Do people really think it’s a statesmen over a businessman or an inventor? Ford?
Depends on how you define important. In a way FDR should be on the list. Aside from the new deal and being the CoC during the war effort, by the time the war was over the US was the world superpower. Much of our international business competition was destroyed by war. So the US emerged from WW2 as a much bigger player in international affairs than we were a decade before that.
I have no idea who ‘the’ most important one is. If we had stayed a colony, would that have been so bad? I think virtually all of Britain’s colonies that were settled by europeans ended up doing well for themselves wrt GDP, technology and science (Canada, US, New Zealand, Australia, Israel). So it isn’t like we’d be a nation of impoverished slaves if we hadn’t had the revolution in the late 18th century.
Let’s face it, the dominance of the US is based on (in order of importance): 1. MASSIVE natural resources that were valuable to agricultural, proto-industrial, and industrial societies and that were relatively easy to access. 2. Related to 1, lots of space to grow. 3. Separation from the destructive wars of Europe. 4. The right people at the right time. The specific people were a quaternary cause at best…
I’d add in that we’re a nation of immigrants. America was formed by people from all over the world who were willing to take a big chance in pursuit of self-advancement.
I think the Declaration of Independence became important because Jefferson wrote it. The man had a gift for writing (although his contemporaries often missed this because he was terrible at public speaking). Jefferson wrote a literary masterpiece so it became famous. If Adams had written it, it would have done the same job but it would have been nothing more than a legal document.
I think the nature of how society works means the most important person is going to be a statesman.
The nature of the free market means there are always a pool of businessmen and inventors trying to achieve something. If there’s an opportunity, somebody will find it eventually. People like Henry Ford and Bill Gates are important but I believe if they hadn’t been there, somebody else would have ended up doing essentially the same thing they did.
Politics is different. There’s usually one person in a position, for good or bad. If a good person is there at the right time, he can save the country. But if the wrong person is there at the wrong time, you’re stuck with him until the next election and he can cause a lot of damage before then.
I’m going to have to agree with Mr. Nemo here. There’s no denying Thomas Jefferson was a genius. Now we can disagree on where he is relative to other major players in the US, but there’s no denying Thomas Jefferson wasn’t an amazing man.
I have no love for depression-era FDR because many of his actions actually prolonged the great depression, causing it to last longer than it should have. In fact, there was another downturn in the late 30’s that was a result of FDR’s actions. However, he was certainly a good leader for the WW2 years, especially for being a mediator between Churchill and Stalin.
My feeling is that James Madison, as the main framer of the constitution, federalist paper author, founding father, and US prez, was pretty darn influential in establishing the basis of our nation’s government, and we still abide by that same framework today.
Michael Kennedy and Sony Bono?
+1 
hard not to vote for Jefferson. Great intellect and patriotism. A long record of excellent service to country and state.
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned Norman Borlaug yet? Granted, his most important contributions were to the rest of the world rather than America proper, but he is known as “The Man Who Saved a Billion Lives”, developing semi-dwarf, high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties.
Beat me by ten minutes. Borlaug is the most important American who ever lived.
And I’d argue that includes his impact on the USA too. No, his work did not save any Americans from starvation, but how much more unstable would the world have been without Borlaug’s work, and the USA affected by that instability?
No. Not smashed up by a tree. Eaten as in literally consumed for nutrition.
Maybe Ben Franklin, actually. His land speculation led him to back the War for Independence. He also said lots of silly things that became proverbs. He probably casts the broadest, weirdest shadow.
Best US President: FDR (Washington used to be first for me, but I now place him 2nd).
Greatest hero: For me, John Brown, but I don’t know if he was important so much as mythic.
For technological advancement, I kind of want to give points to Thomas Edison and his shop of inventors, but I don’t know.
Greatest writer: Of course I’m going to say Samuel Clemens, but I can’t really say for sure.
Most important? I just don’t know.
I could be weird and say Napoleon Bonaparte, as the most seminal figure in Western history for a long stretch of time, and the man who sold the Yanks Louisiana for war funds instead of losing resources fighting them over it.
Ford didn’t invent anything. He’s primarily known for applying the already-extant assembly line concept to automobile production, and for paying his workers well.
Actually Ford’s biggest contribution was in the courtroom.
George Selden was a lawyer and backyard mechanic. At a time when many people were working on building self-propelled automobiles, Selden did something unique - he filed for a patent on the idea. For several years after that, Selden - who never sold any automobiles himself - required any automobile manufacturer in the country to pay him for a license. The fees he collected discouraged many people from going into the business.
Ford was the one who decided to fight back. He defied Selden and fought him in court. Ford eventually won his case and Selden’s patent was overturned, making it legally possible for Ford or anyone else, to build and sell automobiles if they wanted to without having to pay for any rights.
Greetings.
Just registered to post this because it surprised me no-one had yet mentioned… Amerigo Vespucci. It’s not the USA without Mr. A.
I nominated John Brown in the “Greatest American” game 3 years ago, but he was soon booted off. This great martyr’s aunt happens to be my ancestor, so I’ve taken an interest in him, reading the biography by David Reynolds. He certainly was mythic and a bit quixotic, though, unlike Don Quixote, he ultimately won his fight: John Brown’s contribution to the Civil War is usually underestimated. His methods have been condemned but, IMHO, nonviolent resistance may be overrated. 
I still think Harriet Beecher Stowe did more for the cause than Brown did.