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Give me a great American.


milehiiu

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On 8/4/2020 at 8:19 AM, IUFLA said:

George Washington

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Franklin

Theodore Roosevelt

Dwight Eisenhower

John F Kennedy

Martin Luther King

Ronald Reagan

 

Good list.  I always thought Ike was one of the more underrated presidents ever.  Historians love Truman but I’d put him in the overrated category.  I do like Ike.  
 

Thomas Jefferson’s brilliance in setting up the structure of the government was amazing and so brilliant that you can’t put it into words.  We had a lot of talent at the founding father level, but TJ is at the top to me. 

Reagan turning around the sentiment of the country was great.  When he came in, there was a malaise as he described it as was crucial after we suffered through Watergate, OPEC shenanigans and the gas lines, stagnation, an energy crisis and the hostage crisis   He turned the ship around.  I was a kid but I remember watching the news with my dad and things were so bleak.   He wasn’t perfect but I gave him marks for his most important accomplishment, turning around the attitude of the American people.  

 

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Lots of great ones listed already, so I'll list two.

Even though he was a Badger, I've always admired Aldo Leopold. My Dad gave me a copy of Sand County Almanac when I was a young man and I still read it about once  a year.

Thinking Like A Mountain is probably his most famous piece from the book.

My other one would be David Baker, a Hoosier through and through. Born in Indy, graduated from Crispus Attucks, received his Bachelors and Masters in Music from IU and established IU's jazz studies program. He was a trombonist, but an auto accident resulted in a facial injury that forced him to switch to the cello. Later in life, he led the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. Dude was a professor of music for 50 years!

Cool story - I took his Intro to Jazz when he was at IU and I owe my lifelong love of jazz music to this man. I was a diehard metal head back then and he ontroduced me to Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Joe Henderson, John Coltrane.

AJ Guyton was also in my class, but I only saw him attend the class in person twice.

 

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rosewell-back.jpgHerman B Wells 

I actually had the proud pleasure of meeting him in the Crescent as a student. We sat down. And had a conversation.  Met him later in the Well's house. And he remembered me.  And just asked how I was doing.

Edit to add.  By the way.  The link of Herman B. Wells.  Is very informative. And I recommend it as learning about a great American who was a special part of Indiana University for decades.  I know Hoosier Faithful will enjoy the link. As HF and I talked before HF bestowed the HSN moniker of HSN Chancellor Emeritus upon me.  Based on our conversations about Chancellor Wells.  Thank you.  HF. 

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On 8/5/2020 at 12:18 PM, KoB2011 said:

FDR

Ike

Teddy

Robert F. Williams

Susan B. Anthony

 

Good balanced list.  I’m torn on FDR.  Good leadership during WWII to an extent.  Iffy on the economy during the depression.   But, just my own opinion, I disqualify him from this category because of his internment of US citizens of JP descent.  He didn’t do it to the German-Americans. Or to the Italian-Americans.  I think there was racial reasoning given at the time although I haven’t looked it up in a long time. 

I’m hardly Japanese American myself but this is an affront to the American greatness and way of life.  If we do crap like that, what’s left of our moral standing?  I’ve heard people say it was during an extraordinary circumstance but, again, that’s a cop out.  It’s a total stain.  And this wasn’t the dark ages.  Our grandparents were alive.  That’s not that long ago that this happened. 

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6 minutes ago, BobSaccamanno said:

Good balanced list.  I’m torn on FDR.  Good leadership during WWII.  Iffy on the economy during the depression.   But, just my own opinion, I disqualify him from this category because his internment of US citizens of JP descent.  He didn’t do it to the German-Americans. Or the Italian-Americans.  I’m hardly Japanese American myself but this is an affront to the American greatness and way of life.  If we do crap like that, what’s left of our moral ground.  I’ve heard people say it’s during an extraordinary circumstance but, again, that’s a cop out.  It’s a total stain.  And this isn’t the dark ages.  Our grandparents were alive.  That’s not that long ago that this happened.  

FDR was a giant piece of S#@! for many reasons. But what he did to Japanese Americans...

Then you have this..442nd Infantry Regiment

The most decorated Infantry Regiment of WW2 were Japanese Americans who fought in Italy. 

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On 8/8/2020 at 8:11 PM, BobSaccamanno said:

Good balanced list.  I’m torn on FDR.  Good leadership during WWII to an extent.  Iffy on the economy during the depression.   But, just my own opinion, I disqualify him from this category because of his internment of US citizens of JP descent.  He didn’t do it to the German-Americans. Or to the Italian-Americans.  I think there was racial reasoning given at the time although I haven’t looked it up in a long time. 

I’m hardly Japanese American myself but this is an affront to the American greatness and way of life.  If we do crap like that, what’s left of our moral standing?  I’ve heard people say it was during an extraordinary circumstance but, again, that’s a cop out.  It’s a total stain.  And this wasn’t the dark ages.  Our grandparents were alive.  That’s not that long ago that this happened. 

I'm a fan of his economic policies but I can't argue with you on the internment camps, citizens or not. It was terrible and is a stain on US History and is something that often gets overlooked when discussing the legacy of FDR. 

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5 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

I'm a fan of his economic policies but I can't argue with you on the internment camps, citizens or not. It was terrible and is a stain on US History and is something that often gets overlooked when discussing the legacy of FDR. 

FDR had said numerous times that the Internment of Japanese Americans was his biggest and most regrettable mistake

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10 minutes ago, Billingsley99 said:

FDR had said numerous times that the Internment of Japanese Americans was his biggest and most regrettable mistake

It doesn't make it any less of a stain, but it is refreshing to see a political leader who can talk about and admit their mistakes. 

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12 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

It doesn't make it any less of a stain, but it is refreshing to see a political leader who can talk about and admit their mistakes. 

exactly. A guest speaker I had in class one time whose Father was in a camp said that the only positive to come out of them was the love of the game of Baseball

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