Discovery Channel: Greatest American

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
68
91
Greatest American

Winner: Ronald Reagan

No large qualms there...

Top 5:
Ben Franklin
Martin Luther King Jr.
Abraham Lincoln
Ronald Reagan
George Washington

But, also inlcuded in the top 10:
OPRAH WINFREY!
GEORGE W. BUSH!
BILL CLINTON!


WTF are they thinking? How can America be so stupid to actually think those 3 even remotely deserve to be in the same sentence as the top 5.

Whatever.
 

Siva

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2001
5,472
0
71
Reagan is the greatest American? Iran-Contra scandle realllllly makes him some great guy. Hey, its great that his administration could be responsible for funding a revolution that almost completely destroyed an already devestated country and he is still named the greatest American.
 

daniel1113

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2003
6,448
0
0
Yeah... it really lowered the quality of the entire list, IMO. Even though I was glad to see Reagan win, I think the list should have been limited to people either not living, or had to achieved greatness 25 years or more ago just to remove the short term celebrity status that occures in this country. Oh well. One more win for the Gipper :)
 

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
68
91
Originally posted by: Siva
Reagan is the greatest American? Iran-Contra scandle realllllly makes him some great guy. Hey, its great that his administration could be responsible for funding a revolution that almost completely destroyed an already devestated country and he is still named the greatest American.

The main thing going for him was the breakup of the USSR.
 

daniel1113

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2003
6,448
0
0
Originally posted by: Siva
Reagan is the greatest American? Iran-Contra scandle realllllly makes him some great guy. Hey, its great that his administration could be responsible for funding a revolution that almost completely destroyed an already devestated country and he is still named the greatest American.

Everyone on that list had both extremely good and extremely bad points... no one was perfect. Picking Reagan out for it is silly.
 

flexy

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
8,464
155
106
Originally posted by: edro13
Originally posted by: neutralizer
WTF?! George W. Bush?!!

Yeah, he definitely embodies te American spirit! Grrr...

EHRM....he freakin' does !!!

(Think about that a while....)
 

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
34,958
2,110
126
1. Ben Franklin
2. George Washington
3. Thomas Edison
4. Theodore Roosevelt
5. Henry Ford
 

Siva

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2001
5,472
0
71
Originally posted by: daniel1113
Originally posted by: Siva
Reagan is the greatest American? Iran-Contra scandle realllllly makes him some great guy. Hey, its great that his administration could be responsible for funding a revolution that almost completely destroyed an already devestated country and he is still named the greatest American.

Everyone on that list had both extremely good and extremely bad points... no one was perfect. Picking Reagan out for it is silly.

Yeah, its just silly to hold politicians responsible for their actions in office, at least that seems to be the attitude of the average American.
 

godmare

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2002
5,121
0
0
Originally posted by: Siva
Reagan is the greatest American? Iran-Contra scandle realllllly makes him some great guy. Hey, its great that his administration could be responsible for funding a revolution that almost completely destroyed an already devestated country and he is still named the greatest American.

Reagan's got soft support with his death last year.
 

Taggart

Diamond Member
Apr 23, 2001
4,384
0
0
It is Lincoln hands down. He saved the union and started the journey to equality for black people.
 

daniel1113

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2003
6,448
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Originally posted by: Siva
Yeah, its just silly to hold politicians responsible for their actions in office, at least that seems to be the attitude of the average American.

Yeah, politicians are never held accountable... cough::Clinton::cough.

I agree that more politicians should be held to the flames, but by your standards, even Lincoln and Franklin shouldn't be held with any great regard. At least that is the impression I am getting from your posts.
 

Siva

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2001
5,472
0
71
Originally posted by: daniel1113
Originally posted by: Siva
Yeah, its just silly to hold politicians responsible for their actions in office, at least that seems to be the attitude of the average American.

Yeah, politicians are never held accountable... cough::Clinton::cough.

I agree that more politicians should be held to the flames, but by your standards, even Lincoln and Franklin shouldn't be held with any great regard. At least that is the impression I am getting from your posts.

No, I just think Reagan gets far too much credit for what I would credit to being in office at the right time. I didn't say he was the worst president, much of what happened in Nicaragua wasn't really all his fault, but he was far from the greatest American.
 

mwtgg

Lifer
Dec 6, 2001
10,491
0
0
Originally posted by: Siva
Originally posted by: daniel1113
Originally posted by: Siva
Yeah, its just silly to hold politicians responsible for their actions in office, at least that seems to be the attitude of the average American.

Yeah, politicians are never held accountable... cough::Clinton::cough.

I agree that more politicians should be held to the flames, but by your standards, even Lincoln and Franklin shouldn't be held with any great regard. At least that is the impression I am getting from your posts.

No, I just think Reagan gets far too much credit for what I would credit to being in office at the right time. I didn't say he was the worst president, much of what happened in Nicaragua wasn't really all his fault, but he was far from the greatest American.

I think that defines Clinton's presidency.
 

Descartes

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
13,968
2
0
Why are you so surprised? When people vote they vote that which is closest, most familiar, and most popular. Nothing surprising here.
 

daniel1113

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2003
6,448
0
0
Originally posted by: Siva
No, I just think Reagan gets far too much credit for what I would credit to being in office at the right time. I didn't say he was the worst president, much of what happened in Nicaragua wasn't really all his fault, but he was far from the greatest American.

As much as I loved the guy, I agree that he isn't the Greatest American. I probably wouldn't put any politicians within my top 10. However, I do think in terms of American polticial history, Reagan's accomplishments are easily up there with Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, and Lincoln.

EDIT: I wouldn't call being elected President twice during the Cold War being at the right place at the right time, but that's neither here nor there :)
 

mwtgg

Lifer
Dec 6, 2001
10,491
0
0
Originally posted by: daniel1113
Originally posted by: Siva
No, I just think Reagan gets far too much credit for what I would credit to being in office at the right time. I didn't say he was the worst president, much of what happened in Nicaragua wasn't really all his fault, but he was far from the greatest American.

As much as I loved the guy, I agree that he isn't the Greatest American. I probably wouldn't put any politicians within my top 10. However, I do think in terms of American polticial history, Reagan's accomplishments are easily up there with Franklin, Jefferson, and Washington.

EDIT: I wouldn't call being elected President twice during the Cold War being at the right place at the right time, but that's neither here nor there :)

Fixed :)
 

Strk

Lifer
Nov 23, 2003
10,197
4
76
This list also included Michael Jackson; so I wouldn't put much faith in it.
 

daniel1113

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2003
6,448
0
0
Originally posted by: Strk
This list also included Michael Jackson; so I wouldn't put much faith in it.

It would be more interesting to see a list compiled by different groups of people... from people within the media, to college professors, etc.

I would much rather see the results from those poles.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
Originally posted by: edro13
Greatest American

Winner: Ronald Reagan

No large qualms there...

Top 5:
Ben Franklin
Martin Luther King Jr.
Abraham Lincoln
Ronald Reagan
George Washington

But, also inlcuded in the top 10:
OPRAH WINFREY!
GEORGE W. BUSH!
BILL CLINTON!


WTF are they thinking? How can America be so stupid to actually think those 3 even remotely deserve to be in the same sentence as the top 5.

Whatever.

AS much as I admire President Reagan, its too soon for him to be named Greatest American. Same with President W. Bush. Winfrey and Clinton shouldn't be anywhere on the list.