Curse you, Ike! You shall not escape my clutches again!
Dwight D. Eisenhower
James Madison
Jackie Robinson
Thomas Edison
John Marshall
John Marshall
Thomas Paine
Jackie Robinson
Mark Twain
Earl Warren
Could you explain this a little better. It makes no sense to me.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Theodore Roosevelt
Thomas Paine
Jackie Robinson
Harriet Tubman
Also, I can’t get behind dropping Mark Twain yet, I don’t think he’ll make it to the end for me, but he was great writer who appealed to the masses, yet his work has an enduring quality that is easily accessible by all.
Because I was curious, an update:
1 Dwight D. Eisenhower 7
1 John Marshall 7
1 Thomas Paine 7
1 Jackie Robinson 7
5 George Marshall 6
5 Harriet Tubman 6
Mark Twain 4
Earl Warren 4
Roger Williams 4
James Madison 4
Orville and Wilbur Wright 4
Thomas Edison 3
Susan B. Anthony
Frederick Douglass
Benjamin Franklin
Theodore Roosevelt
King, Lincoln, FDR, and Washington are voteless.
As well they should be, at least for now! 
The odds line I made for this doesn’t look too bad, with the exception of Thomas Jefferson and Helen Keller.
George Marshall
Thomas Paine
Jackie Robinson
Mark Twain
Roger Williams
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5008697146
Benjamin Franklin vocally warned about the German threat since German immigrants outnumbered the English speaking ones. The implied threat being too many of them means they won’t have to conform to us, but we will have to conform to them. Equating Germans as swarthy, aka dark-skinned, while excluding the Saxons of course, is pretty much race baiting. A strategy later adopted against Italians and Irish. He wasn’t alone in his sentiment, but he seems to be setting a trend that’s continued to this day. Thus the accusation of fathering paranoia.
Coupled with the privilege of being favorably appropriated into American mythology, and he gets my vote.
Just one vote since the last one, but here’s your morning update:
1 Thomas Paine 8
1 Jackie Robinson 8
2 Dwight D. Eisenhower 7
2 John Marshall 7
2 George Marshall 7
Harriet Tubman 6
Roger Williams 5
Mark Twain 5
Earl Warren 4
James Madison 4
Orville and Wilbur Wright 4
Thomas Edison 3
Susan B. Anthony
Frederick Douglass
Benjamin Franklin
Theodore Roosevelt
King, Lincoln, FDR, and Washington remain voteless.
I will be sorry to see the architect of the Marshall Plan go by the wayside.
I didn’t vote for him, but I probably would have voted to eliminate him before the top 10. Don’t see any grave miscarriages of justice in this round’s eliminations as they stand.
Jackie Robinson
Dwight D. Eisenhower
George Marshall
Harriet Tubman
Mark Twain
Yeah, it’s getting to be tight enough that 5 votes forces me to bump people off – which is the point, I’ll concede; it’s not The Twenty Greatest Americans (perhaps that would be a good concept for the first watchable reality show, though.)
Thomas Edison
Susan B. Anthony
Jackie Robinson
Harriet Tubman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Twain and G. Marshall probably deserve to go this round, but they are sentimental favorites of mine.
Of the current top five, I’ll most regret seeing John Marshall go. His contribution to the development of American law and the establishment of the Federal courts as guarantors of liberty really can’t be overstated. He’s more vitally important in U.S. history, IMHO, than the five for whom I voted this round (Thomas Edison, James Madison, Thomas Paine, Mark Twain, Roger Williams).
Well even from your link it appears he got over it as he grew older but at least your opinion makes sense to me now.
I agree very much except for maybe Twain. I don’t understand the very high regard for Williams in fact. Not that he was not great, but greater than either Marshall I don’t understand.
Final standings - Isildur will be pleased to see who finished alone at #6:
1 Jackie Robinson 10
2 Dwight D. Eisenhower 9
3 George Marshall 8
3 Thomas Paine 8
3 Harriet Tubman 8
John Marshall 7
Mark Twain 6
Roger Williams 5
Earl Warren 4
James Madison 4
Orville and Wilbur Wright 4
Thomas Edison 4
Susan B. Anthony 2
Frederick Douglass
Benjamin Franklin
Theodore Roosevelt
King, Lincoln, FDR, and Washington remain voteless.
Sorry to see Tubman go myself, though it’s hard to really figure where to place her. She showed more physical courage than any of the rest of the top 20, and more than almost any of the other nominees overall.
I disagree with respect to Edison. How often do you use the principle of judicial review? How often do you use an electric light?
In general, I’m sad that our final 15 is so heavily weighted towards politicians, with a side serving of social activists; only Twain, Edison, and the Wrights (and to some degree Benjamin Franklin) to represent the whole rest of life.
What’s next - three votes for each voter (one per candidate), with the top three eliminated?