# Historic Figures Who'd Make Good Dopers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172 "2004-06-25T13:41:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/1 "2004-06-25T13:41:02Z")
Jane Austen ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/2 "2004-06-25T13:54:35Z")
Samuel Clemens, Ralph Bunche, Francis Bacon, Alexander Pope (hell, all the member of the Scriblerus Club), Ralph Emerson, Langston Hughes and Franz Boas. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/3 "2004-06-25T14:17:42Z")
Leonardo DaVinci would feel right at home here. Ben Franklin would be popular. Karl Marx would _own_ Great Debates. I wish John Glenn would sign up. Or Burt Rutan. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/4 "2004-06-25T14:21:51Z")
I would love to see **Eve** and H. L. Mencken go toe-to-toe in a snark-off… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/5 "2004-06-25T14:34:29Z")
Anyone from the Alogonquin Table would be welcomed. Image **Eve** and **Dorothy Parker** in a snark-off. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/6 "2004-06-25T16:04:27Z")
I nominate Ben Franklin, for his wide-ranging knowledge of science and politics, but equally for his raunchy sense of humor. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Yamirskoonir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c0e974/32.png) [@Yamirskoonir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yamirskoonir)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/7 "2004-06-25T16:15:52Z")
Twain! Oh my dear Samuel Clemens, is there no way to ressurect you?!?! Imagine all the TMI he could contribute to MPSIMS! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/8 "2004-06-25T16:17:11Z")
Ben Franklin for sure, but what about Harry Truman and George C Marshall. Both seemed to have an ability to see the reality in events, looking past the surface. On the other hand, both we pretty close-mouthed. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/9 "2004-06-25T16:18:21Z")
Wittgenstein would be fun until he got banned. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/10 "2004-06-25T16:37:36Z")
Daniel Webster Hammurabi Confucius O. Henry ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/11 "2004-06-25T17:00:58Z")
Not exactly a historic figure – but what the hell, it was my OP, if I can’t go off on a tangent, who can? For sheer raw snarkery, I’d love to see Paul Lynde post in either Care Society or MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/12 "2004-06-25T17:44:12Z")
**Kruschev** would add some fire to the Pit. And **Harlan Ellison** , until he was banned. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/13 "2004-06-25T18:10:09Z")
I would have liked to have a chat with [Will Rogers](http://www.willrogers.org/) sometime. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/14 "2004-06-25T18:28:31Z")
Isaac Asimov ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/15 "2004-06-25T18:35:17Z")
Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, John Stuart Mill, The Duke of Wellington, Pepys, Aristotle, Plato. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/16 "2004-06-25T18:43:49Z")
**Nietzsche** ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/17 "2004-06-25T18:54:31Z")
Hm. (An excellent thread topic/question.) Ha! Ambrose Bierce. What a delightful horror show that would’ve been. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/18 "2004-06-25T18:59:50Z")
Thomas Jefferson. At least he could finally end the various SOCAS threads that are running at any given moment. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/19 "2004-06-25T19:29:54Z")
Most of the Founding Fathers. Jefferson and Franklin have already been mentioned, but Madison, Adams (John and Sam) Hamilton, Patrick Henry, Tom Paine, George Mason, John Jay…oh yeah, and George Washington. He’s got a rep as an intellectual lightweight, but look at the competition. He wouldn’t have posted a lot, but I think he could have held his own here when he did. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172/20 "2004-06-25T19:32:26Z")
Oscar Wilde [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/historic-figures-whod-make-good-dopers/252172.md?page=2)