The Greatest American

The Great Americans
Presented by Matt Lauer
Country of origin United States
Production
Executive producer(s) Jason Raff
Release
Original network Discovery Channel
Original release 5 June 2005 (2005-06-05)

The Greatest American was a four-part American television series hosted by Matt Lauer in 2005. The show featured biographies and lists of influential persons in U.S. history, and culminated in a contest in which millions in the audience nominated and voted for the person they felt was the "greatest American". The competition was conducted by AOL and the Discovery Channel and reported on by the BBC.

Nominations

Nominations were accepted through 31 January 2005. The seven-hour-long series was broken into four 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 five nominees and pitted the studio audience supporters of each of the nominees and a person selected to represent each of the top five candidates against a panel of three celebrities. In the finale the top five "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.

Top 25

2. Abraham Lincoln,
16th President of the United States (1861–65).
3. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights activist.
4. George Washington,
1st President of the United States (1789–97).
5. Benjamin Franklin,
author, inventor, statesman, and scientist.
6. George W. Bush
43rd President of the United States (2001–09), and sitting president when the poll was conducted.
7. Bill Clinton
42nd President of the United States (1993–2001).
8. Elvis Presley
singer, songwriter, actor, and musician.
9. Oprah Winfrey
talk show host, magazine publisher, and actress.
10. Franklin D. Roosevelt
32nd President of the United States (1933–45).
  1. Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) President of USA.
  2. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) President of USA.
  3. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
  4. George Washington (1732-1799) The First President of the United States.
  5. Benjamin Franklin (1705-1790) Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin was a renowned polymath and a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.
  6. George W. Bush (1946-) 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009.
  7. Bill Clinton (1946-) 42nd President of the United States.
  8. Elvis Presley (1935-1977) American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as "the King of Rock and Roll", or simply, "the King".
  9. Oprah Winfrey (1954-) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist.[1] She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history.
  10. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) President of USA.
  11. Billy Graham (1918-) American evangelical Christian evangelist, ordained as a Southern Baptist minister, who rose to celebrity status in 1949 reaching a core constituency of middle-class, moderately conservative Protestants.
  12. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809.
  13. Walt Disney (1901-1966) American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer.
  14. Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the general theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics (alongside quantum mechanics).
  15. Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) American inventor and businessman.
  16. John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963.
  17. Bob Hope (1903-2003) English-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, athlete, and author. With a career spanning nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in over 70 feature films and short films, including a series of "Road" movies.
  18. Bill Gates (1955-) American business magnate, investor, author and philanthropist. In 1975, Gates and Paul Allen co-founded Microsoft, which became the world's largest PC software company.
  19. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States.
  20. Lance Armstrong (1971-) American former professional road racing cyclist.
  21. Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) American professional boxer and activist. He was widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century.
  22. Rosa Parks (1913-2003) American civil rights activist, whom the United States Congress called "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement".
  23. The Wright Brothers
  24. Henry Ford (1863-1947) American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production.
  25. Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) American astronaut and the first person to walk on the Moon.

Alphabetical list

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

The remaining 75 nominees:

References

    External links

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