# 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:** 16
**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, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/301 "2010-02-26T17:31:35Z")
And it is past 12 EST on Friday, so here we go: 1 Henry Bergh 14 2 Ralph Waldo Emerson 12 3 Robert Frost 11 3 Lewis and Clark 11 5 George Gershwin 10 5 Helen Keller 10 5 John J. Pershing 10 5 Eleanor Roosevelt 10 9 Sitting Bull 9 9 Chief Joseph 9 9 Will Rogers 9 Thomas Edison 8 William Seward 8 Daniel Webster 8 Jim Thorpe 7 Dwight D. Eisenhower 6 William Lloyd Garrison 6 James Madison 6 Upton Sinclair 6 Jonas Salk 5 Langston Hughes 3 Orville and Wilbur Wright 3 John Franklin Enders 3 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. 3 Edgar Allan Poe 3 Henry David Thoreau 3 Walt Whitman 2 Jackie Robinson Harriet Tubman Earl Warren Harry Truman 0 ---
**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, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/302 "2010-02-26T17:33:33Z")
At this point, I feel like we’re down to few enough survivors that I won’t bother updating the category-by-category list. If someone else wants to, feel free. ---
**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, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/303 "2010-02-26T18:05:49Z")
Tough round for my nominees; Bergh, Keller, and Sitting Bull were mine. 😛 Ah well, Lincoln was taken. 😛 ---
**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 26, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/304 "2010-02-26T19:41:49Z")
Thanks again, **Tom Scud**. Bergh through Rogers are now gone. It’s only going to get tougher from here. That leaves us with: Susan B. Anthony: Suffrage activist George Washington Carver: Agricultural botanist Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist, orator Thomas Edison: Inventor, workaholic Dwight D. Eisenhower: President, war hero John Franklin Enders: Modern vaccines pioneer Benjamin Franklin: Scientist, statesman, inventor William Lloyd Garrison: Abolitionist, writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: Supreme Court Justice Langston Hughes: Harlem Renaissance poet Martin Luther King Jr.: Preacher, orator, humanitarian Abraham Lincoln: President, emancipator, writer James Madison: President, Framer, statesman George Marshall: General, diplomat, statesman John Marshall: Fourth Chief Justice Thomas Paine: Political theorist, pamphleteer Edgar Allan Poe: Poet, writer, critic Jackie Robinson: Athlete, activist, inspiration Franklin D. Roosevelt: President, reformer, statesman Theodore Roosevelt: President, conservationist, statesman Jonas Salk: Polio vaccine inventor William Seward: Diplomat; bought Alaska Upton Sinclair: Author, muckraker Henry David Thoreau: Poet, naturalist, philosopher Jim Thorpe: Native American athlete Harry Truman: President, statesman Harriet Tubman: Civil rights advocate Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens): Humorist, “Huckleberry Finn” Earl Warren: Chief Justice, governor George Washington: President, general, statesman Daniel Webster: Orator, advocate, statesman Walt Whitman: Civil War poet Roger Williams: Statesman, religious leader Orville and Wilbur Wright: Aviation pioneers, inventors **New rules** for voting, as mentioned earlier: now it’s five votes each, and no more than one on any individual. The next round will conclude at noon EST on Mon. March 1. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/305 "2010-02-26T20:04:13Z")
Five for (not) fighting: Langston Hughes Edgar Allan Poe Upton Sinclair Henry David Thoreau Earl Warren Mostly, this is my anti-poet and writer vote. And I want to compliment everyone for keeping Garrison in (although I didn’t nominate him). He’s way underrated. ---
**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, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/306 "2010-02-26T20:04:16Z")
My five: Dwight D. Eisenhower Edgar Allan Poe Upton Sinclair Jim Thorpe Harry Truman ---
**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, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/307 "2010-02-26T20:28:06Z")
Thomas Edison Henry David Thoreau Langston Hughes Roger Williams Orville and Wilbur Wright ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/308 "2010-02-26T20:34:41Z")
Daniel Webster Jim Thorpe (and, dammit, it hurts to write that) John Franklin Enders Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. William Seward ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/309 "2010-02-26T20:40:46Z")
Langston Hughes Jonas Salk William Seward Earl Warren Daniel Webster This group is roughly equal to the size of the field left once the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament is over, so it’s sad to see some gritty efforts (especially Hughes and Warren, in my case) stopped short of the Sweet Sixteen. ---
**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, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/310 "2010-02-26T20:43:02Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Daniel Webster > Jim Thorpe (and, dammit, it hurts to write that) > John Franklin Enders > Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. > William Seward I had Thorpe too but realized that I could keep him over Langston Hughes. Keep Thorpe, vote a poet. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/311 "2010-02-26T20:49:24Z")
Langston Hughes Walt Whitman Theodore Roosevelt Henry David Thoreau William Seward ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/312 "2010-02-26T20:51:11Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I had Thorpe too but realized that I could keep him over Langston Hughes. > > Keep Thorpe, vote a poet. 🙂 I loves me some Jim Thorpe stories, but was he a great American like the man who wrote “Let America Be America Again” and ignited a revolution in poetic language? Nope. At the end of the day, he was a guy who could play any sport better than anybody else–which is cool, but not the mettle of a Great American. And if you only knew how much I idolized Jim Thorpe as a kid… I guess acknowledging that Langston Hughes is a greater American than Jim Thorpe is the price for growing up. ---
**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 26, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/313 "2010-02-26T20:55:28Z")
Nicely put, **StusBlues**. My votes for this round: George Washington Carver John Franklin Enders Thomas Paine Upton Sinclair Roger Williams ---
**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, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/314 "2010-02-26T21:06:14Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I had Thorpe too but realized that I could keep him over Langston Hughes. > > Keep Thorpe, vote a poet. 🙂 You chose Hughes over Edgar Allen Poe? Meh, says I. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/315 "2010-02-26T21:15:55Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Nicely put, **StusBlues**. > > My votes for this round: > > George Washington Carver > John Franklin Enders > Thomas Paine > Upton Sinclair > Roger Williams Thank you for the nice complement. That said, do you really think that the person who established the first bastion of religious freedom in America is not a greater American than Jim Thorpe? And this is from a guy who grew up with a Jim Thorpe poster on his wall. He may have been our greatest athlete, but his accomplishments did not transcend the playing field. Hate to pick on him, but Roger Williams is one of the truly great figures in our history, and Thorpe, great as he was, is not. ---
**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, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/316 "2010-02-26T21:19:02Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > You chose Hughes over Edgar Allen Poe? Meh, says I. Coin toss, I like Poe better. I understand the importance of Hughes but do not enjoy his work. I’ll vote Poe next time though and quite possibly Thorpe. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/317 "2010-02-26T23:36:34Z")
William Lloyd Garrison Jim Thorpe Harriet Tubman Edgar Allan Poe Jackie Robinson ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/318 "2010-02-27T00:31:54Z")
Orville and Wilbur Wright Jim Thorpe Walt Whitman William Lloyd Garrison Upton Sinclair ---
**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 27, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/319 "2010-02-27T02:51:19Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Thank you for the nice complement. That said, do you really think that the person who established the first bastion of religious freedom in America is not a greater American than Jim Thorpe?.. I cannot say that all of my votes are completely rational. I’ve always admired and respected Jim Thorpe. He overcame tremendous adversity and still set a standard of good sportsmanship, deep humility and amazing skill that is legendary. Roger Williams just doesn’t evoke the same visceral reaction in me. ---
**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 27, 2010, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/320 "2010-02-27T04:35:36Z")
Jim Thorpe 5 Walt Whitman 5 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423.md?page=17)