# The greatest of the greatest Americans/Britons/Canadians
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 30, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017 "2014-08-30T23:40:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/1 "2014-08-30T23:40:13Z")
There have been a few of those ‘greatest ever’ polls for various nationalities - so I’ve compiled a list of those I can be bothered to (if your nationality isn’t included, it’s because I’m racist and I hate you) of the top ten results. Which one of those top ten do you reckon is the greatest?
Loooong poll incoming, so bear with us. Grouped them by nationalities and results, in descending order to see if you lot agree with the results.
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### Author:  [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/2 "2014-08-31T00:29:14Z")
Cromwell? Stalin?
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### Author:  [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/3 "2014-08-31T00:31:35Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#):
>
> Cromwell? Stalin?
Don’t shoot the messenger! Mass murderers Stalin and Cromwell came [number 3](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Russia_%28Russia_TV%29) and [number 10](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_Britons#Top_10_on_the_list) in their polls.
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### Author:  [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/4 "2014-08-31T03:06:25Z")
George Washington for me
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### Author:  [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/5 "2014-08-31T03:17:15Z")
Sorry, but I can’t answer your poll. Five of the so-called ten greatest Americans (Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley, Oprah Winfrey) don’t belong in the top ten. I doubt they belong in the top 100. I’m not claiming the others all do, but these five do not. Note that seven of the ten come from the 20th or 21st century and six of the seven are famous for the last half of the 20th century or the 21st century.
I can’t speak to the other countries.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/6 "2014-08-31T03:50:42Z")
Christopher Columbus was Italian, not Spanish. Marie Curie was Polish, not French. Stalin was Georgian, not Russian. Alexander the Great was Macedonian, not Greek (ok, maybe that one is a bit nitpicky).
Apart from those inaccuracies (and there may well be more - I did not search hard) there are some very weird options here, and some glaring omissions, quite apart from the very arbitrary selection of countries (Canada, but no Italy or Netherlands! No China!). There are several French people I have never heard of, for instance, but no Descartes, no Napoleon, no Villon, no Louis XIV, no Lavoisier, no Laplace, no Poincaré, no Sartre, no Racine, no Montaigne. Sorry, this poll is borked. I am not voting.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/7 "2014-08-31T04:45:52Z")
Also, George W. Bush wasn’t even the best American President named George Bush! (And even the one who was does not really belong on a list of better than average Presidents, let alone Greatest Americans.)
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/8 "2014-08-31T05:11:21Z")
I am more than a little bemused at any poll that is comparing Diana, Princess of Wales and Isambard Kingdom Brunel :p.
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/9 "2014-08-31T05:28:01Z")
The Russian (kayfabe) section is invalid without Ivan Koloff (who was portrayed by a Canadian)
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/10 "2014-08-31T05:42:07Z")
I am glad to see that Ben Franklin is leading. He was a true polymath and the best evidence we have for time travelers so far. He was an inventor, scientist, publisher, founding father, ambassador as well as a ladies man. There are not too many examples of that breadth of human endeavor among anyone ever except someone like Leonardo Da Vinci (even Leonardo didn’t help found any great nation).
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### Author:  [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/11 "2014-08-31T12:06:11Z")
> [@njtt](#):
>
> Christopher Columbus was Italian, not Spanish. Marie Curie was Polish, not French. Stalin was Georgian, not Russian. Alexander the Great was Macedonian, not Greek (ok, maybe that one is a bit nitpicky).
>
> Apart from those inaccuracies (and there may well be more - I did not search hard) there are some very weird options here, and some glaring omissions, quite apart from the very arbitrary selection of countries (Canada, but no Italy or Netherlands! No China!). There are several French people I have never heard of, for instance, but no Descartes, no Napoleon, no Villon, no Louis XIV, no Lavoisier, no Laplace, no Poincaré, no Sartre, no Racine, no Montaigne. Sorry, this poll is borked. I am not voting.
> [@OldGuy](#):
>
> Sorry, but I can’t answer your poll. Five of the so-called ten greatest Americans (Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley, Oprah Winfrey) don’t belong in the top ten. I doubt they belong in the top 100. I’m not claiming the others all do, but these five do not. Note that seven of the ten come from the 20th or 21st century and six of the seven are famous for the last half of the 20th century or the 21st century.
>
> I can’t speak to the other countries.
Again, these are from the [top ten results found from the ‘greatest nationality’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Britons_spin-offs) programs, these \*aren’t \*my personal choices. Should have made that more clear I guess. Out of the top ten pick your preference, if you have one.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/12 "2014-08-31T15:16:20Z")
I can’t believe Don Cherry is on your list. Do you even know who Don Cherry is?
Sorry his inclusion makes the whole thing too silly to even vote in, for me!
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/13 "2014-08-31T16:28:27Z")
> [@elbows](#):
>
> I can’t believe Don Cherry is on your list. Do you even know who Don Cherry is?
>
> Sorry his inclusion makes the whole thing too silly to even vote in, for me!
Yeah I agree. Replace Don Cherry with Romeo Dallaire.
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### Author:  [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/14 "2014-08-31T16:54:41Z")
And no Obsma? This is crazy.
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### Author:  [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/15 "2014-08-31T17:35:26Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#):
>
> I am more than a little bemused at any poll that is comparing Diana, Princess of Wales and Isambard Kingdom Brunel :p.
Well, they do have bridges in common. 😛
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/16 "2014-08-31T20:12:09Z")
I think Florence Nightengale should be in the top ten for Great Britain. Come on, she basically invented the modern hospital system, not to mention the profession of nursing. (Yes, of course there were members of religious orders who were nurses before her, but she turned secular nurses into a valued part of the health care system–although not nearly valued enough, in my opinion.) She also worked on improving public sanitation.
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### Author:  [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/17 "2014-08-31T21:38:21Z")
The socialist in me likes Tommy Douglas but in my view Newton, Shakespeare, Plato, Einstein and Mendeleev should be at the top. That I can vote for Don Cherry really makes my day.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/18 "2014-08-31T22:46:33Z")
> [@elbows](#):
>
> I can’t believe Don Cherry is on your list. Do you even know who Don Cherry is?
>
> Sorry his inclusion makes the whole thing too silly to even vote in, for me!
Unless you’re just winding me up for shits and giggles, **it’s not my list** , I took them all from “Greatest American” “Greatest Canadian” etc. programs; in the [Canadian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Canadian#Top_10) version Don Cherry was ranked number 7 (and is the seventh Canadian choice as a result).
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### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/19 "2014-09-01T01:45:13Z")
> [@jsquire](#):
>
> The socialist in me likes Tommy Douglas but in my view Newton, Shakespeare, Plato, Einstein and Mendeleev should be at the top. That I can vote for Don Cherry really makes my day.
In the CBC’s “[The Greatest Canadian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Canadian)” project, Tommy came first, but Grapes (to my disgust) beat both Bell and The Great One.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-of-the-greatest-americans-britons-canadians/697017/20 "2014-09-01T02:21:35Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#):
>
> Again, these are from the [top ten results found from the ‘greatest nationality’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Britons_spin-offs) programs, these \*aren’t \*my personal choices. Should have made that more clear I guess. Out of the top ten pick your preference, if you have one.
You chose to post it. Why not find something sensible and interesting to post next time, instead of incoherent rubbish like this? You don’t have to repost all the shit you find on the internet here.
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