The Atlantic Unveils 100 Most Influential Americans List

Yahoo ^ | 11/22/06

[chilepepper]

PT Barnum, I'm not so sure.

Actually, he has had a profound influence on the American body politic - that is to say, American politicians religiously follow his insight into people - just remember the dictum "there's a sucker born every minute" and you too could become speaker of the house of representatives, or maybe even first lady!

[Wallace T.]

The Jonathan Edwards referred to was the 17th and 18th Century New England Puritan minister whose preaching was influential in the First Great Awakening. Although a Calvinist, unlike many revivalists in the 19th and 20th Centuries, his preaching emphasized the relation of the individual to God, in contrast with the older Puritan heritage that focused on the role of the believers collectively as God's covenant people. His sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", is a classic exposition of the absolute sovereignty of God and the helplessness of man in the area of salvation. Edwards set a model of an emphasis on individual salvation that has characterized evangelical Christianity in America.

Because of the influence of evangelical Christianity in America, Edwards should be ranked ahead of Joseph Smith and Mary Baker Eddy.

[Busywhiskers]

Interesting that they list Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson but they don't list the guys that invented the slider and the splitter.

[LWalk18]

Who is/was Jonathan Edwards - the one on the list?

He was a famous preacher and theologian during the period known as the "Great Awakening" in the 1700's- a religious revival in the then colonies which led to the creation of many new Christian denominations.

[twigs]

I don't understand why James Monroe isn't on the list. The Monroe Doctrine is critical to understanding American foreign policy. The first five presidents should all have been the top of the list, leading with George Washington. Abraham Lincoln deserves to be on the list, but not as #1.

[Borges]

When I read it in College we reffered to it as 'Readers in the Hands of an Angry Writer'. :-)

[My2Cents]

at least I'm not on the "HIT LIST" .........

I'm sure I'm on a few people's "_hit List".

[StoneWall Brigade]

Patton should have made the list

[Borges]

The absence of D.W. Griffith is startling.

[twigs]

I support Thomas Paines' inclusion. His words at the right time helped us win the American Revolution. Without him, Washington would have had a much more difficult time keeping the army together.

I agree that Nader shouldn't be on the list, nor Babe Ruth.

[catman67]

No mention also of Joseph Henry or Edwin H. Armstrong

Joseph Henry was the Preeminent American scientist of the early 19th century. Discovered important principles of inductance and self-inductance upon which all modern electronics are based. Considered important enough to have a scientific unit named after him. the "henry" is the unit of inductance. First director of the Smithsonian Institution. Provided encouragement and guidance to other scientists, including Alexander Graham Bell.

E.H. Armstrong invented the regeneration circuit, super-heterodyne receivers and FM radio. We would not have modern broadcast radio and television without his work.

[stylin19a]

...dictum "there's a sucker born every minute"

um...isn't that redundant ?

[My2Cents]

If it weren't for Polk, the entire Southwest would be equivalent to a third-world nation, swarming with Mexicans...Uh, wait a minute....

[meandog]

Barry Goldwater? Leland Stanford? Mariano Vallejo? Sam Houston? Daniel Boone? David Crockett? Crazy Horse? Nathan B. Forrest? Tecumseh? Edward Teller? Bill Bridger? Jim Thorpe? et al....left out. I do not see how persons such as Betty Friedan, Earl Warren, Rachel Carson, William Lloyd Garrison or George Gallup could top these.

[My2Cents]

He did more than desegregate a game. Baseball was "America" back then.

[LWalk18]

I agree that Nader shouldn't be on the list, nor Babe Ruth.

Why not Babe Ruth?

[twigs]

I just don't consider an athlete one of the most influential 100 people in America. I know they're important to some people, but not that high. I still can't believe that James Monroe is not on this list. The Monroe Doctrine?

[Jakarta ex-pat]

I might not be American, but I do know this.
If george washington isn't the greatest American, nobody is.

[Night Hides Not]

29 Earl Warren

LOL!!!!

Earl was so influential that the junior high that I attended bearing his name has been renamed!

Funny thing is, my niece is now in 7th grade at the same school in Castro Valley, CA.

Don't know what it was renamed as, nor do I care.

[luckystarmom]

The women on the list!!!!!

I hadn't heard of a lot of them and when I looked them up, they are with the women's movement, a sex anthropologist, an environmentalist. All very liberal.

Doesn't Sally Ride get counted as being influential.

Are there any women that have done things that aren't liberal?