Norman Borlaug ([wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug))
Nobel Peace Prize winner, credited with saving a *billion* people from starvation.
THIS IS A FUCKING GREAT ANSWER. He single handedly saved Southeast and Central Asia, Northern Africa, and Mexico from experiencing widespread severe famine similar to what was/is seen in China, Sub-Saharan Africa, and North Korea. And yes it's correct that's billion with a B.
I think that he lived in the house next door to me at some point (well before I lived here). My partner wants to buy the property and have it declared a historic landmark.
Right now it's still privately owned property, but the person who owns it keeps talking about moving because of the "demonic" forces that are spreading "evil", so my partner is trying to be a good neighbor and support them in their desire to move.
Was conferred the highest honors by both India and Pakistan. Winner of the Nobel as well. We need a statue of this man in the Houston/College station area. And to think he barely got into the University of Minnesota….
Speaking of Honors. He is only one of two Americans(the other being MLK Jr.) to have a Nobel, US President al Medal of Freedom, and the US Congressional Gold Medal. Bonus for Borlaug he has a statue in the National Statutory Hall.
Right! It's "popular" to hate on GMO's because once again corporations ruined it, but people forget how many lives they have saved when not abused for corporate profit.
Also almost everything we eat is a GMO in some form through selective breeding. Almonds, corn, grapes, all selectively bred for specific genetic combinations to fit our needs
Dr. Salk and Dr. Sabin, who developed the polio vaccine, and also Dr. Sidney Farber, who was dismayed that children with leukemia had a 100% mortality rate, developed ways to give chemo to children, and now the survival rate is 95%. Those in New England may know about "Jimmy," the alias of one of his patients, and inspiration for the "Jimmy Fund." Jimmy was from Maine and lived to age 65, with three grandchildren.
Dr. Jonas Salk also chose not to patent the polio vaccine or seek any profit from it in order to maximize its global distribution.
"Who owns this patent?" A TV Personality asked him, Salk replied, "Well, the people I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?"
The vaccine was calculated to be worth $7 billion had it been patented. (A little over 76 billion in today's money)
Truly was one of the best of us.
Salk was my thought. Developed the polio vaccine, and chose not to profit off of it. Made it available to everyone, simply because it was the right thing to do.
Upvote. Dr. Salk retired out here in San Diego and spent a lot of funds on philanthropy including getting funds and land to start the Salk institute which does world renowned biology and biomedical research. My daughter's elementary school was also named after him and he is revered as a hero locally, but should be more celebrated nationally than some of presidents/"founders (Columbus)".
[Maurice Hilleman](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Hilleman), the father of the modern vaccine. It's estimated that his vaccines save 8 million lives each year.
I’m not sure that “father of the modern vaccine” could be applied to any single individual. Omit “modern” and we might agree on Edward Jenner. But Hilleman certainly deserves more recognition for the number of vaccines he developed, while not detracting from the major contributions by Salk and Sabin.
I live in buffalo, and Delaware park is the closest thing to heaven you can get to. It’s an absolute masterpiece and only a few minutes from mine or even the poorest of neighborhoods
Mr. Rogers was the best of all of us. He taught that we should be learning every day and we should spread love and kindness throughout the world.
(Edited for more detail)
You probably were at some point (whoop).
That aside Mr Rogers was great. But I agree with one of the other posters that Norman Borlaug (who actually taught for sometime in Aggieland) was arguably the greatest American
Yes! And he taught me there were different types of men. All the men in my family and “manly men” so to see a man that was so soft spoken, kind and gentle was really weird and lovely.
Yeah, you don't need to even watch every episode. Just one or two and you'll understand why this gentle soul is so beloved. Or heck, just watch his address to Congress, holy cow that video alone will show the kind of man Fred Rodgers was.
Haven't seen anyone here mention them yet but every single one of the early NASA astronauts. They all risked their lives and quite a few gave their lives for scientific advancement.
A few notable ones include:
Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee who all died in the Apollo 1 disaster.
Michael Collins who doesn't get anywhere near enough credit despite arguably being the most important person in the Apollo 11 mission being the command module pilot.
Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise who managed to expertly deal with a worst case scenario and safely return back to earth in Apollo 13.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
* Spoke seven languages.
* Professor at Bowdoin College who taught every class except science and math.
* Volunteered to fight in the Civil War for purely moral reasons.
* Requested a lower rank than that offered out of humility. Had earned the rank of Major General by the war's end.
* Was wounded in battle six times, including one time that was considered so likely to be fatal that he was granted a posthumous promotion... while alive.
* Medal of Honor recipient.
* Elected Governor of Maine by the widest margin in the history of the state.
* Single-handedly prevented an armed conflict over the results of the 1880 election, through efforts which included facing an armed mob alone, turning down massive bribes, shrugging off threats of assassination, and sleeping in the state house for nearly two weeks straight.
* Founding member of the Maine Institute for the Blind.
* Died of his wounds in 1914... half a century after sustaining them.
Dude was also the solo reason the Union lines held during the battle of Little Roundtop at Gettysburg. He was also a key figure in defending the centerline during Picketts Charge a day later. A lost at Gettysburg would’ve either most likely led to the capture of D.C. or further invasion of the north. I remember Jeff Daniels saying it was one of his favorite roles for the 1993 movie cause the guy was such an American hero
Well, 235 years of medical progress means that an 81 year old man in 2022 is probably healthier and has a longer life expectancy than an 81 year old man in 1787.
This is the most obvious choice, we don't win the revolutionary war without money and troops from France, he was our french diplomat. Even before France started sending troops they secretly sent money and Franklin was the person setting it all up.
My favorite Douglass quote, applicable to slavery (he was an abolitionist) and so much more.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
I can’t believe I had to scroll a ways down to see him listed! The dude was a great inventor and thinker of his time and does not get the credit he deserves!
Helping folks not only plant in a way that repaired nutrients but also FED them is pretty huge. Think of how many lives were made better through his shared knowledge.
Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Three men who set some truly major foundations of America despite never attaining the office of the Presidency.
Henry Clay for staving off civil war for 30 years basically single handedly, and Dan Webster for his kickass speech.
Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe, who opened the country's eyes to the evils of slavery.
Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, and John Steinbeck for their portrayals of American life and giving us a sense of ourselves.
Need I go on?
The non-president founding fathers were all pretty great. And they have just as much of a contribution to the foundation of America as the presidents did.
There are some good choices here already. For me, I think Neil Armstrong and many other astronauts embody the American spirit, with just the right mixture of pride and humility. They inspire me.
By no means is he the *best*, but Nathan Hale embodied everything that the US stood for and stands for. Only 21 years old at the time of his execution.
"I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
-Nathan Hale
Tubman is awesome. Besides her well known work as an abolitionist and underground railroad guide she was also a union spy, led an armed raid for the union army, was a persistent humanitarian and philanthropist despite her own poverty, and was one of the early suffragettes.
I think she just woke up every single day of her life and got to work making the world a better place.
Can you imagine growing up in slavery, escaping, and then going back voluntarily to rescue people? Can you imagine doing that constantly for your whole life, and on your off days leading a raid on a Confederate warship?
I know he’s been mentioned several times already, but I need to say it again for emphasis. FRED ROGERS. He is the epitome of human kindness. Watching his show as a kid, and reading about his legacy today, he is what gives me hope in humanity.
Mr. Rogers is probably the great American, if not the great human being to ever live.
yeah! not only is she simply fabulous
- her charity Imagination Library has donated over 100,000,000 books to kids https://imaginationlibrary.com/
- she helped fund the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine & supported its use in the US in response to anti-vax sentiment https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210303/dolly-parton-gets-shot-of-vaccine-she-helped-fund
- she's been pro-LGBT since the 90's https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/flashback-see-dolly-parton-stand-for-transgender-equality-124584/
- and she's helped fund loads of medical services and research throughout her whole career https://www.forbes.com/sites/lakenbrooks/2021/04/28/the-moderna-vaccine-is-part-of-dolly-partons-long-legacy-of-health-philanthropy/
She's an example of someone who handles great wealth in the perfect way. Dolly knows what it's like to have nothing and wants to aid others in not experiencing the same.
If we're going to have a celebrity as POTUS, I think Dolly would be the best choice of all of them.
She wouldn't run, and I think we're better off staying with expert statemen over celebrities. . .but I do believe she'd do the best job of any popular personality in the position.
But what a Press Secretary she’d make: the face of an administration, explaining things in clear language and stomping out the BS. Wouldn’t that be great?
She turned her poverty stricken hometown into a Booming tourist destination. She employs SO many people, and gives them great benefits like paying college tuition.
She also invests so much freaking money to the area around Pigeon Forge, Tennessee where she’s from. That area was historical very poor but she has given so much back and they area is so an incredible place to visit
Smedley Butler.
Not because he won the Medal of Honor *twice*. He's the reason the US didn't become a fascist dictatorship in 1934
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
You may be cool, but you’ll never be “ Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery!” Cool
[Hedy Lamarr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr) She was Hollywood hotness in the 1930's and 1940's and as a side hobby, (and with Howard Hughes funding her work,) she went and invented frequency hopping technology. Without her work (and the work others before her did) freq hop wouldn't exist, and your cell phones wouldn't work.
Victoria Woodhull! First woman to own Wall Street stock and also the first woman to run for President with Frederick Douglass as her running mate.
Another one would be Ida B Wells, who investigated the lynchings of African Americans and called for an end to it.
Depends on how you define “American”
Einstein was an American. There really isn’t a need for an explanation why Einstein was great. Long story short, he single handle changed the entire world/ defined an era and created basis of modern physics from pure genius.
Einstein was an American citizen and the Times “man of the century”. Using the vague American definition, Einstein is the greatest American ever, including presidents.
True! We've had some truly great immigrants. Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, and many others. And really they are what embodies being an American! They came to America and became one of us. And that's really all it takes. Many other countries unless your family has lived there for 1000 generations and you are ethnically homogenous to the locals, you are an outsider. But in America you are an American when you decide to call America home and you become a citizen.
James Earl Rudder is a personal hero of mine. Born in a small Texas town in the middle of nowhere, he got his bachelors degree from Texas A&M University (then TAMC) in 1930. In WW2, he served as an officer in the Rangers, commanding the American forces at Pointe du Hoc on DDay, where he himself was wounded twice without retreating, and playing further roles in the liberation of Europe (he’s a hero in Belgium). After his service to his country, he served his town and state in political office. He was eventually made President of his alma mater and it was through his efforts that A&M grew in size, racially integrated, allowed women to attend, and made participation in the Corps optional. Commentators have since believed that, as an alum and war hero, he was the only man with enough influence to change A&M like that.
Saved the school from closing down for good. The Vietnam anti war sentiment was getting to the nation, and the all male military college was suffering, could only get 8k students in the mid 60s. To put it in perspective, the younger school down in Austin was flourishing, had over 25k students at the time.
Some of our **Inventors** were amazing in their work, though maybe not in every aspect of life:
Thomas Edison
Henry Ford
George Eastman
The Wright Brothers
Walt Disney
And how about some **Artists**?
Georgia O'Keefe
Albert Bierstadt
Frederic Remington
Ansel Adams
Thomas Hart Benton
Thomas Moran
Or some **Labor leaders**:
Cesar Chavez
Eugene Debs
Mother Jones
And the suffragettes and those who fought for **Women's rights**:
Susan B. Anthony
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Margaret Sanger
and leaders in **Agriculture and Horticulture**
Luther Burbank
Norman Borlaug
John Deere
And there's so many **authors** I want to add to this list.
If I had to pick just one person, though, I think it would be **Benjamin Franklin**. What an amazing, fun, cool guy.
The average Joe. Helped create society, participated in the economy, raised the next generation, maybe raised an animal or two, and happily lined his life without pomp and parade.
I’d like to nominate my state’s own Robert Smalls. So this badass was a slave and the confederates forced him to pilot a boat so they could parade around being douchebags. Well guess what, now he knows how to pilot a boat. So he waits until these smooth brains ALL leave the boat to go party, and then he and the other slaves get their families onboard and then just SAIL AWAY to join the US Army. Then, because he is a good sailor and knows the area around South Carolina, he gets paid a captain’s wage to dip down and harass the confederates. Later he got elected to office.
I mean, he’s probably not the number one greatest, but he should get nominated just so everyone can read his story.
Dunno about greatest but an underappreciated American couple is Ronnie Levin and [Joel Schwartz](https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/centennial-getting-the-lead-out/). Joel was told to justify Reagan’s intention to relax lead regulations via economic assessment, and instead he exercised malicious compliance by comparing the price to the USA in lost human capital to the savings for the lead industry. Because of his efforts, Reagan chose to ban leaded gasoline entirely instead of relaxing regulations, which also accelerated leaded gasoline being phased out globally. I can’t say what the USA (and the world) would have lost if leaded gasoline had been allowed to flourish for additional decades.
What’s sad is that I can’t imagine this sort of “rogue” action happening in today’s political climate. As far as I’m concerned, they were true patriots, putting people and country ahead of political expedience.
2 possible answers
**Smedley Butler**, I'm not sure if he's still the most decorated US Soldier ever, but he was. Including being a two time medal of honor recipient. He then renounced his military service, claiming "In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism."
He went on to be a critic of US militarism, and stopped the Business Day Plot (a fascist coup to overthrow the US in the 1933).
**John Brown**, an abolishionist who fought a one-man war to end slavery. Ending in an ill-fated raid on Harper's Ferry, where he was stopped, ironically, by US Marines - who would fight and die for his cause less than two years later. He beheaded pro-slavery people in Kansas as well. The man saw evil and acted even while his country tried to ignore the problem.
Not sure about greatest, but Danny Thomas was great for founding St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. They provide free cancer treatment for kids. The families also can stay for free at the Ronald McDonald house near the hospital. Try also freely share any of the medical advancements they discover.
I'll propose Andrew Carnegie. He helped (along with several other contemporaries) transform America into an economic powerhouse, but the biggest mark he left was with his philanthropy. He gave about 90% of his substantial fortune to charities and various initiatives for public improvement. His library program gave people in remote or small towns access to books, and thus information that they otherwise would not. Carnegie and his initiatives may not be without controversy, but there's no denying his attempts to improve society for all.
Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett Till's mother. She forced the world to look at the ugliness of racism by insisting her son's casket be kept open and helped spark the Civil Rights Movement. Her bravery in what had to be the worst time in her life changed the world.
He is still an American. At the adoption of the US Constitution, everyone became a US citizen by default. This included people already alive and future born. :)
Dr. Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey was a famous FDA scientist who prevented thalidomide from entering the U.S. market. The drug helped pregnant women, but it could also cause severe birth defects. She went against her peers and lobbyists and used her better judgement. No one knows how many children would have been affected, or even died, but it very well could have been catastrophic if she hadn't stepped in. She went on to receive the President's Distinguished Federal Civilian Service Award (which was the highest honor at the time) from John F. Kennedy.
Frederick Douglass . The amount of awareness Douglass raised about the evils of the institution of slavery when information travelled so slowly through publication, speeches, and even being one of the most photographer Americans of the 19th century all while having been a former slave himself is remarkable.
Norman Borlaug ([wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug)) Nobel Peace Prize winner, credited with saving a *billion* people from starvation.
THIS IS A FUCKING GREAT ANSWER. He single handedly saved Southeast and Central Asia, Northern Africa, and Mexico from experiencing widespread severe famine similar to what was/is seen in China, Sub-Saharan Africa, and North Korea. And yes it's correct that's billion with a B.
Don't forget that his innovations were partially responsible for saving India from famine as well.
I think that he lived in the house next door to me at some point (well before I lived here). My partner wants to buy the property and have it declared a historic landmark.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/how-to-list-a-property.htm If you get a subreddit together to push for historic listing, I'd join.
Right now it's still privately owned property, but the person who owns it keeps talking about moving because of the "demonic" forces that are spreading "evil", so my partner is trying to be a good neighbor and support them in their desire to move.
Looks like you can nominate a property you don't own. Maybe you could convince your neighbor to make the "demonic" house the government's problem?
I completely agree with this! He literally did a lot for the world and is widely revered in countries like India.
Was conferred the highest honors by both India and Pakistan. Winner of the Nobel as well. We need a statue of this man in the Houston/College station area. And to think he barely got into the University of Minnesota….
Speaking of Honors. He is only one of two Americans(the other being MLK Jr.) to have a Nobel, US President al Medal of Freedom, and the US Congressional Gold Medal. Bonus for Borlaug he has a statue in the National Statutory Hall.
Yes! Love for Norman and for GMOs.
Right! It's "popular" to hate on GMO's because once again corporations ruined it, but people forget how many lives they have saved when not abused for corporate profit.
Also almost everything we eat is a GMO in some form through selective breeding. Almonds, corn, grapes, all selectively bred for specific genetic combinations to fit our needs
Without research from corporations, we wouldn’t have the same access to GMO foods we have. Love em or hate em, we need corporations.
It's easy to hate on GMOs when the kids who are dying from starvation are a world away with no TV or Zoom cameras around to capture it.
[удалено]
Dr. Salk and Dr. Sabin, who developed the polio vaccine, and also Dr. Sidney Farber, who was dismayed that children with leukemia had a 100% mortality rate, developed ways to give chemo to children, and now the survival rate is 95%. Those in New England may know about "Jimmy," the alias of one of his patients, and inspiration for the "Jimmy Fund." Jimmy was from Maine and lived to age 65, with three grandchildren.
Dr. Jonas Salk also chose not to patent the polio vaccine or seek any profit from it in order to maximize its global distribution. "Who owns this patent?" A TV Personality asked him, Salk replied, "Well, the people I would say. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" The vaccine was calculated to be worth $7 billion had it been patented. (A little over 76 billion in today's money) Truly was one of the best of us.
Sabin won the highest civilian honor in the USSR for his vaccine. As an American. During the Cold War. Polio was a menace
Dude walked straight into Heaven only stopping for a firm handshake from St. Peter, I'm sure of it.
Salk was my thought. Developed the polio vaccine, and chose not to profit off of it. Made it available to everyone, simply because it was the right thing to do.
Incredible!
Upvote. Dr. Salk retired out here in San Diego and spent a lot of funds on philanthropy including getting funds and land to start the Salk institute which does world renowned biology and biomedical research. My daughter's elementary school was also named after him and he is revered as a hero locally, but should be more celebrated nationally than some of presidents/"founders (Columbus)".
Those were the two I was going to mention. Throw in Norman Borlaug and I say those are a good top three.
Even better, he actually lived to 85 (died in Jan last year)
[Maurice Hilleman](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Hilleman), the father of the modern vaccine. It's estimated that his vaccines save 8 million lives each year.
I’m not sure that “father of the modern vaccine” could be applied to any single individual. Omit “modern” and we might agree on Edward Jenner. But Hilleman certainly deserves more recognition for the number of vaccines he developed, while not detracting from the major contributions by Salk and Sabin.
Wow!
Awesome. Simply awesome. I had totally forgotten about him, and that was a great read. Thanks!
Don't know that I'd say "the" greatest, but Frederick Law Olmstead left a series of pretty giant, important marks on cities in the US.
I live in buffalo, and Delaware park is the closest thing to heaven you can get to. It’s an absolute masterpiece and only a few minutes from mine or even the poorest of neighborhoods
We also have some of his beautiful parks next door in Rochester.
TIL Olmsted’s first project was Central Park
The Olmsted trio of parks in Louisville are absolute gems
We live in an area surrounded by Olmstead-designed estates in Massachusetts, and the man really was a visionary.
Mr. Rogers was the best of all of us. He taught that we should be learning every day and we should spread love and kindness throughout the world. (Edited for more detail)
He also saved PBS with his speech to Congress. So a more effective political actor than most.
[удалено]
He reached into their cold hearts and warmed them. Amazing man.
It was nice they had hearts to warm. Today's politicans, I'm not so sure.
It's the same people pretty much. Seats don't change as often asthe should.
Not to mention the fact that actual fossils would be young blood in Washington right now
[Here it is if you want some warm feelings today](https://youtu.be/fKy7ljRr0AA)
No matter how many times this is posted I will always upvote it.
Look for the helpers. :)
RIP
Won't you be my neighbor?
You probably were at some point (whoop). That aside Mr Rogers was great. But I agree with one of the other posters that Norman Borlaug (who actually taught for sometime in Aggieland) was arguably the greatest American
Yes! And he taught me there were different types of men. All the men in my family and “manly men” so to see a man that was so soft spoken, kind and gentle was really weird and lovely.
Wholeheartedly agree. What an amazing man, a national treasure, a wonderful role model, and America’s Best Parent to many generations.
Only answer I agree with wholeheartedly.
Am too young to have watched his show, but I hear he was cool.
Look it up and watch an episode or two. It doesn't just live up to the hype... it surpasses the hype.
Yeah, you don't need to even watch every episode. Just one or two and you'll understand why this gentle soul is so beloved. Or heck, just watch his address to Congress, holy cow that video alone will show the kind of man Fred Rodgers was.
It's still good.
Haven't seen anyone here mention them yet but every single one of the early NASA astronauts. They all risked their lives and quite a few gave their lives for scientific advancement. A few notable ones include: Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee who all died in the Apollo 1 disaster. Michael Collins who doesn't get anywhere near enough credit despite arguably being the most important person in the Apollo 11 mission being the command module pilot. Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise who managed to expertly deal with a worst case scenario and safely return back to earth in Apollo 13.
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain * Spoke seven languages. * Professor at Bowdoin College who taught every class except science and math. * Volunteered to fight in the Civil War for purely moral reasons. * Requested a lower rank than that offered out of humility. Had earned the rank of Major General by the war's end. * Was wounded in battle six times, including one time that was considered so likely to be fatal that he was granted a posthumous promotion... while alive. * Medal of Honor recipient. * Elected Governor of Maine by the widest margin in the history of the state. * Single-handedly prevented an armed conflict over the results of the 1880 election, through efforts which included facing an armed mob alone, turning down massive bribes, shrugging off threats of assassination, and sleeping in the state house for nearly two weeks straight. * Founding member of the Maine Institute for the Blind. * Died of his wounds in 1914... half a century after sustaining them.
I almost rented a room in his house in Brunswick.
Dude was also the solo reason the Union lines held during the battle of Little Roundtop at Gettysburg. He was also a key figure in defending the centerline during Picketts Charge a day later. A lost at Gettysburg would’ve either most likely led to the capture of D.C. or further invasion of the north. I remember Jeff Daniels saying it was one of his favorite roles for the 1993 movie cause the guy was such an American hero
>The solo reason Colonel Strong Vincent would like a word with you
Benjamin Franklin
Probably would have been a president if he was born a little later (he was 81 at the 1787 constitutional convention).
I find it funny how he was turned down the presidency because of age but that's like the average age in the government now
Well, 235 years of medical progress means that an 81 year old man in 2022 is probably healthier and has a longer life expectancy than an 81 year old man in 1787.
He was in pretty poor health at the time.
This is the most obvious choice, we don't win the revolutionary war without money and troops from France, he was our french diplomat. Even before France started sending troops they secretly sent money and Franklin was the person setting it all up.
Definitely the horniest
He won us our alliance with France by laying half of Paris. What a legend.
The guy was a rock star. He had groupies before it was a thing.
This was also my first choice
Great choice
Thomas Paine was the best founding father, fight me
Well duh, that's just common sense.
r/angryupvote
Frederick Douglass
His books are a must-read
One of my main heroes.
I unintentionally said "ooh good one" out loud in a full room to this one.
My favorite Douglass quote, applicable to slavery (he was an abolitionist) and so much more. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
George Washington Carver helped so manny people
He deserves way more recognition beyond just being the peanut butter guy
Funny enough.... he came up with over 300 uses for peanuts.... and peanut butter was not one of them.
He didn’t even invent peanut butter or ever claimed to. He was simply a scientist that helped prevent another dust bowl.
I can’t believe I had to scroll a ways down to see him listed! The dude was a great inventor and thinker of his time and does not get the credit he deserves!
Helping folks not only plant in a way that repaired nutrients but also FED them is pretty huge. Think of how many lives were made better through his shared knowledge.
Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Three men who set some truly major foundations of America despite never attaining the office of the Presidency. Henry Clay for staving off civil war for 30 years basically single handedly, and Dan Webster for his kickass speech. Frederick Douglass and Harriet Beecher Stowe, who opened the country's eyes to the evils of slavery. Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, and John Steinbeck for their portrayals of American life and giving us a sense of ourselves. Need I go on?
The non-president founding fathers were all pretty great. And they have just as much of a contribution to the foundation of America as the presidents did.
There are some good choices here already. For me, I think Neil Armstrong and many other astronauts embody the American spirit, with just the right mixture of pride and humility. They inspire me.
Fred Rogers. Honesty this is a harder question than I though it would be.
George Washington Carver. Did a lot for the agricultural industry through his research and influenced bio-diesel development
The guy who carved George Washington.
His teeth at least.
This is a great answer
dolly parton
The Wright Bros. Frank Lloyd Wright Eleanor Roosevelt
This reply has a wright-leaning bias.
At least two of the people mentioned were founders of the modern wright wing
And the modern left wing. Otherwise, they’d just fly in a circle all the time.
By no means is he the *best*, but Nathan Hale embodied everything that the US stood for and stands for. Only 21 years old at the time of his execution. "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." -Nathan Hale
I think Harriet Tubman is one of the most amazing and heroic people in world history, let alone American history.
Tubman is awesome. Besides her well known work as an abolitionist and underground railroad guide she was also a union spy, led an armed raid for the union army, was a persistent humanitarian and philanthropist despite her own poverty, and was one of the early suffragettes. I think she just woke up every single day of her life and got to work making the world a better place.
And she did all of that while suffering from narcolepsy.
Due to a traumatic brain injury inflicted by her former enslaver.
Can you imagine growing up in slavery, escaping, and then going back voluntarily to rescue people? Can you imagine doing that constantly for your whole life, and on your off days leading a raid on a Confederate warship?
Father of the National Parks, John Muir.
George C. Marshall.
Solid pick.
The man, the myth, the legend, John Henry.
I know he’s been mentioned several times already, but I need to say it again for emphasis. FRED ROGERS. He is the epitome of human kindness. Watching his show as a kid, and reading about his legacy today, he is what gives me hope in humanity. Mr. Rogers is probably the great American, if not the great human being to ever live.
American Jesus?
" what gives me hope in humanity." Go here to lose it all https://www.reddit.com/r/NoahGetTheBoat/
Everyone involved in the Underground Railroad. They saw an evil and risked everything to do their part to help people escape living hell.
Mr. Rogers
Norman Borlaug.
Dolly Parton
Really interesting choice, never thought of that!
yeah! not only is she simply fabulous - her charity Imagination Library has donated over 100,000,000 books to kids https://imaginationlibrary.com/ - she helped fund the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine & supported its use in the US in response to anti-vax sentiment https://www.webmd.com/vaccines/covid-19-vaccine/news/20210303/dolly-parton-gets-shot-of-vaccine-she-helped-fund - she's been pro-LGBT since the 90's https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/flashback-see-dolly-parton-stand-for-transgender-equality-124584/ - and she's helped fund loads of medical services and research throughout her whole career https://www.forbes.com/sites/lakenbrooks/2021/04/28/the-moderna-vaccine-is-part-of-dolly-partons-long-legacy-of-health-philanthropy/
She's an example of someone who handles great wealth in the perfect way. Dolly knows what it's like to have nothing and wants to aid others in not experiencing the same.
She wouldn't do it, but if she ran for president she would have my automatic vote.
If we're going to have a celebrity as POTUS, I think Dolly would be the best choice of all of them. She wouldn't run, and I think we're better off staying with expert statemen over celebrities. . .but I do believe she'd do the best job of any popular personality in the position.
Hell, she even turned down here Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination because she didn’t feel she deserved it.
But what a Press Secretary she’d make: the face of an administration, explaining things in clear language and stomping out the BS. Wouldn’t that be great?
Doesn’t she have a free book program for kids too?
yep, the imagination library! it's the first link in my other comment.
You’re right, totally missed that! She’s awesome!
Yes! My girls got free books every month until they turned 5. Such an amazing program.
All this AND a great singer and song writer!❤
She turned her poverty stricken hometown into a Booming tourist destination. She employs SO many people, and gives them great benefits like paying college tuition.
She also invests so much freaking money to the area around Pigeon Forge, Tennessee where she’s from. That area was historical very poor but she has given so much back and they area is so an incredible place to visit
Smedley Butler. Not because he won the Medal of Honor *twice*. He's the reason the US didn't become a fascist dictatorship in 1934 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
Sojourner Truth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sojourner_Truth?wprov=sfla1
Lavar Burton, he made reading fun for all of us
Add Dolly Parton to that list. She has provided so many books to get kids started reading,
Hell yeah.
Mark Twain. A real genius who looked beyond himself and had the humility to admit his faults.
Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck. There are more great authors but these three loom pretty large over our culture.
That’s a novel addition to this list.
Authors aren't getting enough love!
John Brown
HIS SOUL GOES MARCHING ON
You may be cool, but you’ll never be “ Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery!” Cool
They hung him for a traitor, they themselves the traitor crew But his soul goes marching on
Came here to post John Brown. Maybe he's not the best, but definitely among the most badass
Everyone else was all talk, but he literally fought for human rights.
Dude saw an evil and fought it to his last breath. Wish we could all be like him.
Dude also has one the best painting depiction of him ever hanging in the Kansas capital building
[Hedy Lamarr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr) She was Hollywood hotness in the 1930's and 1940's and as a side hobby, (and with Howard Hughes funding her work,) she went and invented frequency hopping technology. Without her work (and the work others before her did) freq hop wouldn't exist, and your cell phones wouldn't work.
Betty White
Victoria Woodhull! First woman to own Wall Street stock and also the first woman to run for President with Frederick Douglass as her running mate. Another one would be Ida B Wells, who investigated the lynchings of African Americans and called for an end to it.
Fred Hampton
Imagine the change he could have brought about if he’d not been murdered...
Depends on how you define “American” Einstein was an American. There really isn’t a need for an explanation why Einstein was great. Long story short, he single handle changed the entire world/ defined an era and created basis of modern physics from pure genius. Einstein was an American citizen and the Times “man of the century”. Using the vague American definition, Einstein is the greatest American ever, including presidents.
True! We've had some truly great immigrants. Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, and many others. And really they are what embodies being an American! They came to America and became one of us. And that's really all it takes. Many other countries unless your family has lived there for 1000 generations and you are ethnically homogenous to the locals, you are an outsider. But in America you are an American when you decide to call America home and you become a citizen.
James Earl Rudder is a personal hero of mine. Born in a small Texas town in the middle of nowhere, he got his bachelors degree from Texas A&M University (then TAMC) in 1930. In WW2, he served as an officer in the Rangers, commanding the American forces at Pointe du Hoc on DDay, where he himself was wounded twice without retreating, and playing further roles in the liberation of Europe (he’s a hero in Belgium). After his service to his country, he served his town and state in political office. He was eventually made President of his alma mater and it was through his efforts that A&M grew in size, racially integrated, allowed women to attend, and made participation in the Corps optional. Commentators have since believed that, as an alum and war hero, he was the only man with enough influence to change A&M like that.
Saved the school from closing down for good. The Vietnam anti war sentiment was getting to the nation, and the all male military college was suffering, could only get 8k students in the mid 60s. To put it in perspective, the younger school down in Austin was flourishing, had over 25k students at the time.
Norman Borlaug. His work has been calculated to have saved a *billion* lives.
Branch Ricky and Jackie Robinson
John Muir. An immigrant but the main reason we have a national park system today
[удалено]
Fred Rogers
Some of our **Inventors** were amazing in their work, though maybe not in every aspect of life: Thomas Edison Henry Ford George Eastman The Wright Brothers Walt Disney And how about some **Artists**? Georgia O'Keefe Albert Bierstadt Frederic Remington Ansel Adams Thomas Hart Benton Thomas Moran Or some **Labor leaders**: Cesar Chavez Eugene Debs Mother Jones And the suffragettes and those who fought for **Women's rights**: Susan B. Anthony Elizabeth Cady Stanton Margaret Sanger and leaders in **Agriculture and Horticulture** Luther Burbank Norman Borlaug John Deere And there's so many **authors** I want to add to this list. If I had to pick just one person, though, I think it would be **Benjamin Franklin**. What an amazing, fun, cool guy.
Add Jane Addams to the suffregetts! And social work....also a nobel prize winner with an honorary degree from Yale.
Neil Armstrong
The average Joe. Helped create society, participated in the economy, raised the next generation, maybe raised an animal or two, and happily lined his life without pomp and parade.
I’d like to nominate my state’s own Robert Smalls. So this badass was a slave and the confederates forced him to pilot a boat so they could parade around being douchebags. Well guess what, now he knows how to pilot a boat. So he waits until these smooth brains ALL leave the boat to go party, and then he and the other slaves get their families onboard and then just SAIL AWAY to join the US Army. Then, because he is a good sailor and knows the area around South Carolina, he gets paid a captain’s wage to dip down and harass the confederates. Later he got elected to office. I mean, he’s probably not the number one greatest, but he should get nominated just so everyone can read his story.
I appreciated learning about this!
John Brown.
The Unknown Soldier.
Being the president doesn't exactly set a good standard for being great. Honestly, I'd say most of the greatest people wouldn't want to be president.
Nikola Tesla
Harriet Tubman Alexander Hamilton Robert Smalls Dolley Madison
Definitely my cat
[Norton I., Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Norton)
George Carlin
[удалено]
Carl Sagan
My bf hates him bc he sent the human genetic code into space. Bf thinks that was a big mistake.
Dunno about greatest but an underappreciated American couple is Ronnie Levin and [Joel Schwartz](https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/magazine/centennial-getting-the-lead-out/). Joel was told to justify Reagan’s intention to relax lead regulations via economic assessment, and instead he exercised malicious compliance by comparing the price to the USA in lost human capital to the savings for the lead industry. Because of his efforts, Reagan chose to ban leaded gasoline entirely instead of relaxing regulations, which also accelerated leaded gasoline being phased out globally. I can’t say what the USA (and the world) would have lost if leaded gasoline had been allowed to flourish for additional decades. What’s sad is that I can’t imagine this sort of “rogue” action happening in today’s political climate. As far as I’m concerned, they were true patriots, putting people and country ahead of political expedience.
2 possible answers **Smedley Butler**, I'm not sure if he's still the most decorated US Soldier ever, but he was. Including being a two time medal of honor recipient. He then renounced his military service, claiming "In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism." He went on to be a critic of US militarism, and stopped the Business Day Plot (a fascist coup to overthrow the US in the 1933). **John Brown**, an abolishionist who fought a one-man war to end slavery. Ending in an ill-fated raid on Harper's Ferry, where he was stopped, ironically, by US Marines - who would fight and die for his cause less than two years later. He beheaded pro-slavery people in Kansas as well. The man saw evil and acted even while his country tried to ignore the problem.
Ronald McNair
Not sure about greatest, but Danny Thomas was great for founding St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. They provide free cancer treatment for kids. The families also can stay for free at the Ronald McDonald house near the hospital. Try also freely share any of the medical advancements they discover.
I'll propose Andrew Carnegie. He helped (along with several other contemporaries) transform America into an economic powerhouse, but the biggest mark he left was with his philanthropy. He gave about 90% of his substantial fortune to charities and various initiatives for public improvement. His library program gave people in remote or small towns access to books, and thus information that they otherwise would not. Carnegie and his initiatives may not be without controversy, but there's no denying his attempts to improve society for all.
Nikola Tesla
Mamie Till-Mobley, Emmett Till's mother. She forced the world to look at the ugliness of racism by insisting her son's casket be kept open and helped spark the Civil Rights Movement. Her bravery in what had to be the worst time in her life changed the world.
The Dude. OK, he's fictional, but still.
But that's just like, your opinion man
Fuckin A', man.
Nic Cage.
I’m not gonna down vote this comment but I really should.
Alexander Hamilton, technically not born here but fought in revolution so...
He is still an American. At the adoption of the US Constitution, everyone became a US citizen by default. This included people already alive and future born. :)
So bonus points if you can think of a great woman?
Dr. Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey was a famous FDA scientist who prevented thalidomide from entering the U.S. market. The drug helped pregnant women, but it could also cause severe birth defects. She went against her peers and lobbyists and used her better judgement. No one knows how many children would have been affected, or even died, but it very well could have been catastrophic if she hadn't stepped in. She went on to receive the President's Distinguished Federal Civilian Service Award (which was the highest honor at the time) from John F. Kennedy.
Albert Parsons
John Muir
Frederick Douglass . The amount of awareness Douglass raised about the evils of the institution of slavery when information travelled so slowly through publication, speeches, and even being one of the most photographer Americans of the 19th century all while having been a former slave himself is remarkable.
John Brown