I see some hands over here...
Yeah, that list cracked me up too. I can't believe enough people voted for Brett Favre or Dr. Phil to make it count (as opposed to, say, the number of tweens who wrote in a vote for "Your Mom"). When I sent in my initial vote, it was for MLK.
I'm itching for Dickinson (you have the other two Top Three American Poets,) Thoreau, and Emerson. And Lionel Richie, but I might have a tougher time justifying that one.
--Nate
Don't know how the list was made, but people who surprise me by not having enough nutjobs to vote them in:
-Ayn Rand
-L. Ron Hubbard
-the greatest American hockey player, whoever that may be
-Strom Thurmond
-Newt Gingrich
-Howard Stern
I was surprised by the lack of Howard Stern, just given what I expected to be a motivated voting bloc, but again, no such luck.
As for the greatest American hockey player, I don't think there's any consensus on that. Minnesota, Michigan, and Massachusetts are all Balkanized in their opinions on the subject, which makes the coalition harder to build.
The hockey states may be balkanized on great players, but we all agree that the Miracle on Ice was the greatest thing ever in the history of [American hockey/American sports/the USA/the universe]. That said, if any hockey-related person were on the list it would be Herb Brooks.
I think your additions to the list are outstanding.
"George C. Marshall (the Marshall Plan, seriously, people, read a book!)"
Okay. Recommend one.
-MMM
Also voting for Herb Brooks.
MMM, part of the problem is that Marshall wrote no memoirs since he didn't want anyone profiting from them, but the best starting place would seem to be General of the Army by Ed Cray.
The "read a book" was a more generalized notion of understanding the importance of the Marshall Plan in terms of rebuilding Europe after the war, but you know, I am here to help where I can.
CDB
My first thought was "Philip Johnson was Canadian?" But you didn't mean him.
Gehry is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and I'd pick him or Johnson any day over Wright on architectural merit. I suppose the list is more concerned with choosing people whom the American public has actually heard of, though.
I'd keep Hamilton, Carnegie, Gates, Eisenhower, Roosevelts (3), Douglass, Washington, Truman, Ford, MLK, Edison, Jefferson, and Wrights. I don't think of Einstein as American. I'm not sure what I think about Tesla.
I'd add Pauling, Faulkner, W. James, H. James, L. Sullivan, Chuck Berry, Gell-Mann, Gibbs, Wharton, Eakins, and JQ Adams in addition to some you mentioned.
They should revive the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. I love reading about the lobbying and intrigue surrounding various elections that they had.
I could certainly deal with Herb Brooks as a top American hockey choice. And, not to show hometown pride but I'll bet a good case (maybe not as strong but still good) could be made for "Badger" Bob Johnson, without whom, we would never know that "It's a great day for hockey."
I'd have to remove Einstein, as all his significant work (well, except for that letter to FDR) was done prior to his moving to America. On the other hand, the list woefully underrepresents scientists and engineers in favor of politicians and people "in the right place at the right time"; for example, while I certainly respect Earhart, Yeager, and Armstrong (and consider that I recently got to hear Armstrong speak and was basically going "Wow. I'm in the same (very large) room with the first man to walk on the moon" during it), the reason they'd be considered on the list is just for doing a particular thing that any number of other contemporaries could've done (vanish mysteriously, be the first test pilot to break the sound barrier, get out of the LEM before Aldrin and be assigned to that mission).
Billy Graham should be removed because I don't think he's done anything good or significant beyond promote his brand of religion.
I'm with Tom on this one. As anyone who watched Apollo 13 knows, the aerospace program's heros are as much the engineers on the ground as those in the tincans above.
Billy Gram is a puzzling choice to me.
I'd suggest James Watson (codiscoverer of DNA structure) or David Baltimore (who discovered the enzyme reverse transcriptase.) The findings of these individuals blew the field of biology away.
re: Robert E. Lee and Dale Sr.
They're on the 100 Greatest Confederates List, Craig, don't you know anything???
And re: Wilson
He may have met a woman, courted her, and married her while in office and still managed to form a League of Nations, but he still didn't get most of the 14 Points through Congress!
This is what happens when a list breaks out and I can't do anything about it.
Seriously, though, way too many entertainers and athletes, far too few engineers and scientists (ok, I'm in the engineer/scientific field, so a little biased), and a loss of perspective of where our history comes from (thus, the laundry list of names that Craig could work with.)
As for Billy Graham, he's probably the most notable Protestant religious leader currently living except maybe for Jesse Jackson and he's had the ear of several presidents, so I see the argument for him making the cut.
I hope I didn't come across as snarky there in my response. I read the wiki article about George Kennan, wanted to learn more, and I figured you'd be able to recommend a good book.
Which you can and did.
And which I will read in three weeks, just as soon as classes are done for the semester.
-MMM
1. Has a history degree; and
2. Is an absolute poser.
Why not Lucille Ball? I seem to hear her calling out "Wah, Craig, I wanna be on the list!" like she's right next to me.
RE Architecture -- I'd take "landscape architect" Frederick Law Olmsted over Wright or Gehry. a house with a stream through it or a big glass fish are nothing compared to Central Park or the Emerald Necklace.
Hmm. Rereading the list and the "sorry, nope" for Maya Angelou I'd strongly disagree with. For her to overcome being a poor black woman in an era of permissive racism and sexism (not to mention the repeated rapes and incest) and then produce such sublime artwork. She's a national treasure.
I agree with Tom about how the pilots are over-represented and the engineers/inventors/scientists don't get enough credit. I'd put Glenn Curtiss on the list for inventing the aileron (among other things), Burt Rutan for all sorts of designs (Voyager, SpaceShipOne, etc.), and Kelly Johnson for heading the Skunk Works.
Hyman G. Rickover should be recognized for creating the nuclear navy and he lived 81 of his 86 years in the US.
Norman Borlaug should be on the list. Saving a billion lives should get you something.
I say Babe Ruth should be out. He hit a lot of dingers, but what else did he do? And how can you have Ruth on the list without Aaron?
I don't think O'Keeffe should be on the list. She seems more of an outlier in art than someone who changed the way things are done.
Nixon, to me, is more an important American than a great one. The havoc wreaked on the institution of the presidency overshadows too many other things.
Ah, Watson, denying the invaluable contribution of Rosalind Franklin to this day. Embarrassing.
Watson advocated Franklin's share in the '62 Nobel even though A) she was already dead and B) her interpretation of her X-Ray diffraction result was incorrect.
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