# 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:** 28
**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:** [March 18, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/542 "2010-03-18T14:02:24Z")
Franklin D. Roosevelt. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/543 "2010-03-19T11:30:17Z")
I guess it doesn’t matter at this point. **FDR**. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/544 "2010-03-19T19:02:36Z")
Once again we have a clear choice: Franklin D. Roosevelt 8 Susan B. Anthony 3 Theodore Roosevelt 2 That leaves the following as the Super Six: Susan B. Anthony: Suffrage activist Benjamin Franklin: Scientist, statesman, inventor Martin Luther King Jr.: Preacher, orator, humanitarian Abraham Lincoln: President, emancipator, writer Theodore Roosevelt: President, conservationist, statesman George Washington: President, general, statesman Unless **Elendil’s Heir** has another deadline in mind, voting for this round will conclude at noon EDT Monday, March 22. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/545 "2010-03-19T19:09:29Z")
Sorry **Susan B. Anthony** but it is your turn I think. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/546 "2010-03-19T20:25:54Z")
Martin Luther King Jr., for reasons I’ve cited. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/547 "2010-03-19T20:47:25Z")
Susan B. Anthony. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/548 "2010-03-19T22:05:49Z")
Looks like we’re going to eliminate one of the two who aren’t members of the white male group. King helped ensure that blacks got to exercise the franchise that had been granted them a century earlier, while Anthony was instrumental in enshrining women’s suffrage in the Constitution. Tough call, but I’ll try to help keep Susan around for a few more days. Thus, my vote is for: Martin Luther King, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/549 "2010-03-19T22:38:46Z")
I’m going out on a limb and saying just because he did it first doesn’t mean he’s our Greatest American, so **Washington**. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2010, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/550 "2010-03-19T22:42:07Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Once again we have a clear choice: > > Franklin D. Roosevelt 8 > > … > > That leaves the following as the Super Six: > > Susan B. Anthony: Suffrage activist > Benjamin Franklin: Scientist, statesman, inventor > Martin Luther King Jr.: Preacher, orator, humanitarian > Abraham Lincoln: President, emancipator, writer > Theodore Roosevelt: President, conservationist, statesman > George Washington: President, general, statesman > > Unless **Elendil’s Heir** has another deadline in mind, voting for this round will conclude at noon EDT Monday, March 22. Correct, and thank you. Susan B. Anthony again for me. (A little surprising that TR is more popular here than FDR; most presidential rankings put FDR higher. Not that I’m complaining - I like TR more myself). ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/551 "2010-03-19T23:44:40Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Susan B. Anthony. Screw it, I’m changing my vote to Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/552 "2010-03-20T00:44:58Z")
Washington for me too. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/553 "2010-03-20T03:39:32Z")
We would not have the country we have today, were it not for Washington. As commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (leading it through _eight years_ of the Revolution, sometimes by sheer force of will), as president of the Constitutional Convention, and of course as the first President of the United States, he was of vital and irreplaceable value to the early republic. Susan B. Anthony, for all her many qualities, is just not in his league, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/554 "2010-03-20T03:50:34Z")
I agree, but 1) I don’t think Washington is THE greatest American, and 2) I think it will be a more interesting final round if it’s not just Washington v. Lincoln, therefore for tactical reasons I am leaving my vote with Washington. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/555 "2010-03-20T04:44:38Z")
OK, I’ll join the party, sorry EH. [del]Anthony[/del] **Washington** ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/556 "2010-03-20T12:37:51Z")
I’m tempted to change my vote to Washington as well, but I’ll hold off unless I need to save Suzie Monday morning. ETA: No, I won’t! Change my vote from MLK to George Washington. MLK is still overrated, but let him stand now for the great Americans who have already gone, like Jackie Robinson and Frederick Douglass. Hell, that’s what he’s been doing for 40 years anyway. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/557 "2010-03-21T20:56:08Z")
I have to say, I’m baffled and a little saddened by the sudden anti-Washington bandwagon, given his vital role in the establishment of the nation. He clearly ought to be in the final three, and IMHO has an excellent claim to the top spot. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/558 "2010-03-21T23:52:53Z")
Susan B. Anthony. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/559 "2010-03-22T00:26:49Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I have to say, I’m baffled and a little saddened by the sudden anti-Washington bandwagon, given his vital role in the establishment of the nation. He clearly ought to be in the final three, and IMHO has an excellent claim to the top spot. Well in my case I put Ben and Theodore ahead and favor Lincoln by a little, so if people are willing to dump GW a little early, I’ll go along to help my other 3. I’m reasonably sure Susan B is gone next. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2010, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/560 "2010-03-22T10:38:16Z")
Susan B Anthony ---
**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:** [March 22, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423/561 "2010-03-22T15:36:29Z")
I agree that it’s more interesting if Washington does not take the top spot as Greatest American president and the same spot as Greatest American. I think he could be knocked off by Franklin waving a beer mug, or held at arm’s length by Lincoln, the only contender left who’s got reach on him. But I can’t see him being picketed out of the top spot by Susan B. Anthony. So I’m voting against **Susie B**. this round. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423.md?page=27) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-american-elimination-game-game-thread/528423.md?page=29)