Former President Ronald Reagan was named the "Greatest American" of all time in an interactive contest tonight, topping fellow Republican Abraham Lincoln.
Of more than 2.4 million votes in the survey sponsored by America Online, Reagan, who died last year after a long bout with Alzheimer's disease, captured the title with 24 percent of ballots, just edging out Lincoln by 0.44 percent, according to host Matt Lauer.
"The memory is fresh," said Reagan's son, Ron Jr. "People remember the funeral. ... I'm sure he would be very honored to be in the company of all these great gentlemen."
The rest of the top five were civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (19.7 percent), George Washington (17.7 percent) and Benjamin Franklin (14.9 percent).
"Ronald Reagan was a man of courage," said John Washington, ancestral nephew of George Washington. "These are all distinguished men, but Ronald Reagan, I think he deserves his place here at the top of this list."
The second half of the top 10, already established from voting in previous weeks, had President George W. Bush at No. 6, followed by Bill Clinton, Elvis Presley, Oprah Winfrey and Franklin Roosevelt.
The event was broadcast by the Discovery Channel, as ordinary citizens were able to cast votes by phone or the Internet.
posted on June 27, 2005 10:27:20 AM new
Ronald Reagan the greatest? The greatest actor maybe. The roll he played with Gorbachev should've won an award. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall", was one of my favorites, even though Gorbachev had already decided to tear it down 2 weeks prior (I think Reagan was hoping nobody would notice). And let's not forget the deficit while he was in office - no big wars or anything, just lots and lots of spending.
posted on June 27, 2005 10:43:00 AM new
I always liked Reagan.
In my life I thought he was the greatest Pres.
Many times I thought if we had a King it should be him.
But that wouldn't have been a good idea, as now we would be stuck with his Flake of a son!
But was he actually the Greatest American?
I'm up in the air on that one,there have been too many Greats to actually pick one!
posted on June 27, 2005 10:47:53 AM new
Bear what a Phony you are about AOL POLLS. Phonies like Bear always speak with FORKED TONGUE.
[ edited by bigpeepa on Jun 27, 2005 10:48 AM ]
posted on June 27, 2005 10:55:30 AM new
If agree with dadofstickboy... Definitely the greatest in MY lifetime, but best ever? Dunno about that one.
kraftdinner said
...'"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall", was one of my favorites, even though Gorbachev had alredy decided to tear it down 2 weeks prior.'
BUT Reagan got the credit for it. Primarily due to the fact that Gorby was ruined and already falling out of favor. Why? Because...
"And let's not forget the deficit while he was in office - no big wars or anything, just lots and lots of spending"
Which in order to compete, nearly (or maybe nearly is understating it) bankrupting the USSR. That money wasn't wasted. Every penny we spent on weapons was one more that the Soviets couldn't really afford. Sure, it wasn't good for our economy, but certainly better than an extended war with the Soviets.
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Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum sonatur.
posted on June 27, 2005 11:30:27 AM new
Replay, it's a little more complicated than that. When Gorbachev came into power with ideals of Perestroika and Glasnost and the fall of communism, it opened up a can of worms for the Soviet people who then realized the extent of their repression and turned against their country. This was all Gobechev's doing but an opportunistic Reagan saw this as a world event for the U.S. - "joining forces" with Gorbachev to bring down communism. Yes, Reagan got the glory, even though it wasn't his to take. My opinion is that he should have been ashamed of himself.
posted on June 27, 2005 11:54:03 AM new
Let's not forget the Iran Contra Affair. Oh my, yes, the greatest American ever. Iran has been thanking us ever since.
posted on June 27, 2005 04:20:41 PM new
What a guy!
I particularily enjoyed his plan for the Agriculture Dept to re-classify catsup and mustard as vegetables in order to screw poor kids out of 1 or 2 pennies from the free school lunch programs.
Ah! Good ole "trickle-down" economics -- taint the ONLY waste that runs down...
"If ya seen ONE redwood, you've seen them ALL..."
"I'm going to spend a lot of time on Social Security. I enjoy it. I enjoy taking on the issue. I guess, it's the Mother in me."—Guess Who? Washington D.C., April 14, 2005
posted on June 27, 2005 11:17:51 PM new
Perhaps in the eyes of others he may be the greatest American, however, he may be the worst president in recent history.
posted on June 28, 2005 12:00:17 PM new
Reagan had a bad habit of taking sole credit for things he didn't deserve sole credit for like the end of the Cold War and the falling of the Berlin Wall.
Gorbachev had already embarked on a more liberal programme of "communism with a human face" in the USSR itself and hoped that his Eastern Bloc allies would follow. However, the East German leader, Honecker, refused to have anything to do with the idea and continued to rule with an iron fist.
Gorbachev therefore approached members of the East German Politburo one by one, gradually winning them all over in secret. Hence, when the crunch came, Honecker found that none of his own Politburo would support him and he was forced to resign. His successor, Krenz, had been hand-picked by Gorbachev.
The opening of the Wall itself was accidental. Gunther Schobowski (East German Politburo member) had been told to announce that, in future, East Germans were to be allowed to travel abroad. When questioned as to when the new rules would take effect, he leafed through his briefing papers in a state of confusion and, unable to find the answer, uttered the fateful words "Ab sofort" (from this very moment). East Germans rushed to the Wall to see if that was true - it wasn't, but the crush was so great at one border crossing that the gate was opened to prevent people being crushed...
Edited to add: The above information was provided by a former teacher in London. Only wish I could express myself so eloquently.
Cheryl
[ edited by CBlev65252 on Jun 28, 2005 12:43 PM ]
