This is pretty interesting.  Two lists derived from two sets of bloggers.  I won't even label which is which.  I think you'll be able to tell.  The number of votes for each is in parentheses.

Honorable Mentions: Malcolm X (4), Lucy Stone (4), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (4), Rosa Parks (4), Albert Einstein (4), Eugene V. Debs (4), Jane Addams (4)

20) Sojourner Truth (5)
20) George C. Marshall (5)
20) Mother Jones (5)
20) Lyndon B. Johnson (5)
20) Ulysses S. Grant(5)
16) Margaret Sanger (6)
16) Jonas Salk (6)
16) Cesar Chavez (6)
16) Dorothy Day (6)
15) Teddy Roosevelt (7)
14) Eleanor Roosevelt (8)
11) Harriet Tubman (9)
11) James Madison (9)
11) Thomas Edison (9)
9) Thomas Paine (10)
9) Susan B. Anthony (10)
7) George Washington (11)
7) Mark Twain (11)
5) Benjamin Franklin (14)
5) Frederick Douglass (14)
4) Thomas Jefferson (18)
3) Abraham Lincoln (19)
2) Franklin D. Roosevelt (20)
1) Martin Luther King (22)

 

Honorable Mentions: John F. Kennedy (4), Lewis And Clark (4), William Tecumseh Sherman (5), Jonas Salk (5), John Marshall (5), Milton Friedman (5), George Washington Carver (5), Susan B. Anthony (5), Audie Murphy (6), Douglas MacArthur (6). Patrick Henry (6), Andrew Carnegie (6)

25) Alexander Graham Bell (7)
23) Thomas Paine (8)
23) Frederick Douglass (8)
22) George W. Bush (9)
18) Wright Brothers (10)
18) Mark Twain (10)
18) Harry Truman (10)
18) Bill Gates (10)
17) Dwight D. Eisenhower (12)
15) George Patton (13)
15) Albert Einstein (13)
12) Teddy Roosevelt (14)
12) Franklin D. Roosevelt (14)
12) Ulysses S. Grant (14)
11) Alexander Hamilton (15)
10) Henry Ford (16)
9) John Adams (17)
8) Thomas Edison (21)
7) James Madison (22)
6) Thomas Jefferson (29)
5) Martin Luther King Jr. (30)
4) Ben Franklin (32)
3) George Washington (35)
2) Abraham Lincoln (37)
1) Ronald Reagan (39)

Susan 

 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

I don't know, but I suspect those votes are about the role that Reagan had in the collapse of the Soviet Union and the attendant reduction of the chance of a mutually assured destruction of the earth. The Soviet system was rotten within, but Reagan was a factor in it's downfall. Reagan's strategy worked, the world is further from destruction than it was before his presidency. That is kinda important. 

Thanks for Cold War 101 Raymond.

I also appreciate you bolding the significant phrases. I feel I've learned alot.

Good man Windom !  Now here is a site that will take the blinders off. The link is to a Noam Chumpsky article but the site has cornered the TRUTH on all kinds of subjects. I'm headed there now to educate myself.

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/noamchomskygatekepper26sep05.shtml

 Best link EVAH!!

P.S. Ronald Reagan not so great.  I can't really see what he did to avert the Earth's destruction.

My first pick in that compet is always George Washington. Abraham Lincoln = a close second. I'd fiddle around with many of the others. Frederick Douglass was wonderful. Ben Franklin - a one of a kind American classic!  There are so many great choices!

What can one say, really? I do not see a name on either list that I'd eliminate from an extended list of greatest Americans. In re-ordering a personal list, it becomes important to set your own prejudices aside and really try to measure which of them was the MOST significant to the entire history of the country and the world.

I may work on my top five or top ten list by ONLY using the names on the existing lists above.

Any of you want to try? Or do you not accept there is such a thing as "Greatest American?" Seriously, I'd be interested in which Americans the Chomskyites among us would choose from the two lists above.

Maybe later we can come up with a different list of the truly great world figures like Castro, Che and Ho, ho, ho if everyone is into it.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Hi Hero. I guess Reagan kind of pushed the final confrontation with the Soviets. " Evil Empire", "Tear down this wall", " Star Wars Initiative". I suppose some could call it dangerous brinkmanship. : ) Fortunately the worm was turning, we had Gucci Gorbechev and things worked out OK. Now, if they hadn't ... perhaps no lists at all ?

Susan, by all and any means, post your top 5.

Today I walked on the street in downtown Montreal named President-Kennedy, and I'm surprised he's only on the conservative list.

Not quite as surprised as I am to see George W Bush on either one, though.  I'd like to ask the 9 who voted for him what their criteria was...

I agree, Jamie. I would never have GWB on my list of greatest Americans. Still working on my list, btw, with reasons.

Here's an interesting address from someone on "the list." It's so interesting to read the whole thing in context. I'm just foolish enough to believe that the speaker meant every last word of this speech too.  Good writing even if it does smack of a sinister undercurrent of looming theocracy. Note the frequent use of "God"  and "almighty."

Something for everyone.

Susan

We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom—symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning—signifying renewal, as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge—and more.

To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do—for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom—and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.

To those peoples in the huts and villages across the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required—not because the Communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge—to convert our good words into good deeds—in a new alliance for progress—to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.

To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support—to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective—to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak—and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course—both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.

So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms—and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah—to "undo the heavy burdens ... and to let the oppressed go free."

And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it—and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin