The greatest American is…
Links 06/13/2003 |In preparation for a show airing next week entitled ‘What the World Thinks of America,’ the BBC took nominations for the ten greatest Americans of all time. Nominations have closed, and now it’s time to vote!
So, out of a completely open playing field, what ten people were nominated as the ten greatest Americans ever?
Bill Clinton, Bob Dylan, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Homer Simpson, Mr. T, and George Washington.
Homer Simpson? Mr. T?
And, while this is kind of amusing, it’s also kind of disturbing — the current standings, after 28,548 votes:
- Bill Clinton (3.53%)
- Franklin D Roosevelt (3.78%)
- Benjamin Franklin (4.07%)
- George Washington (4.62%)
- Bob Dylan (5.12%)
- Thomas Jefferson (5.72%)
- Mr. T (8.17%)
- Martin Luther King Jr. (9.08%)
- Abraham Lincoln (9.60%)
- Homer Simpson (46.33%)
For the record, I voted for Martin Luther King, Jr.
(via Prairie)
Update: The website for the show (linked above) looks very interesting too. It includes a short 10-question quiz about America — that I got a whopping 60% on. Ouch. Maybe I need to watch the show, too…
[See also: …ask what you can do for your country. | Links for June 23rd through June 24th | Martin Luther’s Toilet | Martin Luther King Day | Bush sets new record ]
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5 Responses to “The greatest American is…”
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Cheryl
Bertamum
Michael Hanscom
Snail_5
Bob
June 13th, 2003 at 3:24 pm
Hm, I wonder if people are interpreting the question not as - “who is the greatest person in this list of american people” but as “who is the best american (adjective american)” - ei who is the most american, or who best embodies the concept of an american.
that’s pretty bad…
June 13th, 2003 at 3:30 pm
woah! at least they pegged it right -
From the link on the main page about that show - you can follow one that says “America answers back.” Here is the picture from the page:
I don’t know whether to feel relieved that the world recognizes that this isn’t the whole of america working toward this, to feel worried that they think all of america has become of the same mindset, or to laugh because the elephant looks like its in the middle of some crosshairs…
June 13th, 2003 at 7:00 pm
50% here, I guess that explains my poor grades in school. Worse yet, I got right what I thought was the hard ones and missed the easy ones.
Most people might disagree but I think history will be very kind to Bill Clinton and show him as the great president he was. Yes he did some stupid things but everybody does.
They offered George Washington the position of “King” But he said I don’t want to be a King, rewrite the position and change the title and I’ll think about it. So George set wheels in motion for us to be lead by Presidents. If he had said yes the first time we might still have Kings! For that and that alone he has my vote.
The fact that Mr T is on the list as well as Homer Simpson will cause me to not sleep well tonight.
Also although I did say 50 states and got that correct. The reality is in fact 49, I know… I know Alaska was the 50th state and I lived there long enough to know but what most people don’t know is… Kentucky is not a state but rather The Commonwealth of Kentucky. http://www.50states.com/kentucky.htm So we only have 49 “states”
June 13th, 2003 at 8:04 pm
Woot! I got 9 out of 10 right! I got the “Who discovered America” one wrong… I marked Vikings… I just have a thing for Vikings… cough yes, well anyways…
When I was taking this test I had to determine whether they wanted what they teach American school children in 3rd grade, or the “scholarly” answer and my mind said, “They’re British! Of course they want the scholarly answer!”
June 15th, 2003 at 12:10 am
I got 6 as well. Hmmm… I guess I should move to England.