A Thinking Reed

Greatness inflation

Written by

Lee M.

in

The Discovery Channel is doing a new series to determine who the “greatest” American is. The list of 100 nominees will be whittled down by voting over the course of the series.

The list of nominees is pretty presposterous. Apart from the obvious inclusions, there are a lot of people that seem to be on there for no other reason than that they’re alive or celebrities of various sorts.

Here’s the list; I’ve bolded the people that seem to uncontroversially belong there (i.e. they would be on anyone’s short list), and italicized those who seem completely ridiculous as candidates (plain text means I can see reasons for inclusion, but they’re not an obvious choice):

Abraham Lincoln
Albert Einstein
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Hamilton
Amelia Earhart
Andrew Carnegie
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Audie Murphy
Babe Ruth
Barack Obama
Barbara Bush
Benjamin Franklin
Bill Clinton
Bill Cosby (William Henry Cosby, Jr.)
Bill Gates
Billy Graham
Bob Hope
Brett Favre
Carl Sagan
Cesar Chavez
Charles Lindbergh
Christopher Reeve
Chuck Yeager
Clint Eastwood
Colin Powell
Condoleezza Rice
Donald Trump
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eleanor Roosevelt (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt)
Ellen DeGeneres
Elvis Presley
Frank Sinatra
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Frederick Douglass
George H. W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Lucas
George Patton
George Washington
George Washington Carver
Harriet Ross Tubman
Harry Truman
Helen Keller
Henry Ford
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Howard Hughes
Hugh Hefner
Jackie Robinson (Jack Roosevelt Robinson)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jesse Owens
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Stewart
John Edwards
John Glenn
John F. Kennedy
John Wayne
Johnny Carson (John William Carson)
Jonas Edward Salk
Joseph Smith Jr.
Katharine Hepburn
Lance Armstrong
Laura Bush
Lucille Ball
Lyndon B. Johnson
Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone)
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little)
Marilyn Monroe
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Martha Stewart
Martin Luther King Jr.
Maya Angelou
Mel Gibson
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan
Michael Moore
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.)
Neil Alden Armstrong
Nikola Tesla
Oprah Winfrey
Pat Tillman
Dr. Phil McGraw
Ray Charles
Richard Nixon
Robert Kennedy
Ronald Reagan
Rosa Parks
Rudolph W. Giuliani
Rush Limbaugh
Sam Walton
Steve Jobs
Steven Spielberg
Susan B. Anthony
Theodore Roosevelt
Thomas Edison
Thomas Jefferson
Tiger Woods
Tom Cruise
Tom Hanks
Walt Disney
Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur Wright)

As a general rule I would exclude any current Hollywood stars as well as politicians who have as yet to really accomplish anything substantial (John Edwards??). Personally sports stars leave me cold, but I can recognize that certain ones have acheived iconic status (Muhammed Ali, Babe Ruth). Ditto for singers (Elvis, Sinatra).

(link and idea via Professor Bainbridge)

Comments

4 responses to “Greatness inflation”

  1. Michael Gilleland

    I would italicize several more names on the list, although you’ve made a good start at weed removal.

    Reply
  2. Joshie

    The idea actually was ripped off the CBC who had a national program to determine the greatest Canadian. http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/

    Some of those were pretty goofy as well. Wayne Gretzky came in 10th.

    But the most curious omition to me are the number of musicians not on the list. No Louie Armstrong? Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin or Itzhak Perlman the greatest living violinist on the planet? And if Elivis and Madonna made it then surely the Beach Boys, the Ramones, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Prince should be on.
    Come to think of it there seems to be a pretty blantant racial bias there as well. Babe Ruth gets on but no Hank Aaron. Sinatra but no Louis Armstrong, Elvis but no Chuck Berry.

    Reply
  3. The young fogey

    Search my blog and LRC to read reasons to question Lincoln’s and FDR’s alleged greatness. Or in a sense they were great but so were Hitler and Stalin, great but not good.

    Reply
  4. Joshie

    give me a break!

    Reply

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