Who was the greatest American to you and why?

[whitehall]

Maybe it would be easier to list favorite Americans by century. "The Father of the Country" is well deserved for George Washington. It sounds corny today but without General Washington we would still be English subjects. The 20th century hero is Henry Ford who not only made an affordable car but created the assembly line and interchangeable parts that every factory in the world has emulated since the teens. As far as modern Military heroes go my personal favorite is Marine Sgt. John Basilone. The U.S. was barely hanging on to Guadalcanal by it's fingernails when the Japanese launched a full scale attack on Sgt.Basilone's machine gun position. Basilone repaired guns in the dark under fire, gave encouragement to his squad and ended up firing a .45 at the enemy until dawn broke. He was awarded the MOH and became a star on the War Bond circuit but requested to go back to his unit in the Pacific. He was killed in action on Iwo Jima.

 

[harmonica]

Louis and Clark. They're the ones that found a way to the west coast and back, the Corps of Discovery, 1805.

....I thought that was mostly the mountain men/etc that discovered routes to the west.....I didn't think many immigrants/pioneers/etc went west on the route Lewis and Clark took...I could be wrong
..didn't most go by the wagon trails/etc?
Bozeman Trail
Sante Fe Trail
Oregon Trail
etc

 

[harmonica]

Maybe it would be easier to list favorite Americans by century. "The Father of the Country" is well deserved for George Washington. It sounds corny today but without General Washington we would still be English subjects. The 20th century hero is Henry Ford who not only made an affordable car but created the assembly line and interchangeable parts that every factory in the world has emulated since the teens. As far as modern Military heroes go my personal favorite is Marine Sgt. John Basilone. The U.S. was barely hanging on to Guadalcanal by it's fingernails when the Japanese launched a full scale attack on Sgt.Basilone's machine gun position. Basilone repaired guns in the dark under fire, gave encouragement to his squad and ended up firing a .45 at the enemy until dawn broke. He was awarded the MOH and became a star on the War Bond circuit but requested to go back to his unit in the Pacific. He was killed in action on Iwo Jima.

...that is somewhat a myth that they were ''hanging on by their fingernails''
...I'm not saying what they did was not phenomenal--which it was
..and there were MANY Marines and servicemen that did the same as Basilone
..he can be your favorite, but not the greatest

 

[Wyatt earp]

Rambo



.

 

[Scamp]

Too many I am aware of to list.

I like Lincoln, Edison and Reagan. Lincoln and Reagan for confronting evil, Edison for his invention. If the spirit of what these three men embodied, not only would America and capitalism be better, but the world would be more free and fair.

Lincoln was a Tyrant, who trashed the US Constitution that he swore to uphold.

 

[aaronleland]

Captain America. He once punched Hitler in the face, and later fought in the Civil War.

 

[whitehall]

Maybe it would be easier to list favorite Americans by century. "The Father of the Country" is well deserved for George Washington. It sounds corny today but without General Washington we would still be English subjects. The 20th century hero is Henry Ford who not only made an affordable car but created the assembly line and interchangeable parts that every factory in the world has emulated since the teens. As far as modern Military heroes go my personal favorite is Marine Sgt. John Basilone. The U.S. was barely hanging on to Guadalcanal by it's fingernails when the Japanese launched a full scale attack on Sgt.Basilone's machine gun position. Basilone repaired guns in the dark under fire, gave encouragement to his squad and ended up firing a .45 at the enemy until dawn broke. He was awarded the MOH and became a star on the War Bond circuit but requested to go back to his unit in the Pacific. He was killed in action on Iwo Jima.

...that is somewhat a myth that they were ''hanging on by their fingernails''
...I'm not saying what they did was not phenomenal--which it was
..and there were MANY Marines and servicemen that did the same as Basilone
..he can be your favorite, but not the greatest

The Guadalcanal campaign was a gutsy move about six months after an entire Army was abandoned on Bataan and Corrigador after running out of supplies and ammo because the Japanese dominated the seas. Marines were literally starving and coming down with malaria and tropical diseases on Guadalcanal when Admiral Gormley cut and ran rather than risk supply ships. If Basalone's unit was overrun by fresh Japanese troops and marines the campaign might have folded up right there. Basalone held and when Gormley was relieved Halsey's first message to the Marines was "kill Japs, kill Japs kill more Japs".

 

[mikegriffith1]

Bill Cosby. Great comedian. I haven't followed his career in the past few years, but I'm sure he's still going strong.

Eee-gads. I take it you haven't heard that Cosby turned out to be a sexual predator and pervert? He's now in jail for raping women after drugging them.

 

[bluzman61]

Bill Cosby. Great comedian. I haven't followed his career in the past few years, but I'm sure he's still going strong.

Eee-gads. I take it you haven't heard that Cosby turned out to be a sexual predator and pervert? He's now in jail for raping women after drugging them.

I believe he was using SARCASM.

 

[aaronleland]

Bill Cosby. Great comedian. I haven't followed his career in the past few years, but I'm sure he's still going strong.

Eee-gads. I take it you haven't heard that Cosby turned out to be a sexual predator and pervert? He's now in jail for raping women after drugging them.

I stand by my statement.

 

[Pellinore]

Maybe it would be easier to list favorite Americans by century. "The Father of the Country" is well deserved for George Washington. It sounds corny today but without General Washington we would still be English subjects. The 20th century hero is Henry Ford who not only made an affordable car but created the assembly line and interchangeable parts that every factory in the world has emulated since the teens. As far as modern Military heroes go my personal favorite is Marine Sgt. John Basilone. The U.S. was barely hanging on to Guadalcanal by it's fingernails when the Japanese launched a full scale attack on Sgt.Basilone's machine gun position. Basilone repaired guns in the dark under fire, gave encouragement to his squad and ended up firing a .45 at the enemy until dawn broke. He was awarded the MOH and became a star on the War Bond circuit but requested to go back to his unit in the Pacific. He was killed in action on Iwo Jima.

Basilone was, as far as I can tell, superhuman. I find it hard to believe that he and I are even the same species.

 

[bdtex]

Tell us who was the greatest American to you and why?

Jefferson Davis. He was the President of my beloved Confederate States Of America.

 

[initforme]

Abe Lincoln. He had the guts to know that owning another human is wrong on every account.

 

[gipper]

Abe Lincoln. He had the guts to know that owning another human is wrong on every account.

LMFAO. You just proved you are uninformed.

Dishonest Abe wanted to ensconce slavery in the Constitution, as long as the South wouldn’t secede and paid the Morrill Tariff. Read his first inaugural speech. It’s all right there, but establishment historians ignore.

Dishonest Abe wanted to deport all blacks after the Civil War ended, but thankfully Booth saved us from that horrific event.

 

[zaangalewa]

Tell us who was the greatest American to you and why?

John F. Kennedy

This "Berliner" was the turning point between rise and decline of the Soviet empire. And he initialized the way, which sent the first human being to the moon, what was an unbelievable boost for the US and world economy too.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

Elvis Presley - Made the world a better place just by singing.

 

[norwegen]

Benjamin Franklin....

That's what I say. If America had a renaissance man, it was he.

 

[Gdjjr]

Politically, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and Davy Crockett- individually, Crazy Horse.

 

[Scamp]

[QUOTE="zaangalewa, post: 23686946, member: 53095"

John F. Kennedy

[/QUOTE]
JFK fell victim to one of the classic blunders...

 

[Scamp]

Abe Lincoln. He had the guts to know that owning another human is wrong on every account.

Lincoln went to court as a lawyer and argued to have a runaway slave and her children be returned to their rightful slave owner. 'Matson slave case'.
Funny how the real Lincoln gets covered up.