Your Five Most Respected Historical Figures

[DEV]

Who throughout history do you respect the most? You must give five people and the reasons for it. Here are my five.

1. Winston Churchill - Led Britain throughout World War 2. There were elements in the cabinet that wanted to surrender but he stood firm and led the country to victory.
2. Mahatma Gandhi - Also a great leader that refused to use violence against a much stronger force. Always seeking peace he strived for the best for everyone.
3. Martin Luther King - Pretty much the same reasons as Gandhi.
4. Sitting Bull - This man was someone who originally used war as a means to earn his people's freedom before being beaten and resorting to peace. He struggled with getting his people equal rights but was still highly admired and respected.
5. Charles Darwin - While I don't agree with what he said I admire how he took a look at the way society was and thought that things didn't have to be seen like that.

Your thoughts?

 

[crydun]

1)John F. Kennedy-the man had great visions and charisma. I believe this country would be a lot different had he lived longer.

2) Martin Luther King Jr.- Great spiritual leader that gave his people a voice.

3) Franklin D. Roosevelt- Did a lot of great things for this country. Got a lot of programs started.

4) Abe Lincoln-He freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation.

5) Bill Clinton-Some people will laugh but I don't care. He had the economy going and people were happy. And he had charisma too, similar to Kennedy's.

 

[Neutron]

Sitting Bull Wasn't Even Respected By His Own People..

All the attributes you gave to Sitting Bull should really be accorded to Tashunka Witko (Crazy Horse). (I'm part Sioux) Sitting Bull was out for himself and only himself. By the end of his life he was a shill, begging for money.

I'm not sure I agree on JFK, history judges his presidency a lot harder than the public does.

Roosevelt I lke but it was said of the man, Why tell the truth when a lie will suffice.

Churchill. LOL LAUGHABLE!!!! I like his persona, I agree the man was great at symbology but don't buy into the Churchill myth, he more than any other man was responsible for the Cold War and the mess of European politics post WW2.

Clinton was a traitor to the country, but I'd sure love to party with the guy!

Tron

 

[Mitchell]

Being a history major, I have thought of this question many times. Here are my answers.

1. FDR. To me, the best president who ever lived. Led the country through and out of a depression, and through a war, even though he didnt live to see the end of it. Established Social Security, and FDIC insurance, totally changed the financial structure of this country, and implmented monetary protections

2. Truman. Assumed a most difficult position when FDR died, and showed real courage with his decision to drop the A Bomb. Granted, the late 40s and early 50s after the war were good times in this country, with economic stability, but stepping into FDR's shoes as he did was a most difficult task, and he served his country well.

3. Lincoln. Had what many could consider the most difficult presidency ever. Came into office, only to see part of his country secede. Had to lead the country through the war. I have done a lot of research on Lincoln, as he was the subject of my senior thesis. What most people dont know about Lincoln is that he was NOT an abolitionist for slavery. His initial goal in 1861 had nothing to do with slavery, but was merely to reunite the country. Over time, through the war, Lincoln knew that the country could no longer handle the issue of slavery, which is why he issued the Emancipation Proclaimation in 1863. The initial goal for Lincoln was just to prevent the expansion of slavery, and he hoped it would die out gradually. By 1863, the third year of the war, he knew slavery had to end. He achieved his goal, as the country was reunited, and Slavery ended, although he did not live to see the full impact with his death six days after the war ended.

4. Ulysses S Grant: He was a significant historical figure for almost 20 years in the 1860s and 1870s. Not only was he the lead general on the army enlisted to win the Civil War, and reunite the Union, but he also assumed the presidency after a most turbulent time in history, the end of the Civil War, and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. What many dont know about Grant is that he never actively sought the presidency. His prestige was great after the Civil War, and members of the Republican party essentially drafted him to become president. Grant won an overwhelming victory in the election of 1868, and restored peace and stability to the country after the Civil War, Lincoln's assasination, and the Andrew Johnson impeachment. The country was recovering and rebuilding during Grant's term after many turbulent years for many reasons, and Grant provided a stablizing force, and was a most revered leader at that time.

5. Martin Luther King Jr. To me, Dr King was the most important figure for African American civil rights, and one of the most important of the 20th century, and all time. He was a crusader and a champion for the rights of the African American, and fought to establish equality for the African American. His "I have a Dream" speech in Washington in August, 1963 was one of the greatest and most significant speeches in American history. He aided in establishing important Civil rights laws, including the Civil Rights act of 1964, and changed our country forever with his work.

So, those are my five figures. I know four of them are presidents, but I tried to use supporting facts of why I feel as I do. Iam sure we all have our perceptions of who we think is most important, but I feel I have chosen five very significant figures in history, and backed up why I feel they are so.

Mitch

 

[Neutron]

Take FDR Out

And put Monroe in and I could agree with Mitchells picks.

Tron

 

[Neutron]

Mine

Truman

Cochise

Crazy Horse

Sir John Jellicoe

Martin Luther King


Tron

 

[Mitchell]

Tron, I know that you and I rarely agree, but I must say that I do agree with your pick of not only Monroe, but also the other ones you listed. Of course, there is no right or wrong answer to this question. I chose certain presidents because of how the country changed and grew during their presidencies. Of course, the Monroe Doctorine was one of the most significant events in history.

Mitch

 

[the_Baron]

i'll go with:

ben franklin

mother teresa

golda meir

george washington

bob hope

 

[MrMacphisto]

I can't say that I can rank the following people by number, so I'll just name who I find to be the most respectable by era...

Ancient World: Democritus... the founder of atomic theory. (Granted, it was quite a different atom than the modern one.)

Middle Ages: Copernicus... the first astronomer to truly realize that Earth was not the center of the universe

Modern Age... Being that we're all most familiar with modern times, I have to name 3 of the 5 for this period...

FDR: the best president we ever had and probably ever will have

Gandhi: the closest thing to Christ humanity had seen in almost 2000 years

Stephen Hawking: the astrophysicist who has both built upon the work of Einstein and surpassed it...

 

[red indian]

Good Question Dev..............

Bill Evans (You dont know who he is and your American????!!!, Dear oh dear)

Squadron Leader Douglas Bader D.S.O. D.F.C. (This guy was up in the air defending the United Kingdom at the start of WW2, despite the fact he lost both legs in a pre war flying accident. Meanwhile, the Americans were still trying to work out who the bad guy was, doooh!)

Field Marshall, the Lord Alanbrooke. This bloke knew who the bad guys were from the begining of WW2, and he turned up on time.

Churchill, I have read a great number of books on WW2 and the history either side of WW2. I have yet to read anything that suggests the Americans did anything other than kiss Stalins ass, and continued to kiss his ass, way beyond the time when anyone else would have realised he was the biggest mass murderer in the history of the human race. Alas, Americans being what they are, they did not feel the need for advice from anyone, least of all from the leader of a washed up empire like Churchill. So, come on Neutron, I dont think any one buys this vision you have of the U.S. as a cowering wall flower, lead by the nose by the evil Churchill. You guys were in charge by the beginning of 1945 and you got suckered by Stalin.You called the shots post WW2, not Churchill.

Admiral, the Lord Nelson. French ass kicker, on a scale Bill ORielly can only marvell at.

 

[naveltkltr1350]

while talking about war heros..i got one..ALVIN YORK(US)..single handedly took out a bunker of Germans with a machine gun captured from the germans gunners post. Ended up Capturing 147(give or take a few) German Pows..talk about a one man army.

 

[giggleygirl25]

hmmm 5 Historical Figures:

1.)Jimmy Carter~ not for his presidency which i understand was quite a mess(i wouldn't know i was either not born yet or too little to understand what state the world was in), but because of his diplomatic work and his Habitat for Humanity work.

2.)John Kennedy~for his charisma, had he lived longer...it would've been interesting to see what (if anything) he could've accomplished in a second term.

3.)Clara Barton~American Red Cross Founder, always was interested in her when i was a child

4.)Pocahontas~because legends are far more interesting than facts sometimes

5.)Helen Keller~without her, i don't think too many (how do i put this without sounding like a horse's behind?) disabled people (myself included) would be seen and heard in society (and no it's not a pun)

 

[BlackmoonDoll]

Jesus Christ

Greatest Historical figure that HAS EVER LIVED. He is greater then anybody else (that you guys have named and ALWAYS WILL BE) No body will be greater then him.

 

[Neutron]

I Had To Coin Flip

Between Jellicoe and Nelson. I finally chose Jellicoe because Nelson only commanded a small part of the total British Fleet and he had days to decide his strategy.

Jellicoe on the other hand was fighting in a cloudy mist, his subordinates had let him down, he was the ONE guy who could lose the British Empire in a matter of hours, and he had meer minutes to decide his strategy. Yet he made the one maneuver that the Germans could not counter and in fact won WW1 for the Brits. He also had the wisdom to understand he didn't need to annihilate the German fleet at Jutland, all he had to do was beat it bad enough to make it go home. Not too many would have the wherewithal to withstand the public outcry his decisions caused. Beatty certainly would have pursued the Germans into the mist, and may have lost much of the Brit fleet in the process. I chose Jellicoe because more was at stake, and the exact same conditions that made Nelson THE MAN at Trafalfar are the same that would have cost him had he been at Jutland.

AS for Churchill, I suggest you read Ericson or Toland, the best historians of Yalta et al. Churchill BLEW it, because he wanted to save face. The US did not kiss Russian ass, they merely said they'd accomplished what they came over for, defeat the Germans.

By the way Monroes doctrine was so sound it's still the official policy of the US.

Teddy Roosevelt was a far better president than FDR.

Tron

 

[Mitchell]

Tron, I disagree that TR was a better president than FDR. While TR was a fine president, with excellent policies in both foreign and domestic relations, I think what FDR went through during his presidency alone makes him certainly at least a bit better of a president than his distant cousin. T.R. didnt have to lead his country out of a severe economic depression, or establish stablizing social and economic policies such as Social Security or FDIC insurance for protection of people's money as we have today. Without FDR's New Deal, your money and mine wouldnt be insured for up to $100,000 if our bank were to go belly up tomorrow, and people in my parents generation wouldnt be getting a Social Security check. I also tried to look at and include presidents and people who changed history and/or led the country through or ended wars during their presidencies or due to their policies. All five people I included on that list did so. I would be very interested as to your viewpoint as to why you think TR was a better president than FDR. I have provided my argument in favor of Franklin, when you have the time, please provide me with your viewpoint about why you think TR was a better president.

Mitch

 

[Neutron]

For One...

TR didn't violate the Constitution, whereas FDR did at every chancve he got.
Most of FDRs programs were Unconstitutional, and had tried them in say the 1800s he would have been impeached.

FDR was also a terrible politician in the world stage, much more inept than the DEms say Bush is. An example is his ineptitude and under estimating Stalin at Yalta. For some reason FDR decided to tell the truth at Yalta (an uncommon thing for him) and Stalin picked up on it. In conjunction with Churchill being a dim wit this lead to the Iron Curtain.

TDR on the other hand led one of the LARGEST economic gains in US History. Note triggering a large gain is just as good as coming out of a depression. Economically prior to WW2 the US was heading towards another depression, at their core FDRs fixes were temporary in nature. FDR needed WW2 to make ir permanent and he knew it. TDR was the sponsor of the Great White Fleet, which proved to the world the US was a major, if not becoming the major military and economic power of the 20th century.

It was FDRs interference with US Naval Policy, particularly with regards to anti submarine warfare and convoy escorts that led to the slaughter of thousands of merchant marine sailors. The Navy rightfully wanted to speed production of these items, yet FDR fewlt for Polotical SAke it was better to build larger and more aweinspiring ships for the publics sake. In doing so he Unconstitutionaly interfered with military building and rowed his boat in against the current of lessons from WW1 the major being it is almost impossible to build small vessels on a production line basis during war time. In doing so he cost the US many lives.

Tron

 

[jugner]

Mitchell

I don't agree about FDR, I majored in Finance and did a lot of studying on the Social Security Sytem. It has been called the worst economic mistake in US history. Although I wouldn't say it was, I will say it could have been done much better.

As far as Lincoln goes, he was power-hungry. He wanted to re-unite the country so he wouldn't lose power. If you read the constitution you'll see that it says that everyone shall have the right to choose their own form of government. So when the southern states changed to a confederacy, they had a con`stitutional right to do so. But Lincoln didn't want to lose half of his power. Hitler said that one of his idols was Abraham Lincoln because of his thirst for power and being more than willing to start a war to get it. Sorry, but the great Lincoln of legend, is just that, a legend.

And Clinton, well, like I said, I majored in Finance and have also studied the stock market. The crash of the market was a result of him, 9/11 was well after the initial crash. The reason for it was the speculative bubble burst after the NASDAQ had gotten so high. Bush was in office less than a year when the bubble burst, so Clinton did do some good things with the economy, but allowing the NASDAQ to get that high was a huge error.

 

[Neutron]

Bullshit..

Nowhere in the Constitution does it grant a state the right to seceed. It does grant the states as a WHOLE the right to change the form of government.

I find your allegation against Lincoln laughable simply because his plan for national recovery was to delegate more to the states, and Johnsons following it got him impeached.

Learn your history AND Constitution a bit better young man.

Tron

 

[Mitchell]

Tron, I accept your argument about TR. While I dont agree with everything you said, your points are valid.
Jugner, I strongly disagree with the points you made. How in effect was Lincoln "power hungry" when his goal was to reunite the Union, and to gain back a portion of the country that had clearly done something Unconstitutional? While states rights were important, it doesnt give the right of a portion of the country to secede to gain them.
Social Security was a mistake? There are millions of people from the 1930s on who are Senior Citizens whose only means of support are their Social Security checks. Were it not for Social Security, we would have many ill seniors who would have to work full time jobs to make ends meet. Also, were it not for FDR, each time a bank failed, as can happen to any bank, its depositors would lose their money. Granted, Social Security does have certain problems, and needs to be fixed, but the concept of such, and the safety nets installed by FDR in the New Deal are vital to the economic protections that we enjoy in modern day society. I, for one, feel much more comfortable having my money in a bank knowing that my account would be covered by FDIC insurance if my bank were to go out of business. I dont worry about my accounts safety in the bank when I put my head on the pillow every night, this is because of FDR. I still say, were it not for him, our country would be in far worse shape in economic areas than it is today.

Mitch

 

[tactillianlover]

George Washington -

In the world of power wielding white men, he
was the toughest, bravest man at any given time.

Waged war in a way that would make Sun Tzu proud.

His slaves probably lived better than half of us,
and he freed them at his death.

If he were a general today, his words alone probably
would have ruined the careers of G. W. and Kerry.
He knew a sellout or a punk when he saw one!


Jesus-
While I think he's hardly the only way into
heaven, he believed in helping people and helping
people to help themselves through enlightenment.
He also predicted a time when the world would
turn a sad brown (currently, I'd imagine).


Thorogood Marshall- Fine example of fairness.

Dwight D. Eisenhower-
Best of the best during war.
Also, avoided a few Iraqi type wars because he knew
to hold out for the 'must' wars. Would never spread
american soldiers too thin, unlike 'some fools'.

Americo Vespucci-
Colombus was a hack compared to this guy. 'America'
get it? O.K., he wasn't that great...

 

[Neutron]

Here's Why I Don't Support Ike...

Don't even try to think no one messed with Ike due to his diplomacy. He didn't "avoid" Iraq type wars. When Ike was president it was still verey much a colonial world. Individual countries owned large parts of the 3rd world and they kept them in line.

Also, Ike made DAMN sure the world knew if we were messed with he's retaliate with a nuke. And he would have done so.

Mitchell, I know you and I are split on FDR, and I realize we probably won't agree on the man. We look at it from different angles is all. I find it ironic that many like FDR, and he was far more bullheaded and willing to tromp the Constitution than Bush ever was. Also, WW2 saved the US economy and caused it to explode, not FDR.

Tron

 

[jugner]

Mitchell, I agree, Social Security was a good idea, all I said was it could have been done better. As far as the other stuff he has done, I never have looked into his presidency, only Social Security, so I don't know.

Tron, I have read the Constitution, and numerous books on the Civil War. Also, I may be young, but I am old enough to know that that kind of language is unneccesary when having a civil discussion, and it is also a bad way to get a point across.

 

[tactillianlover]

Ike might have nuked if need be. I'm going by
a documentary recently broadcast on the history
channel- sounded like under some scenarios, he
would indeed send troops.

Let's just give him a parting gift in light of him
having a nose that wasn't saudi brown.

 

[nenezinho]

You guys want to ear about great leaders?

You should look at the life of D.Afonso Henriques, the conqueror, the 1st portuguese king and the founder of what is still today one of the oldest countries in the world.

This man inherited from is father a few towns on the mountains, on what´s today the northern Portugal. He was a subdict to the spanish kingdom of Castela and prety much under the military jurisdiction of the spanish region of Galiza. And beer in mind the southern frontier was with no one less than the arabs from northern Africa who were ocupying what is today the center and south of Portugal.

Now, after his father died, Afonso Henriques was still young but started is way to independency and building is own kingdom. He started by beating the crap out of him mother who have quickly called an allyance with the nobles from Galiza. Afonso beat his mother and her spanish allies to become the true ruller, sending his mother away (a very tough guy!).

After, he challenged the spanish king of Castela and started a big fight, sometimes on the field, other in diplomacy, with different sucesses but in the end going on the way to his biggest victory. At the same time he was negociating with the pope at Rome and fighting the arabs to the south expanding his domains further and further. He was able to take Lisbon in a great siege and slaughter, on wich he was able to call a coligation of forces from different countries worthy of the 1st Gulf War. After it, he quickly siezed the oportunity and transfered the capital to Lisbon so has to better control and expand further south. He was finally anointed by the pope and recognized by the spanish kings has the 1st king of Portugal has a totally independent state, answering before no one except God and the pope.

Afonso Henriques was able to expand the country yet a bit further south and raized his sun well to secure a good future for the kingdom he had so hardly achieved.

And so it was! Portugal was born in between many rival and stronger forces, due to a man who was a tremendous leader in many aspects going from military leadership, to politics and diplomacy and a charismatic one able to rally the few portuguese on his dream of a new and strong independent kingdom.

I might have made some mistakes...my english sometimes pays me some tricks, but look into this one! you wont get disapointed!

his mlitary deeds include a crowning victory against a great muslim army wich the legend tells was 5 times stronger than the portuguese one. But the portuguese, lead by Afonso Henriques himself were able to slaughter the muslims.

his sword his still kept today at the portuguese city of Guimaraes, where he was born. Just to give you an idea....it takes generally two guys to lift that solid sword....and the man wielded it on the field almost until his death.

 

[TKpervert]

1. Truman

2. Isaac Newton

3. Einstein

4. Ike

5. Edwin Hubble

6. Ernest Rutherford

7. Marie Curie

8. Nicolaus Copernicus

9. Michael Faraday

10. FDR

11. Stephen Hawking

sorry, got carried away, I could go for hours on this.