# Greatest American elimination game (game thread) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 10, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423 "2010-02-10T15:08:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/281 "2010-02-25T16:46:47Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Sitting Bull x2 > Chief Joseph x2 > Lewis and Clark x2 > Will Rogers x2 > John J. Pershing x2 Saving Emerson, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/282 "2010-02-25T16:49:22Z")
And it looks like we might have our last 3 Native Americans eliminated at a stroke, which is kind of sad but I guess not unexpected. (And I voted for two of them, so I’m definitely complicit). ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/283 "2010-02-25T16:52:45Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Odd that Emerson seems to be going before Thoreau. Thoreau is more romanticised, but Emerson was far more influential. > > Also a little sad that Gershwin is going so early. It certainly does suck that the guy who probably did more than anyone to define America’s musical culture is getting bounced, but I guess he had to go sometime. I agree on Gershwin, but I keep thinking no musician belongs here in the end and no poet either. So I started putting up some small votes for the musicians at least. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/284 "2010-02-25T16:53:53Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > The wholesale culling we’ve been doing was good to get the game to a managable size, but now it’s time to be more selective. Yes, let’s get selective _now_, having cleared away riff-raff like Jefferson and Einstein. :dubious: In fact, 5 of my original Top Twelve are already gone. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![DragonAsh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DragonAsh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DragonAsh)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/285 "2010-02-25T17:58:18Z")
My votes, one each: Henry Bergh Chief Joseph Dwight D. Eisenhower George Gershwin Langston Hughes Helen Keller Lewis and Clark William Seward Sitting Bull Orville and Wilbur Wright ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/286 "2010-02-25T17:59:29Z")
J. Madison 5 Will Rodgers 2 Seward 3 ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/287 "2010-02-25T18:16:40Z")
Chief Joseph 1 Ralph Waldo Emerson 2 Robert Frost 2 Edgar Allan Poe 2 Sitting Bull 1 Henry David Thoreau 1 Walt Whitman 1 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/288 "2010-02-25T20:19:09Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > I disagree. The wholesale culling we’ve been doing was good to get the game to a managable size, but now it’s time to be more selective. That was my thinking, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/289 "2010-02-25T20:20:17Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Clay was one of the ones Elendil specifically considered adding after all the nominations were in (along with US Grant). I’d throw George Kennan in as an oversight. As would I. Others I might’ve added at the outset, if I had my druthers, but didn’t: Nathanael Greene: Revolutionary War general George H. Thomas: Civil War general William T. Sherman: Civil War general David G. Farragut: Civil War admiral Salmon P. Chase: Jurist, advocate, statesman Edwin M. Stanton: Lincoln’s War Secretary Herman Melville: Novelist, _Moby-Dick_ F. Scott Fitzgerald: Novelist, _Great Gatsby_ John Singer Sargent: Painter Grant Wood: Painter Norman Rockwell: Illustrator N.C. Wyeth: Illustrator Billy Sunday: Preacher ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/290 "2010-02-25T20:23:24Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Billy Sunday: Preacher Eh. Jonathan Edwards. … and he probably would have been knocked out in the first round, but William Jennings Bryan, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/291 "2010-02-25T20:52:28Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > And it looks like we might have our last 3 Native Americans eliminated at a stroke, which is kind of sad but I guess not unexpected. (And I voted for two of them, so I’m definitely complicit). Actually four if Will Rogers (officially [9/32 Cherokee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Rogers#Early_years)) gets the boot. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/292 "2010-02-26T01:42:33Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Eh. Jonathan Edwards. > > … and he probably would have been knocked out in the first round, but William Jennings Bryan, as well. Both Sunday and Edwards were great clergymen, shame they weren’t on here. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/293 "2010-02-26T01:57:48Z")
Emerson: **5** Pershing Edison Salk: **3** ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/294 "2010-02-26T14:32:05Z")
Morning update (through Sailboat’s votes): 1 Henry Bergh 15 2 Ralph Waldo Emerson 12 2 George Gershwin 12 4 Robert Frost 11 5 Helen Keller 10 6 Sitting Bull 9 6 Chief Joseph 9 6 Will Rogers 9 6 Daniel Webster 9 10 Lewis and Clark 8 10 William Seward 8 Jim Thorpe 7 Eleanor Roosevelt 7 John J. Pershing 7 James Madison 6 Upton Sinclair 6 William Lloyd Garrison 6 Thomas Edison 5 Jonas Salk 5 Langston Hughes 4 Orville and Wilbur Wright 4 John Franklin Enders 3 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. 3 Edgar Allan Poe 3 Henry David Thoreau 3 Walt Whitman 2 Dwight D. Eisenhower Jackie Robinson Harry Truman Harriet Tubman Earl Warren ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/295 "2010-02-26T14:57:16Z")
What the heck, I’ll vote change: > [@FROM](#): > > Thomas Edison x2 > George Gershwin x2 > Langston Hughes > Eleanor Roosevelt x2 > Harry Truman > Daniel Webster > Orville and Wilbur Wright **To: Eleanor Roosevelt x5 Thomas Edison x5** ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/296 "2010-02-26T15:03:18Z")
Which pushes the top of the standings to: 1 Henry Bergh 15 2 Ralph Waldo Emerson 12 2 George Gershwin 12 4 Robert Frost 11 5 Helen Keller 10 5 Eleanor Roosevelt 10 7 Sitting Bull 9 7 Chief Joseph 9 7 Will Rogers 9 10 Lewis and Clark 8 10 Thomas Edison 8 10 William Seward 8 10 Daniel Webster 8 Jim Thorpe 7 John J. Pershing 7 James Madison 6 Upton Sinclair 6 William Lloyd Garrison 6 ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/297 "2010-02-26T15:07:22Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > This is painful: > > Henry Bergh > Chief Joseph > Ralph Waldo Emerson > Robert Frost > George Gershwin > Helen Keller > John J. Pershing > Edgar Allan Poe > Will Rogers > Jim Thorpe Cheerfully acknowledging that Edison was a bastard, I’ll still work to save him. I’d rather we had _someone_ besides politicians to choose from in the endgame. Bergh 0 (-1) Lewis and Clark 1 (+1) Others remain the same, which will push Edison, Webster and Seward safely (for the moment) to a tie for 11th place. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/298 "2010-02-26T15:28:21Z")
I can’t believe Bernstein and Copland went out before Jacob Gershowitz, great though he may have been. You people have no sense of perspective. Here’s my lot: Dwight D. Eisenhower x5 John J. Pershing x3 Lewis and Clark x2 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/299 "2010-02-26T17:23:03Z")
How did Martin Luther King not make it this far? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/300 "2010-02-26T17:26:03Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > How did Martin Luther King not make it this far? He did. He’s still voteless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423.md?page=16)