I vote Ben Franklin. Lived long, was a bad a-- long before the revolution, disowned a son who was loyal to a king, inventor, ladies man, edited the Declaration of Independence and wrote the "life liberty and pursuit of happiness" quote (or at least changed it from Jefferson's version.
Cons: limited military experience, but was a given to defend against in brief command to defend against Indians.
Pros: Invented bifocals, a stove and electricity all of which are still used today.
Runners up:
Patrick Henry
John Paul Jones
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Name says it all
Betsy Ross Geller wrote:
I vote Ben Franklin. Lived long, was a bad a-- long before the revolution, disowned a son who was loyal to a king, inventor, ladies man, edited the Declaration of Independence and wrote the "life liberty and pursuit of happiness" quote (or at least changed it from Jefferson's version.
Cons: limited military experience, but was a given to defend against in brief command to defend against Indians.
Pros: Invented bifocals, a stove and electricity all of which are still used today.
If that dude really invented electricity I'd say he was the baddest bad ass of all time.
No, Thomas Edison invented electricity.
My vote goes to George Washington
Nobody invented electricity. Over time, people figured out how to produce it and control it's use and found ways to convert electrical energy into mechanical, heat and light energy. Ben was an insightful person that could tell others about it's behavior and "potential" (no pun intended). Edison is best known for generation and applications however he campaigned for DC generation while Nikolai Tesla proved that AC production was a much better system. I think I saw on History channel that the final decision was a contest to see if DC or AC was best for execution. AC won. Niagra falls power plant was a great achievment in producing electricity for many people.
As far as founding fathers, I would agree that Ben Franklin has to be considered one of the top choices for his many contributions to American society. We could probably stand to thank some of the native americans that helped us feed ourselves and keep from completely dying off even though we brought them many diseases they had never been exposed to before and eventually stole everything they had.
Obviously George Washington. I mean, if they all got together and had a vote George Washington would probably win in a landslide.
The stupidity and willful ignorance of our present era cannot dull the force and wisdom of Jefferson's ideas. Nothing ever will.
All of the following quotes are those of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence.
“Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.”
“In a republican nation, whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance”
“The monopoly of a single bank is certainly an evil. The multiplication of them was intended to cure it; but it multiplied an influence of the same character with the first, and completed the supplanting the precious metals by a paper circulation.” “It is said that our paper is as good as silver, because we may have silver for it at the bank where it issues. This is not true. One, two, or three persons might have it; but a general application would soon exhaust their vaults, and leave a ruinous proportion of their paper in its intrinsic worthless form.”
“Never spend your money before you have it.”
“Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.”
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.”
“We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debt, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our calling and our creeds ... [we’ll] have no time to think, no means of calling our miss-managers to account but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers ... And this is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for [another] ... till the bulk of society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery... And the fore-horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression."
"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people' (10th Amendment). To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specifically drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible to any definition."
“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."
“The majority, oppressing an individual, is guilty of a crime, abuses its strength, and by acting on the law of the strongest breaks up the foundations of society.”
“If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done before.”
“They (religions) dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing the subversions of the duperies on which they live.”
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
“Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.”
“Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man.”
“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”
“The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”
“He who knows nothing is closer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.”
“Governments constantly choose between telling lies and fighting wars, with the end result always being the same. One will always lead to the other.”
“Ridicule is the only weapon which can be used against unintelligible propositions. Ideas must be distinct before reason can act upon them; and no man ever had a distinct idea of the trinity. It is the mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of Jesus.”
“Every day is lost in which we do not learn something useful. Man has no nobler or more valuable possession than time.”
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive.”
“My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.”
“That government is best which governs least, because its people discipline themselves. If we are directed from Washington (heads of an organization) when to sow and when to reap, we will soon want for bread.”
“To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude.”
“The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.”
“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be."
“I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world and do not find in our particular superstition [Christianity] one redeeming feature.”
“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms . . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes . . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."
“Religions are all alike--founded upon fables and mythologies.”
“We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.”
“The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness. Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors.”
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.”
“Honesty is the first chapter of the book wisdom.”
“I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”
“The Democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.”
“A government afraid of its citizens is a Democracy. Citizens afraid of government is tyranny!”
“One man with courage is a majority.”
Betsy Ross Geller wrote:
Runners up:
Patrick Henry
John Paul Jones
Patrick Henry wasn't the brightest bulb but you have to love that iconic quote.
JPJ who was a total Bad A$$, I do not consider a founding father because he had very little political influence.
Old Fart Coach wrote:
Nobody invented electricity. Over time, people figured out how to produce it and control it's use and found ways to convert electrical energy into mechanical, heat and light energy...
Really? You figured that out all by yourself, did you Sherlock?
Washington, not even close.
Washington is the guy who held it all together. If not for his own conception of the presidency, which was very much NOT imperial, the country might not have gotten off to the auspicious start it did.
Does Cashmir Pulaski count?
Alexander Hamilton
John Adams. Never receives the credit he deserves. Read David McCullough's book and you will soon agree. His wife Abigail was a bada$$ herself.
Betsy Ross Geller wrote:
I vote Ben Franklin. Lived long, was a bad a-- long before the revolution, disowned a son who was loyal to a king, inventor, ladies man, edited the Declaration of Independence and wrote the "life liberty and pursuit of happiness" quote (or at least changed it from Jefferson's version.
Cons: limited military experience, but was a given to defend against in brief command to defend against Indians.
Pros: Invented bifocals, a stove and electricity all of which are still used today.
The funny thing is, the list of virtues to live by that he is so known for...he failed to live by almost all of them.
From what I have learned George Washington is the biggest baddass American of all time.
Chopped a cherry tree down when he was 10 years old.
Threw a silver dollar coin clear across the Potomac River.
Had wooden teeth he took out every night and put in a jar.
Plus from the pictures he was a tall, strong handsome son of a gun and was the bravest man that ever lived.
And has a the tallest monument in DC.
Rand Paul, for sure
the right wrote:
The stupidity and willful ignorance of our present era cannot dull the force and wisdom of Jefferson's ideas. Nothing ever will.
All of the following quotes are those of Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence.
“They (religions) dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing the subversions of the duperies on which they live.”
“Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law.”
“Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man.”
“I have recently been examining all the known superstitions of the world and do not find in our particular superstition [Christianity] one redeeming feature.”
“Religions are all alike--founded upon fables and mythologies.”
How dare you quote a founding father of the USA. It doesn't fit the Fox News and Sarah Palin characterization of what the founding fathers stand for (basically whatever Fox News and Sarah Palin think the founding fathers should stand for). My God, why did the conservatives stop using their brain (they used to be the smart party). This thread will be deleted in 3, 2, 1...
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Am I living in the twilight zone? The Boston Marathon weather was terrible!
How rare is it to run a sub 5 minute mile AND bench press 225?
Move over Mark Coogan, Rojo and John Kellogg share their 3 favorite mile workouts
Mark Coogan says that if you could only do 3 workouts as a 1500m runner you should do these
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