I hate to disagree with one of my heros (Frank) but the guy in the number one spot so deserves to be there. If for nothing else than his single minded focus on helping Americans rediscover why we are the greatest country in the world.
Do we have faults, you betcha. Even with our faults we have the only system of government based on the premise that all men are created equal. We reaffirm that every time we step up to the ol' ballot box. For freedom, liberty and honor. I wish I could here him say to Helen Thomas one more time;

"Well Helen, there you go again"

Ditto what Sean said, but I would have placed him second or third behind Lincoln and maybe Douglas MacArthur, who sadly only received an honorable mention. Yes, the man was a hyper-inflated ego crammed in stylin' khakis, but his leadership in the victory in the Pacific was stellar (with a couple of exceptions, Pelleliu being one of them). my list would have included Ben Franklin, Mark Twain, Lewis and Clark, Thomas Jefferson, and John Fremont.

its scary evil monkey you dum stupid neocon jue!

and u r a tool of ur masteer bush!

TOOL TOOL TOOL!!!

President Reagan clearly deserves top honors. I was not quite 12 years old and clearly remember my father practically falling on his knees to thank the good Lord on election night 1980.

America was headed down a very ugly road in the late 70s (economy, military, national pride, etc) and President Reagan turned the ship around in eight years. We are still enjoying the benefits of his leadership and I for one wish he was the president now.

Reagan may be my favorite politician ever, but can you really argue he shaped this nation more than the founding fathers? Come on!

Frank, you make a good point. I think the results are as they are because people remember Reagan. Some of the voters possibly met the man, or at least saw him in person. Nobody alive can say the same for the Founding Fathers.

It's easier to be in awe of somebody who was alive during your lifetime.

All that aside, why isn't General Patton on the list? Now there was a manly man.

Frank J.

I'm with you on this. I admit I am limited by my personal perspective-my recollection of election night in 1789 is pretty hazy.

Lincoln is up there as well, he did keep the US together despite 600,000 Americans killed by other Americans.

I won't argue with you, but I've got to go with my heart on this one. I will not call you a "tool" though.

I really didn't just reword SilverBubble's comment, but it sure looks like it.

Gun Nut, it's OK. My greatness is often imitated, but never duplicated.

I’d have a hard time putting Reagon in the top 15. I don’t consider that a put down. There’s been a lot of great men in this country the last 250 years. Glaring omissions are Chief Justice John Marshall and President Andrew Jackson.

Nobody tell those monkey faces that Frederick Douglass made the list. It won’t fit into there views about conservatives.

Ok that list is plane wrong. However I agree that Ronald Reagan should at least be in the top 5.

1. George Washington. Without him we have no country. No matter what he should always be Number 1.

2. Abraham Lincoln. Without him we only have half the country if that. Not only that just imagine the COUNTLESS amount of scenarios in history that would have changed with horrible results. We might all be speaking German right now.

Look I love Ronald Reagan as much as the next guy but nobody in the right mind should ever mess with the PERPETUAL number 1 and number 2.

All that aside, why isn't General Patton on the list? Now there was a manly man.

Actually, he is on the list, tied for #15, with Albert Einstein (not born an American, but became one).

I think that the list is far too strongly tipped towards elected officials, with not enough recognition given to scientists, inventors, businessmen, and artists of various types.

Jim,
I was thinking that when I came up with my list, but I had trouble coming up with many scientists and industrialists I found as influential as the elected officials.

Some very influential scientists, business-folk and others for you, Frank.

- Henry Ford
- J. Robert Oppenhimer & Edwin Teller
- John D. Rockafeller
- William Randolph Herst
- Ray Kroc
- Walt Disney
- Watson & Crick (discovered DNA)
- DuPont
- Upton Sinclair
- John Steinbeck

In regards to Frank's last, Eli Whitney should be on the list for the idea of standardized, interchangeable parts in manufacturing (see his work for the colonies in producing muskets during the Revolution). EVERYTHING in industrial manufacturing stems from this idea.

But frankly, any list of the greatest Americans that doesn't feature Lee Marvin is patently bogus.

Frank -

Actually, after I wrote my post, I went back and looked, and found that Jonas Salk, who would have been one of my candidates, had gotten some votes, although he wasn't in the top twenty-five.

It can frequently be hard to identify one inventor, for example. We went from not having radio to having a television in virtually every home in less than seventy-five years, but who do you pick? Marconi (not an American)? Lee de Forest (inventor of the amplifying vacuum tube - right here in Silicon Valley, by the way, in 1903)? William Shockley (transistor)? Philo Farnsworth? It's the same with computers. Bill Gates (in my opinion, deservedly) made the list. But what about the men who invented the microprocessor? Unknown to most folks, and there was more than one man on the team.

So I understand your difficulty.

Frank,
You are a great man, no doubt. However, slightly "toolish" maybe. How about, at least, an honorable mention for a man that single-handedly took a media venue from the recipe-sharing and UFO-spotting moonbats AM band to one of the strongest voices for an entire country's values to the airways? Attaboy Rush!

Umm, that was me. Sorry.

Egads, SVJ, you're right! Patton is on the list. My eyes jumped right over his name I guess.

See, manly man.

Based on what I have learned over time about history, I'm actually very conflicted about whether or not Reagan, compared, to say any of the founding fathers should be in #1 spot( various reasons- and Reagan IS one of my heroes, too, which makes it harder for me to take him OUT of that spot).

However, I don't understand why every one thinks Andrew Jackson should be on the list. As a general? Most definitely? As our president? Hell no. I regret to inform most of you, but he helped to further fuel the motivation of those in this country who did NOT believe in the ideas of individual rights. I would never even consider putting that man on the list- while yer at it why don't you just throw Truman on there, if yer gonna put just anybody?

When I suggested Andrew Jackson it wasn’t because of great admiration. It is because the Jackson administrations policies set the direction of the country in countless ways for the next 100 years. Understanding the Jackson administration is fundamental to understanding 19th century America.

I don’t put much stock in trying to either lionize or demonize someone from such different times. I would rather understand history within the context of those times. That’s the only way to get any real understanding of history.

Ronald Reagan was my favorite pol...but #1 on this list is stooopid!!! Dwight D, Patton, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Roosevelt, so many others did so much more...

Reagan deserves the number one spot, but I'm surprised Limbaugh didn't make it. Goldwater and Buckley may have been the founding fathers of Modern Conservatism, but Rush Limbaugh has brought it to the masses.

Also, Eric Cartman should be on the list for his Hippie extermination policies.

Great minds think alike Frank. George and Abe were ultimately responsible for the creation and continuance of our country. Ronnie and FDR were instrumental in defeating enemies that intended to end democracy everywhere. By the way, I noticed David Hassellhoff and Jimmy Carter were omitted from the list, obvioulsy by mistake.

no.1: George "The Man" Washington.
this man made this country. we owe him EVERYTHING.
all others are just filler.

'nuff said

George was a wonderful human being but in my opinion he worked in concert with the other founding fathers to create this country. Jefferson, Adams, Henry, Franklin,Ethan Allen, those who met at the constitutional conventions, Hamilton, the list could go on and on. All brought unique talents and skills to the process. What an amazing time to be alive.

Reagan too had many people with "skilz" to assist him, however events were driven by the vision he saw and the force of his personality. That's why I'd put him at #1. What an amazing time to be alive.

(It's not easy or fast to type with a 5 month old on your lap, I'd forgotten!)

On this question I would have to say that Washington is the perennial #1 because he could have accepted position as emperor, but he chose not to (prior to the Constitutional Convention, of course).

Also, Washington did something that because de facto for Presidents of the United States for 140 years afterward. He stepped down after two terms. He did this for two reasons:

1) He knew that the only way the new government could truly prove its mettle was to experience a peaceful transition of government from one leader to the next.

2) He was tired of public life (and the bickering between the Federalist [Adams and Hamilton] and the anti-federalists [Jefferson mainly]).

I think Abe does belong at #2 as well. Habeas Corpus aside, he did what needed to be done to save the union, and WHAT a record of oratory! People talk about Daniel Webster, but I think Abe Lincoln was one of the great orators of American history.

RWR belongs at 3 because of his strength, optimism and unfailing patriotism. I will fault Ronnie with one thing, letting the Dems force him into pulling out of Lebannon in 1983. That was the second mistake that America made in the Global War on Terror (in which we were pulled in 1979). He made up for it by bombing Qadaffi into 20 years of silence, though.

BTW:

Pull BOTH of the Roosevelts off. Teddy was an egomaniacal blow-hard whom no conservative worth his salt would have anything to do with. (He's only on Rushmore because he was president at the time and the creator knew he'd never get government support without including TR)

Franklin? Well, what can I say? We have the looming entitlement disaster; the 23rd amendment; a depression that lasted longer than necessary; a government that can't stay within its means; and a 40 year cold war to lay at his feet.

1. Washington - The rest of the founding fathers thought enough of him to choose him to be the face of the new nation.
2. Lincoln - His vision kept the country from coming apart at the seams. Hands down the most difficult presidential era in US History
3. Reagan - Inspired Americans to remember that above all else we are first Americans, and that means something.

Hon Mention - Jackson - all politics aside, he threw the best keggers the White House will ever see.

P.S. Reagan never had to apologize for eating Nancy's burrito.

If Franklin Roosevelt were president today and enacted the policies he enacted, I wouldn't vote for him, however, things were very different during his time considering a great depression and a world war! He was a great leader that should be admired...and like Clinton he had his Hillary with Elanor...

Reagan is great, but like a few people said, you really have to put Washington first.

When did FDR, Truman, and Lincoln turn into conservative heros? Good grief. JFK got "only" four mentions, but that's four too many...

Props to Ike, who should be ranked much higher. When FDR gets more mentions then him, clearly something is badly wrong with the voters. Oh well, I'll chalk it up to the neocons; a lot of those guys haven't left their Trotskyite roots far enough behind.

Just noticed Sherman got a few mentions on the tail end of the list. WTF guys? Guess I'll blame the neocons for that one too.

What to fucks wrong with you people? Where is G.W. Bush on the list? He should at least be in the top 10 if not the top 5. He has almost single handedly saved the world from terrorism. If it wasn't for his strong stand on torture, how would we get the info necessary to protect us? His tax policies have been awesome, I've never been so rich and so what if the budget is a little bit over, we are at WAR!