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| | colspan="2" style="font-size: larger; text-align: center;" | '''''The Greatest American''''' | |||
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| | align="center" colspan="2" | <!--] commenting out image with no source/bad FairUse claim--> <br /><small style="font-size: 91%;"></small> | |||
| |- style="vertical-align: top;" | |||
| | '''Run time''' | |||
| | 1 hour | |||
| |- style="vertical-align: top;" | |||
| | '''Host''' | |||
| | ] | |||
| |- style="vertical-align: top;" | |||
| | '''Executive Producer''' | |||
| | Jason Raff | |||
| |- style="vertical-align: top;" | |||
| | '''Country''' | |||
| | ] | |||
| |- style="vertical-align: top;" | |||
| | '''Network''' | |||
| | ] | |||
| |- style="vertical-align: top;" | |||
| | '''First aired''' | |||
| | ], ] | |||
| |} | |||
| '''The Greatest American''' was a four-part television series hosted by ] in which millions of Americans nominated and elected whom they thought was the greatest person in U.S. history. The competition was conducted by ] and the ] and reported on by the BBC. | |||
| Nominations were accepted through ], ]. The 7-hour-long series was broken into 4 episodes: The first episode counted down the top 100 and introduced the top 25 nominees in alphabetical order. The second episode featured biographies of the top 25 nominees as well as commentaries from influential people such as celebrities and politicians. The third episode, called "The Great Debate", introduced the top 5 nominees and pitted the studio audience supporters of each of the nominees and a person selected to represent each of the top 5 candidates against a panel of 3 celebrities. In the finale the top 5 "Greatest Americans" were announced as well as what percentage of the votes each had received. Votes were taken through a toll free (if calling from a ]) phone number, through ]s from ]s, and through online voting. Voters were allowed to vote three times per voting method, so anyone had a chance of voting at least nine times. The three states with the most votes being received were ], ], and ] (] 1st, 2nd, and 4th in population). | |||
| ==The Top 25== | |||
| {{wrapper}} | |||
| |],<br/> the 40th ], introduced '']'' economic policy, and contributed to the ending of the ].]] | |||
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| |],<br/> president during the ] and wrote the ].]] | |||
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| |], a civil rights activist who promoted non-violent activism and equality.]] | |||
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| |],<br/> known to many as the "Father of the United States" was America's first president.]] | |||
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| |],<br/> one of the most famous founding fathers of the United States.]] | |||
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| |]<br/>is the current president, and was at the time of the ]; he ] during his first term.]] | |||
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| |]<br/>was president during a ].]] | |||
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| |]<br/>was dubbed the king of rock n' roll, and revolutionized American music.]] | |||
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| |]<br/> was dubbed the Queen of media and one of America's wealthiest.]] | |||
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| {{end}} | |||
| #] - 24% - named "Greatest American" | |||
| #] - 23.5% | |||
| #] - 19.7% - named "Greatest African American" and "America's Greatest Preacher" | |||
| #] - 17.7% - named "Greatest Founding Father" | |||
| #] - 14.9% - named "Greatest American Inventor" | |||
| #] - named "Greatest Living American" | |||
| #] | |||
| #] - named "America's Greatest Entertainer" | |||
| #] - named "Greatest Woman in American history" & "Greatest American Broadcaster" | |||
| #] - named "Greatest Disabled American" | |||
| #] | |||
| #] | |||
| #] - Named "Greatest American Filmmaker" | |||
| #] - named "Greatest American Scientist," "America's Greatest Immigrant" & "Greatest Jewish American" | |||
| #] | |||
| #] - named "Greatest American Catholic" | |||
| #] - named "America's Greatest Humorist" | |||
| #] | |||
| #] - named "America's Greatest First Lady" | |||
| #] - named "America's Greatest Athlete" | |||
| #] - named "Greatest Muslim American" | |||
| #] | |||
| #] - named "America's Greatest Brothers" | |||
| #] | |||
| #] - named "America's Greatest Astronaut" | |||
| ==Alphabetical list== | |||
| On ],], AOL and The Discovery Channel announced the top 100 nominees. | |||
| The remaining nominees: | |||
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| ==Facts about ''The Greatest American''== | |||
| *Men: 85 (the Wright brothers are given a single entry) | |||
| *Women: 15 | |||
| *Living nominees: 42 | |||
| *African Americans: 16 | |||
| *White Americans: 83 | |||
| *Nominees by area: (halves are awarded if a nominee exceeded in two areas e.g. Eisenhower is under Military and U.S. Presidents) | |||
| **Television, Cinema and Radio: 23 | |||
| **U.S. Presidents: 14.5 | |||
| **First Ladies: 5 | |||
| **Other Political Figures: 15.5 | |||
| **Science: 9.5 | |||
| **Sports: 8.5 | |||
| **Music: 5 | |||
| **Business and Industry: 5 | |||
| **Aviators and Astronauts: 5 | |||
| **Military: 4.0 | |||
| **Literature: 3 | |||
| **Religion: 2 | |||
| **Publishers: 1 | |||
| *Several of the 100 had considerable links to other countries: | |||
| **] was born in ], but had to flee the country when the Nazis rose to power. At various times of his life was also a citizen of ], ], and the ]. He was also offered the presidency of ] at one point. | |||
| **] lived in ] for the first 23 years of his life, immigrated to ], and later died and was buried there. | |||
| **] was also born in ] | |||
| **] lived for about 10 years in ] starting at about age 12 before returning to the US. | |||
| **] grew up in ] and immigrated to the U.S. aged 21 | |||
| **] (Никола Тесла) was a ] born in the ] and immigrated to the U.S. aged 28 | |||
| **] was born in the ], immigrated to the U.S. in 1908 aged 5, and became a U.S. citizen at age 17. | |||
| ==Comments and criticisms== | |||
| * Many viewers and media commentators{{Fact|date=February 2007}} have criticized the shortlist as being extremely ], with only a handful of ] politicians, athletes, innovators and entertainers making the cut. ], ] and ] are the only three females in the Top 25. | |||
| * Much criticism has been made{{Fact|date=February 2007}} of the overselection of entertainers, and a bias towards recent times at the expense of those who lived in the 18th or 19th centuries. | |||
| * Others have complained <ref></ref> about the selection of the then recently deceased Ronald Reagan as the Greatest American, ahead of Abraham Lincoln, often called the Greatest President, George Washington, the first leader of the country, and ], author of the ]. Some criticism was leveled at the biased voting in the final five, which allowed votes to be split between Washington, Lincoln, King, and Franklin and partisan votes allowed Reagan to win, critics argue that if the voting was runoff based Reagan would not have placed as high. | |||
| * Others have complained about the inclusion of Bill Clinton who was ] by the House (though acquitted by the Senate). George W. Bush was selected as the "Greatest Living American" despite an approval rating below 50% at the time, however the ranking was also reflected by an end of year Gallup poll, finding Bush to be the most admired living man in America. The fact that Gallup also found Bill Clinton to be the second most admired living man in America was also consistent with the Greatest American poll.. | |||
| * There were objections{{Fact|date=February 2007}} to many candidates being eligible because of the country in which they were born. For example, ], ], ], ] and ], were born in ], ], ], ] (Serbian) and ] respectively. All 5 were naturalized U.S. citizens, though Einstein was only naturalized well after his major contribution to science. | |||
| ] also appeared on the Canadian version of the show, '']'', ''and'' the original British program, '']'', where he ranked ninth and fifty-seventh place respectively. The ], ], and founder of the ] was born in ], ] in ], before moving to ], ] in ]. Three years later, Bell relocated to ], ] to continue his research into ] ]. He became a ] citizen of the United States, though he maintained an estate and laboratory in Canada, and where he would place the first telephone call in 1876, between Brantford and Paris Ontario. He died and was buried in Canada, though his tombstone bears the prominent line "citizen of the United States." Thus, all three countries make a claim to him. | |||
| == References == | |||
| <references/> | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| {{Countries' greatest people TV series}} | |||
| ] | |||
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| ] | |||