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The Greatest American

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The Greatest American

Run time 1 hour
Host Matt Lauer
Executive Producer Jason Raff
Country United States
Network Discovery Channel
First aired June 5, 2005

The Greatest American was a four-part television series hosted by Matt Lauer in which millions of Americans nominated and elected who they thought was the greatest person in U.S. history. The competition was conducted by AOL and the Discovery Channel and reported on by the BBC.

Nominations were accepted through January 31, 2005. 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 land line) phone number, through text messages from cell phones, 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 California, Texas, and Florida (ranked 1st, 2nd, and 4th in population).

The Top 25

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1. Ronald Reagan,
the 40th President of the United States, introduced laissez-faire economic policy, and contributed to the ending of the Cold War.

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2. Abraham Lincoln,
president during the American Civil War and wrote the Emancipation Proclamation.

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3. Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights activist who promoted non-violent activism and equality.

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4. George Washington,
known to many as the "Father of the United States" was America's first president.

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5. Benjamin Franklin,
one of the most famous founding fathers of the United States.

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7. Bill Clinton
was president during a period of economic growth and prosperity.

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8. Elvis Presley
was dubbed the king of rock n' roll, and revolutionized American music.

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9. Oprah Winfrey
was dubbed the Queen of media and one of America's wealthiest.

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  1. Ronald Reagan - 24%
  2. Abraham Lincoln - 23.5%
  3. Martin Luther King, Jr. - 19.7%
  4. George Washington - 17.7%
  5. Benjamin Franklin - 14.9%
  6. George W. Bush
  7. Bill Clinton
  8. Elvis Presley
  9. Oprah Winfrey
  10. Franklin D. Roosevelt
  11. Wernher von Braun
  12. Thomas Jefferson
  13. Walt Disney
  14. Albert Einstein
  15. Thomas Alva Edison
  16. John F. Kennedy
  17. Bob Hope
  18. Bill Gates
  19. Eleanor Roosevelt
  20. Lance Armstrong
  21. Muhammad Ali
  22. Rosa Parks
  23. The Wright Brothers
  24. Henry Ford
  25. Neil Armstrong

Alphabetical list

On April 18,2005, AOL and The Discovery Channel announced the top 100 nominees.

The remaining nominees:

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:

Comments and criticisms

  • Many viewers and media commentators have criticized the shortlist as being extremely androcentric, with only a handful of female politicians, athletes, innovators and entertainers making the cut. Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt and Oprah Winfrey are the only three females in the Top 25.
  • Much criticism has been made 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 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 Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. 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 impeached 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 to many candidates being eligible because of the country in which they were born. For example, Albert Einstein, Bob Hope, Andrew Carnegie, Nikola Tesla and Arnold Schwarzenegger, were born in Germany, England, Scotland, Austria-Hungary (Serbian) and Austria respectively. All 5 were naturalized U.S. citizens, though Einstein was only naturalized well after his major contribution to science.

Alexander Graham Bell also appeared on the Canadian version of the show, The Greatest Canadian, and the original British program, Great Britons, where he ranked ninth and fifty-seventh place respectively. The scientist, inventor, and founder of the Bell Telephone Company was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1847, before moving to Brantford, Ontario in 1870. Three years later, Bell relocated to Boston, Massachusetts to continue his research into vocal physiology. He became a naturalized 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.

See also

References

  1. Blue Corn Comics - Ronald Reagan...the Greatest American?

External links

Countries' greatest people TV series and media polls
Categories: