I’ve only nominated three, so:
John F. Kennedy - President, “New Camelot”
John Marshall - Fourth Chief Justice
John F Kennedy - president, hero, dreamer
Chief Justice John Marshall - important Chief Justice
Too few statesmen and generals too many atheletes and other celebrities.
Red Skeezix may nominate another two, since It’s Not Rocket Surgery! beat him to the punch on JFK and Marshall.
All mine were nominated within the first few posts, but I’ll submit a few:
James Branch Cabell: author, marriage proponent
Shel Silverstein: author, humorist
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt/Chief Joseph: leader, peacemaker, tactician
Ralph Waldo Emerson - philosopher, writer
Thomas Paine - political theorist, pamphleteer
Nikola Tesla - inventor, engineer
Margaret Sanger - birth-control pioneer
Daniel Webster - statesman
After nominations close in half an hour, I’ll post an updated list with all eligible nominees to date. To winnow the field a bit, I was thinking of letting everyone vote for six nominees within 72 hours, with the lowest-vote-getting nominees then dropped, to leave us with 40 or so nominees (a similar number as in the Greatest President thread). I’ll reserve the right to save, say, five worthy nominees who otherwise would have been dropped. I would rather not have the nominees pitted against each other head-to-head, March Madness style, as I think it’s better to have every nominee considered in comparison to every other.
What say you?
You might want to take a handful of obvious choices – e.g., Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., etc. – and give them an automatic “in” so that you don’t have everybody using up two or three of their picks on the same people. That’s just a thought, though.
I would prefer to have a vote-out rather than vote-in round; do a couple or three rounds of “Eliminate 5 (or 10)”; everyone votes for 5 (or whatever) to leave the island and the top 5 go.
(re-reading, probably a few rounds of 10 to start us out; we’re over 100 now).
I agree with Tom Scud that that way might be better. Anyway, I hope there’s an opportunity to “lobby” for some of the nominations before they’ve lost any chance to appear on the Final List of 40.
(Can I start by lobbying for John Brown? Before 1860 the cause of abolition was weak and racist. There’s a very strong case to be made that his martyrdom changed that, inspired the North during the Civil War, preserved the Union, and emancipated the slaves. Without that inspiration, the North would never have had the stomach to complete that horrible War.)
Or how about this compromise: Each voter gets ten votes in the initial round to use as he/she sees fit, but can spend all on the same candidate. For example, if I felt strongly enough, I could cast all 10 votes for John Brown.
The nominations are now closed. The discussion as to voting methods may certainly continue, but I will say that I like septimus’s weighted-voting proposal. I may also give all nominated Presidents of the United States a free pass to the next round.
I’ve consolidated Lewis and Clark and the Wright Brothers as single entries, as their accomplishments were, by all accounts, joint and not individual. Chief Joseph and Mark Twain appear alphabetically under their most-often-used names. Indistinguishable, I’m sorry, but I just noticed that Claude Shannon died in 2001, and he is thus ineligible. I’ve edited the list for consistency, clarity and accuracy, as I see it. If you strongly disagree with a change I made to your nominee’s description, please PM me.
Here’s the list as it now stands…
John Adams: President, writer, statesman
Susan B. Anthony: Suffrage activist
Lucille Ball: Actress, comedian, redhead
P.T. Barnum: World’s greatest showman
Henry Bergh: Saved children, animals
Leonard Bernstein: Composer, conductor, educator
Ambrose Bierce: Author, journalist, satirist, critic
Daniel Bliss: Educator, AUB founder
John Brown: Righteous, inspirational abolitionist
James Branch Cabell: Author, marriage proponent
Andrew Carnegie: Industrialist, philanthropist
Willis Carrier: Air conditioning pioneer
George Washington Carver: Agricultural botanist
Carrie Chapman Catt: Women’s rights suffragist
Bruce Catton: Civil War historian
Joshua Chamberlain: Civil War hero
Cesar Chavez: Civil rights activist
Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt): Leader, peacemaker, tactician
John Coltrane: Musician, composer
Aaron Copland: Composer, musician
Walt Disney: Animator, entrepreneur, icon
Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist, orator
Thomas Edison: Inventor, workaholic
Albert Einstein: Scientist, activist
Dwight D. Eisenhower: President, war hero
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Philosopher, writer
John Franklin Enders: Modern vaccines pioneer
Philo Farnsworth: TV piorneer, inventor
Richard Feynman: Physicist, Renaissance man
Henry Ford: Inventor, industrialist, philanthropist
Benjamin Franklin: Scientist, statesman, inventor
Robert Frost: Greatest American poet
William Lloyd Garrison: Abolitionist, writer
George Gershwin: Prolific, versatile composer
Kurt Gödel: Mathematician, incompleteness theorem
Alexander Hamilton: Financier, economist, statesman
Robert Heinlein: Science fiction author
Jimi Hendrix: Influential musician, activist
Jim Henson: Beloved children’s programmer
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: Supreme Court Justice
Langston Hughes: Harlem Renaissance poet
Andrew Jackson: President, general, populist
Thomas Jefferson: President, Declaration writer
Helen Keller: Redefined language, mind
Walt Kelly: “Pogo” creator, humorist
John F. Kennedy: President, “New Frontier”
Martin Luther King Jr.: Preacher, orator, humanitarian
Jack Kirby: Comics pioneer
Lewis and Clark (Meriwether and William, resp.): Louisiana Purchase explorers
Abraham Lincoln: President, emancipator, writer
Charles Lindbergh: Aviator, American hero
H.P. Lovecraft: Horror writer
Douglas MacArthur: WWII general
James Madison: President, Framer, statesman
George Marshall: General, diplomat, statesman
John Marshall: Fourth Chief Justice
Marilyn Monroe: Legendary film star
J.P. Morgan: Financial giant, tycoon
Audie Murphy: Decorated soldier, actor
Edward R Murrow: Broadcaster
Thomas Nast: Editorial cartoonist, muckraker
Richard Nixon: President, lawyer, author
Jesse Owens: Famed Olympic athlete
Thomas Paine: Political theorist, pamphleteer
George S. Patton: WWII general, orator
John J. Pershing: Top WWI general
Edgar Allan Poe: Poet, writer, critic
James K Polk: President, statesman
Elvis Presley: Rock and Roller
Jackie Robinson: Athlete, activist, inspiration
John D. Rockefeller: Billionaire, philanthropist
Will Rogers: Humorist, social commentator
Eleanor Roosevelt: Reformer, writer, advocate
Franklin D. Roosevelt: President, reformer, statesman
Theodore Roosevelt: President, conservationist, statesman
Babe Ruth: Legendary baseball icon
Carl Sagan: Astronomer, science popularizer
Jonas Salk: Polio vaccine inventor
Margaret Sanger: Birth-control pioneer
William Seward: Diplomat; bought Alaska
Shel Silverstein: Author, humorist
Upton Sinclair: Author, muckraker
Sitting Bull: Indian leader, warrior
Tecumseh: Indian leader, uniter
Nikola Tesla: Inventor, engineer
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”
John von Neumann: Mathematician, scientist, polymath
Earl Warren: Chief Justice, governor
George Washington: President, general, statesman
Daniel Webster: Orator, advocate, statesman
Orson Welles: Writer, director, actor
Walt Whitman: Civil War poet
Eli Whitney: Inventor, cotton gin
Roger Williams: Statesman, religious leader
Frank Lloyd Wright: Prairie School architect
Orville and Wilbur Wright: Aviation pioneers, inventors
Malcolm X: Civil rights leader
Babe Zaharias: Greatest female athlete
crap. Mispost - will post actual list as Tom Scud. Perils of a shared computer.
So as time (and interest) allow, I’m going to try and create some sub-lists of people fitting various categories. To start off, here’s a list of scientists and inventors. (I left Henry Ford off, and pondered leaving Franklin off, as primarily important for other reasons.)
Willis Carrier: Air conditioning pioneer
George Washington Carver: Agricultural botanist
Thomas Edison: Inventor, workaholic
Albert Einstein: Scientist, activist
John Franklin Enders: Modern vaccines pioneer
Philo Farnsworth: TV piorneer, inventor
Richard Feynman: Physicist, Renaissance man
Benjamin Franklin: Scientist, statesman, inventor
Kurt Gödel: Mathematician, incompleteness theorem
Carl Sagan: Astronomer, science popularizer
Jonas Salk: Polio vaccine inventor
Nikola Tesla: Inventor, engineer
John von Neumann: Mathematician, scientist, polymath
Eli Whitney: Inventor, cotton gin
Orville and Wilbur Wright: Aviation pioneers, inventors
Nice idea! Thanks. Keep it up. I am also considering using my OP’s prerogative to add:
Henry Clay: Legislator, orator, statesman.
How about this as an idea. To keep people from just repeating their list of nominees, let people only vote for people they didn’t personally nominate.
I vote for these already nominated:
Geoge Washington.
Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward
John Adams
Harriet Tubman
And a list of artists and writers:
Writers:
Ambrose Bierce: Author, journalist, satirist, critic
James Branch Cabell: Author, marriage proponent
Bruce Catton: Civil War historian
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Philosopher, writer
Robert Frost: Greatest American poet
Robert Heinlein: Science fiction author
Langston Hughes: Harlem Renaissance poet
Helen Keller: Redefined language, mind
H.P. Lovecraft: Horror writer
Thomas Paine: Political theorist, pamphleteer
Edgar Allan Poe: Poet, writer, critic
Will Rogers: Humorist, social commentator
Shel Silverstein: Author, humorist
Upton Sinclair: Author, muckraker
Henry David Thoreau: Poet, naturalist, philosopher
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens): Humorist, “Huckleberry Finn”
Walt Whitman: Civil War poet
“Show biz”
Lucille Ball: Actress, comedian, redhead
P.T. Barnum: World’s greatest showman
Walt Disney: Animator, entrepreneur, icon
Jim Henson: Beloved children’s programmer
Marilyn Monroe: Legendary film star
Orson Welles: Writer, director, actor
Musicians and composers:
Leonard Bernstein: Composer, conductor, educator
John Coltrane: Musician, composer
Aaron Copland: Composer, musician
George Gershwin: Prolific, versatile composer
Comics:
Walt Kelly: “Pogo” creator, humorist
Jack Kirby: Comics pioneer
Thomas Nast: Editorial cartoonist, muckraker
Architect:
Frank Lloyd Wright: Prairie School architect
Somehow we have not a single visual artist, unless you count the cartoonists.
Politicians and activists:
US Presidents and other political leaders:
Presidents
John Adams: President, writer, statesman
Dwight D. Eisenhower: President, war hero
Andrew Jackson: President, general, populist
Thomas Jefferson: President, Declaration writer
John F. Kennedy: President, “New Frontier”
Abraham Lincoln: President, emancipator, writer
James Madison: President, Framer, statesman
Richard Nixon: President, lawyer, author
James K Polk: President, statesman
Franklin D. Roosevelt: President, reformer, statesman
Theodore Roosevelt: President, conservationist, statesman
Harry Truman: President, statesman
George Washington: President, general, statesman
Other leaders:
Benjamin Franklin: Scientist, statesman, inventor
Alexander Hamilton: Financier, economist, statesman
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: Supreme Court Justice
George Marshall: General, diplomat, statesman
John Marshall: Fourth Chief Justice
William Seward: Diplomat; bought Alaska
Earl Warren: Chief Justice, governor
Daniel Webster: Orator, advocate, statesman
Roger Williams: Statesman, religious leader
Native American leaders:
Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt): Leader, peacemaker, tactician
Sitting Bull: Indian leader, warrior
Tecumseh: Indian leader, uniter
Activists:
Women’s rights/suffrage:
Susan B. Anthony: Suffrage activist
Carrie Chapman Catt: Women’s rights suffragist
Cesar Chavez: Civil rights activist
Margaret Sanger: Birth-control pioneer
Civil Rights/Abolitionists:
John Brown: Righteous, inspirational abolitionist
Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist, orator
William Lloyd Garrison: Abolitionist, writer
Langston Hughes: Harlem Renaissance poet
Martin Luther King Jr.: Preacher, orator, humanitarian
Jackie Robinson: Athlete, activist, inspiration
Eleanor Roosevelt: Reformer, writer, advocate
Harriet Tubman: Civil rights advocate
Malcolm X: Civil rights leader
Other:
Henry Bergh: Saved children, animals
Daniel Bliss: Educator, AUB founder
Thomas Nast: Editorial cartoonist, muckraker
Thomas Paine: Political theorist, pamphleteer
Upton Sinclair: Author, muckraker
Whoops. Left
Jimi Hendrix
and
Elvis Presley
off the list.
Generals and soldiers:
Joshua Chamberlain: Civil War hero
Dwight D. Eisenhower: President, war hero
Andrew Jackson: President, general, populist
Douglas MacArthur: WWII general
Audie Murphy: Decorated soldier, actor
George S. Patton: WWII general, orator
John J. Pershing: Top WWI general
Wow, no Grant.