. That would make for an interesting dinner party.
ReplyDeleteFloyd, A very conservative list! :)
ReplyDeleteSam Houston? Didn't he found the Houston Astros? ;)
Anon, Al Davis! Good call. I've always wanted to meet Al Davis. He's really a fascinating guy. Not only is he largely responsible for much of what the NFL is today, but he seems to have engendered fierce loyalty among a wide variety of people. It would be pretty fascinating to find out why.
ReplyDeleterlaWTX, You've added the first women to the list. :)
ReplyDeleteDolly Madison! I do enjoy her baked goods. ;)
John Marshall?
GypsyTyger, Twain has incredible wit. I never thought much of him in school because we read Huckleberry Fin and that was it, and that's his least interest work in my opinion. But when I read his other stuff on a whim one day, I was amazed at how witty and bright this man really was.
ReplyDeleteAs for Lee, I think the makes a lot of people's lists because many see him as America's greatest generals and one of it's greatest gentlemen too.
K, LOL! Could you imagine a fistfight between those guys?
ReplyDeleteAs far as people I'd like to meet:
ReplyDeleteMark Twain - I think he'd be fun to sit down with,down to earth and all that,plus he liked booze and cigars.
Robert Rogers - One of my heroes since childhood.Damn,the stories he could tell.
The King His Own Self -Elvis Aaron Presley.
A true American original. We could hook up in Memphis,fool around for a while,then fly to Denver in the middle of the night for peanut butter and mashed banana sandwiches.
Mike Mentzer - The thinking man's bodybuilder.An intellectual,an original thinker and a true iconoclast.
William Smith - One of the all time great B actors to watch. He's chewed the scenery with relish and glorious enthusiasm in some of the best so bad they're good movies ever made,and he always looks like he's having fun. He speaks several languages,he once reverse curled his own bodyweight and he's published a book of poetry. If that ain't a renaissance man I don't know what is.
I'd like to meet Bob Seger,just to tell him what his work has meant to me over the course of my life.
Anon, Elvis... how could I forget Elvis. I would prefer young Elvis, but either way. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't know Mike Mentzer.
rlaWTX, My question on Marshall is what you would ask.
ReplyDeleteAlso, to add more women: Margaret Dumont. I'd like to know her take on working with the Marx Brothers.
A friend and I were having this type of discussion at work a few years ago.the topic was our greatest living Americans and at that time Ronald Reagan and Charlton Heston were still alive.Now this friend of mine was a guy who's political views were the polar opposite of mine.We once tried to order a pizza and share it but we couldn't agree on toppings so we each got our own small one.
ReplyDeleteI had the first 4 on my list:
Ronald Reagan
Charlton Heston
Gordon Liddy
David Horowitz
My friend,a man with whom I literally could not agree on pizza toppings with,said"This purports to be a list of our greatest living Americans?"
"Yes it does" replied.
"Well then,"said my friend, "Where's Bob Seger?"
And I said "He's fifth."
GypsyTyger
P.S.
That was me with the Elvis nod. I forgot to sign off before I published
If we're talking Hollywood-type figures, the list starts with The Chairman of the Board. The younger, mustache-less Charles Bronson commanded the screen. I defy you to look away when he is onscreen, particularly in Once Upon a Time in the West. Oh man, men in Hollywood have fallen far. We've gone from Frank Sinatra to Justin Timberlake, and Charles Bronson to Matt Damon.
ReplyDeleteAnon -
ReplyDeleteIn all fairness, Timberlake is an entertaining performer in his own right. And the culture in which Sinatra, et al were brought up in doesn't really exist anymore.
The example I always use is Robert Mitchum, who rode the rails across the country when he was younger, getting into trouble along the way - is such a thing even possible anymore?
Andrew -
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think we should've split this list into living/dead, or politicians/entertainers.
I'm surprised you went with Spielberg, especially after the volumes we've both written about him. I stand by my reasoning: the guy grew up and went corporate. The devil-may-care attitude he may have had back in the day no longer exists because he can't afford to think like that.
(And like many populist filmmakers, he felt the need to go "serious." Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.)
Scott, Spielberg is interesting to me on many levels. He revolutionized filmmaking twice (once good, once bad). He was a hell of a filmmaker early on and created many iconic films. Then he went corporate and because a hack. I also would love to hear stories of how he tried to strangle George Lucas but had to be held back by his assistants. :)
ReplyDeleteGypsyTyger, Sinatra would be great to meet. In fact, I'd love to have seen the rat pack perform.
ReplyDeleteAndrew -
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of revolutionizing movies...
He will be missed.
Neil Armstrong
ReplyDeleteTom Landry
Davy Crockett
Kelly Johnson (creator of the LOckheed Skunk Works)
Audie Murphy
Outlaw -
ReplyDeleteRe: Kelly Johnson (creator of the Lockheed Skunk Works)...
I have next to no knowledge of aerospace but this is a subject that's always fascinated me. I guess it's in the "guy code" - we may have different political/social beliefs but we all like big machinery!
Outlaw, Good list. It would totally be cool to know what all Skunk Works worked on, wouldn't it?
ReplyDeleteAnd who wouldn't want to meet Tom Landry!
Scott, I saw that. RIP. He did some amazing work!
ReplyDelete