The Greatest American

The Greatest American

Run time	1 hour
Host	Matt Lauer
Executive Producer	Jason Raff
Country	United States
Network	Discovery Channel
First aired	June 5, 2005

The Greatest American was a four part television series hosted by Matt Lauer in which millions of Americans nominated and elected whom they thought was the greatest person in U.S. history. The competition was conducted by AOL and the Discovery Channel and reported on by the BBC.

Nominations were accepted through January 31, 2005. The 7-hour long series was broken into 4 episodes: The first episode counted down the top 100 and introduced the top 25 nominees in alphabetical order. The second episode featured biographies of the top 25 nominees as well as commentaries from influential people such as celebrities and politicians. The third episode, called "The Great Debate", introduced the top 5 nominees and pitted the studio audience supporters of each of the nominees and a person selected to represent each of the top 5 candidates against a panel of 3 celebrities. In the finale the top 5 "Greatest Americans" were announced as well as what percentage of the votes each had received. Votes were taken through a toll free (if calling from a land line) phone number, through text messages from cell phones, and through online voting. Voters were allowed to vote three times per voting method, so anyone had a chance of voting at least nine times. The three states with the most votes being received were California, Texas, and Florida (ranked 1st, 2nd, and 4th in population).

The Top 25

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3. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights activist who promoted non-violent activism.

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6. George W. Bush was president at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

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Ronald Reagan - 75% - named "Greatest American".
Abraham Lincoln - 8.5%
Martin Luther King, Jr. - 4% - named "Greatest African American"
George Washington - 6.7%
Benjamin Franklin - 5.9%
George W. Bush - named "Greatest Living American"
Bill Clinton
Elvis Presley - named "America's Greatest Entertainer"
Oprah Winfrey - named "Greatest Woman in American history"
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Billy Graham
Thomas Jefferson
Walt Disney
Albert Einstein - named "Greatest American Scientist" & "Greatest Jewish American"
Thomas Alva Edison
John F. Kennedy
Bob Hope
Bill Gates
Eleanor Roosevelt - named "America's Greatest First Lady"
Lance Armstrong - named "America's "Greatest Athlete"
Muhammad Ali
Rosa Parks
The Wright Brothers
Henry Ford
Neil Armstrong

Alphabetical list

On April 18,2005, AOL and The Discovery Channel announced the top 100 nominees.

The remaining 75 nominees:

Facts about The Greatest American

Men: 85 (the Wright brothers are given a single entry)
Women: 15
Living nominees: 42
Nominees by area: (halves are awarded if a nominee exceeded in two areas e.g. Eisenhower is under Military and U.S. Presidents)
- Television, Cinema and Radio: 23
- U.S. Presidents: 14.5
- First Ladies: 5
- Other Political Figures: 15.5
- Science: 9.5
- Sports: 8.5
- Music: 5
- Business and Industry: 5
- Aviators and Astronauts: 5
- Military: 4.0
- Literature: 3
- Religion: 2
- Publishers: 1
Six of the 100 might not universally be considered American:
- Albert Einstein is usually considered German: indeed he was named #10 on the Greatest German show (Unsere Besten)
- Alexander Graham Bell lived in Scotland for the first 23 years of his life
- Andrew Carnegie was also born in Scotland
- Mel Gibson lived in the U.S. up to age of 12 and is usually considered an Australian
- Arnold Schwarzenegger grew up in Austria and emigrated to the U.S. aged 21
- Nikola Tesla (Никола Тесла) was a Serb born in the Austrian Empire and emigrated to the U.S. aged 28

Comments and criticisms

Many viewers and media commentators^{[citation needed]} have criticized the shortlist as being extremely androcentric, with only a handful of female politicians, athletes, innovators and entertainers making the cut. Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt and Oprah Winfrey are the only three females in the Top 25. Much criticism has been made^{[citation needed]} of the overselection of entertainers and a bias towards recent times at the expense of those who lived in the 18th or 19th centuries. Others have complained^{[citation needed]} about the selection of Ronald Reagan as the Greatest American, ahead of Abraham Lincoln, often called the Greatest President, and George Washington, the first leader of the country. Others have complained about the inclusion of Bill Clinton who was impeached by the House (though not convicted by the Senate). There have also been objections^{[citation needed]} to many candidates being eligible because of the country in which they were born. For example, Albert Einstein, Bob Hope, Andrew Carnegie, Nikola Tesla and Arnold Schwarzenegger, were born in Germany, England, Scotland, Austria-Hungary and Austria respectively. Making things even more complicated is the fact that Nikola Tesla was a Serb. All five were naturalized U.S. citizens, though Einstein was only naturalized well after his major contribution to science.

Alexander Graham Bell also appeared on the Canadian version of the show, The Greatest Canadian, and the original British program, Great Britons, where he ranked ninth and fifty-seventh place respectively. The scientist, inventor, and founder of the Bell Telephone Company was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1847, before moving to Brantford, Ontario in 1870. Three years later, Bell relocated to Boston, Massachusetts to continue his research into vocal physiology. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States, though he maintained an estate and laboratory in Canada, conducting research in aviation, among other things. He died and was buried in Canada, though his tombstone bears the prominent line "citizen of the United States." Thus, all three countries make a claim to him.

External links