Greatest living American elimination game (game thread)

Obama

Fauci

Fauci

Fauci tho he was a hero

Obama for his drone terror campaign.

Obama

Obama

Fauci

If it weren’t for Obama, my daughter still wouldn’t be able to get health insurance, so Fauci.

Fauci.

I don’t know who the real Greatest Living American is, but you’ll never get me to believe (s)he’s a politician.

Yeah, I’d agree. I also find Obama’s silence on Trump deafening.

You don’t say.

I mean, that’s all campaign or election stuff, isn’t it? I read the question as, what is Obama doing now to fight against this growing reign of fascism?

Well, madmonk28 disliked “Obama’s silence on Trump,” which is clearly a misconception.

And from 2018-2025, “all campaign or election stuff”? He’s a former POTUS. What more would you have him do?

Fauci

Fauci

Our votes this round:

Anthony Fauci: Physician, immunologist, scientist - 9 votes
Barack Obama: President, statesman, lawyer - 4 votes

Dr. Anthony Fauci is a remarkable physician and longtime public servant who arguably did more than anyone else to get his country safely through the COVID pandemic, to say nothing of his earlier work during the AIDS crisis. I’d say he can be proud of having come in second only to the 44th President of the United States in Dopers’ estimation as the Greatest Living American.

And so, our winner:

Barack Obama: President, statesman, lawyer

Eliminated

  1. Jim Gaffigan: Comedian, author, commentator
  2. Craig Ferguson: Polymath, director-writer, comedian
  3. Mitt Romney: Senator, impeachment juror
  4. Buzz Aldrin: Second on Moon
  5. Taylor Swift: Musician, songwriter, icon
  6. Tim Walz: Honorable political messenger
  7. Simone Biles: GOAT gymnast
  8. Judy Blume: Children’s literature icon
  9. Amanda Gorman: Poet, activist, prodigy
  10. Jim Lovell: Apollo 13 astronaut
  11. Spike Lee: Filmmaker, Knicks fan
  12. Janet Yellen: Economist, Treasury secretary
  13. Magic Johnson: Superstar, survivor, inspiration
  14. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Athlete, writer, activist
  15. Amory Lovins: Physicist, energy activist
  16. Steven Spielberg: Director, writer, entertainer
  17. MacKenzie Scott: Philanthropist, prize-winning novelist
  18. Mark Kelly: Senator, astronaut, aviator
  19. Stephen King: Great American writer
  20. Bruce Springsteen: Singer, songwriter, activist
  21. Warren Buffett: Level-headed billionaire
  22. Bill Gates: Futurist, philanthropist, billionaire
  23. Bob Dylan: Poet of generation
  24. Jesse Jackson: Civil rights leader
  25. Bernie Sanders: Democratic Socialist leader
  26. Joe Biden: President, uniter, overcomer
  27. Elizabeth Warren: Fighting political foes
  28. José Andrés: Humanitarian, chef
  29. Dolly Parton: Artist, humanitarian
  30. Anthony Fauci: Physician, immunologist, scientist

My thanks to all who participated! I had fun and learned a lot, and hope you did, too.

I obviously don’t think it was near enough. Remember them yucking it up at Carter’s funeral? He has failed to show leadership on what is the greatest crisis any living American has faced. Your thinking that I wasn’t aware of what he has said on Trump is a misconception on your part.

Thanks for putting it together. I found the iterative nature made me think, rethink, and think yet again about how I define greatness. Once it got down to the last few, however, I really needed to sharpen my pencil. Personally, I was less swayed by the accomplishments of career politicians than of ‘regular people’ (loosely defined), because I tend to believe that career politicians are not in it for purely altruistic motives. I don’t really consider Warren a career politician: IMO, she’s a reluctant politician. Andrés and Parton, OTOH, see needs and fill them. As for Fauci, I think he’d have been happy being an anonymous advocate for science known only to those that needed to know.

I guess I feel about this outcome pretty much the same way I felt about Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize: Did he really deserve it? Probably not, but I’m not going to argue too much with it, either.