Who is the greatest American* of all time?

sci guy wrote:

Albert Einstein.

You're not exactly Einstein, are you? Next time read the fine print.

There's no such person. There are many great Americans but there is not one that's above all others. America was founded on this fundamental principle. And it was written in words of iron.

We the People

Jimi Hendrix.

you have the correct answer

living in 2014 wrote:

Thomas Paine. Pretty much started this country and with Common Sense got the masses to realize the King of England sucked ballsacks. Sadly as a man ahead of his time, his Atheist body was dug up from it's grave by Christian loons and has never been recovered.

While I'm a huge Paine fan he was born in England.

If we are judging greatness by the impact they had I have to go with TJ.

There are plenty of Americans that have sacrificed everything for brother and country and whose names will never be recognized.

RunAnnArbor wrote:

Because of the 'has to be born in the United States' caveat, I interpreted the OP's intent as 'Greatest American runner' of all time.

For me, that's Jim Ryun. He was beautiful, elegant, dominant, and ahead of his time. I've posted in the past that if there were one 'now and then' race I'd like to see...it would be Jim Ryun versus Hicham El Guerrouj.

If the OP's intent was indeed, simply 'greatest American of all time'...then I reckon I'd go with Abraham Lincoln. He held the country together at great personal cost.

I guess I would have to say Abe becuase someone else could and would have filled the roles of George and Thomas, although perhaps not as good. With out Abe, there would be no US of A and he gets the credit for ending what is the greatest stain on American history and paid an incredible price for it.

The answer is always going to be George Washington.

Bob Dylan

Charlie wrote:

George Washington

Yes.

There wouldn't have been a United States without him.

Definitely Washington, but I haven't seen Edison's name yet...really think he has to be in the top 5.

heisenberg wrote:

sci guy wrote:

Albert Einstein.

You're not exactly Einstein, are you? Next time read the fine print.

I took this as a joke as a few others mentioned people not born in the U.S. (Ayn Rand, Christopher Columbus)...

Bob Saget.

google works well wrote:

heisenberg wrote:

You're not exactly Einstein, are you? Next time read the fine print.

I took this as a joke as a few others mentioned people not born in the U.S. (Ayn Rand, Christopher Columbus)...

This is not a joke and expect you to not base your answers on what other people say once more.

Abe Lincoln (3-way tie for first)

Jackie Robinson

Martin Luther King

HONORABLE MENTION

Captain Sully Sullenberger

Bob Dylan

Thomas Edison

Steve Jobs

Steven Spielberg

Martin Scorsese

Thomas Jefferson

Babe Didrikson Zaharias

Gene Roddenberry

Audie Murphy

Dian Fossey

Jane Goodall

General Dwight D. Eisenhower

James Stewart (for movies and war service)

Ted Williams (for baseball and war service)

Elvis Presley (love him or hate him, he changed everything and was a huge influence on Dylan, and The Beatles)

Anne Rice

Babe Ruth

Meryl Streep

Jack Nicholson

Casey Stengel

Jerry Lewis

Steve Martin

George Carlin

Marilyn Monroe

Evil Knievil

Dennis Reynolds 2.0 wrote:

MLK and it's not even close.

Jackie Robinson went through fire twice long before King. Once went through court martial for not giving his seat up for a white soldier in the 40's, and then of course he changed the world when he entered the majors (a truly hard, awful experience). Change baseball, change the country, and without Robinson, you probably don't have MLK. Equals in my opinion. And of course it goes back to Abe Lincoln, the greatest president.

Rexing

General Custer, an American freedom fighter.

GW For The Win wrote:

Charlie wrote:

George Washington

Yes.

There wouldn't have been a United States without him.

From reading this thread, I gather that a number of people believe that George Washington was born in the United States. Do I really need to explain why a person who was alive during the Revolution could not possibly have been born in the U.S.?

It cannot be Thomas Edison because his dozens and dozens of assistants invented most of the things he took credit for. Just for the fact of the people Edison cheated and the many animals he cruelly executed (stray cats, dogs, then finally an elephant were publically electrocuted by him)--disqualifies him as greatest anything except greatest self promoted.

Albert Einstein wasn't born here, but was a US citizen and lived here longer than he lived anywhere else in his life.

Nicola Tesla was greater than Edison in every way, he also spent most of his life as an American citizen but was never born here.

Martin Luther King, like Lincoln, also paid a very great price for his service to his country. He has to be considered the peer of Ben Franklin. Tom Jefferson is a quarter of a notch below these two because his great wealth and social position meant he did not need to make the continual sacrifices that MLK made. Jefferson is still one of the greatest of all time though.

Jackie Robinson is the peer of Rosa Parks, a woman whom I actually knew a little bit.

Cesar Chavez needs to be mentioned for the many, many sacrifices he made. He never profited from the decades of work he did. I met him once and talked with him-Something I will tell my grandchildren about.

Walter Reuther was another great American.

Noam Chomsky is the conscience of America, and a conscience is something Ronald Reagan never had. Chomsky's work has served our country to great effect. Ronald Reagan believed his own press clippings, and his memory has been reflected through smoke in mirrors into the kind of myth that would make Fifth Avenue advertising executives proud. Ronald Reagan gave us junk bonds, hostile takeovers, corporate mergers, birthed the gap between the very rich and the rest of the country, and gave us Iran Contra. If fire fighters fight fire, and crime fighters fight crime, what do Freedom Fighters fight?

Perhaps the greatest American was someone named Harold or Henry who worked hard, cared about others, and was a living example. I loved that. The path to greatness is often down the road of anonymity.

Part of being a great American means to give to you country. You can't always take. The politicians we have today are the greatest collection of selfish takers of all time. Not one of them lives out the creed of a true American. None of them are good citizens; none of them are even patriotic.

Greatest American? For me it's a three-way tie: Ben Franklin, Abe Lincon, Martin Luther King.