The Greatest [person from each country]

[icarus]

Okay I was bored and stumbled across this on Wikipedia. I don't think it's been discussed on the OT board before, but if it is a Fata I'm sorry.

"The Greatest Canadian" that the CBC aired this past year is, like Canadian Idol, a spin-off of a British version, "The Greatest Briton". And like the Idol series, we were the only one to buy into the idea.

The following countries have all had their own edition. Try to think of who the greatest person from each of the countries is or was before you look at the results in my next post (or check out the links here).

Great Britain
Canada
USA
Finland
France
Germany
Netherlands
South Africa
Belgium
Czech Republic

Apparently India, Australia, and the Arab World have also had such polls but I Wikipedia doesn't provide a link to the results.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally posted by icarus@Aug 7 2005, 04:22 PM
Apparently India, Australia, and the Arab World have also had such polls but I Wikipedia doesn't provide a link to the results.

I would guess Gandhi for India.

edit:After reading up the link, South Africa has him at #3. Not sure how he's South African?

[icarus]

The greatest from each nation (as voted in various manners and by various criteria, many controversial) are:

Great Britain
1. Sir Winston Churchill
2. Isambard Kingdom Brunel (?? -- turns out to be an engineer. Weird.)
3. Diana, Princess of Wales
My guess: I would have guessed Shakespeare (5th)

Canada
1. Tommy Douglas (Premier of Saskatchewan, former New Democratic Party leader, Father of Medicare)

2. Terry Fox (athlete, activist)
3. Pierre Trudeau (Prime Minister)
My pick: Frederick Banting (4th). We already had a couple threads on this.

USA
1. Ronald Reagan
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Martin Luther King, Jr.
My guess: Lincoln, although this one is tough. Although I never would've guessed Reagan.

Finland
1. C.G.E. Mannerheim (president of Finland, 1944-1946, and Marshal of Finland)
2. Risto Ryti (president of Finland, 1940-1944)
3. Urho Kekkonen (president of Finland, 1956-1981)
My guess: Um, the only famous Finns I can think of are hockey players, except Sibelius, so he was my guess. He was 8th. Only two hockey players appeared on the list: 76. Arto Javanainen (ice hockey player, most goals in SM-Liiga); 98. Raimo Helminen (ice hockey player, 330 games with the national team).

France
1. Charles de Gaulle
2. Louis Pasteur
3. Abbé Pierre
My guess: I'm proud of myself that I was trying to decide between the two Frenchmen who were named #1 and #2. I think I would favour Pasteur for the same reason I picked Banting for Canada (worldwide influence), although I totally understand de Gaulle being voted first by the French.

Germany
1. Konrad Adenauer, the first chancellor of West Germany (1876-1967)
2. Martin Luther, leader of the reformation, father of Protestantism (1483-1546)
3. Karl Marx, political economist, philosopher (1818-1883)
My guess: Bismarck (9th), with Beethoven (12th) not far behind. I can't believe I didn't think of Luther.

Netherlands
1. Pim Fortuyn
2. Willem van Oranje (William of Orange)
3. Willem Drees
My guess: Anne Frank (8th), Rembrandt (9th), or Van Gogh (10th) (since they all have their own museum in Amsterdam).

South Africa
1. Nelson Mandela
Kind of confusing, Wikipedia has two lists. Apparently the show was controversial and taken off the air before voting for numbers 2 to 10 was completed.
2. Christiaan Barnard, pioneering heart surgeon (1922 - 2001); or, Gary Player
3. F.W. de Klerk, former president and joint Nobel Peace Prize winner (1936 - ); or, Mahatma Gandhi.
My guess: Mandela.

Belgium
1. Pater Damiaan (Catholic missionary)
2. Eddy Merckx (cyclist)
3. Paul Janssen (scientist)
My guess: Um... hmm... Rubens (4th)?

Czech Republic
1. King Charles IV
2. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk
3. Václav Havel
My guess: I was thinking of Grigor Mendel (father of genetics) (54th), but then I thought of Havel just as I peeked at the list.

I don't know the Indian, Australian, or Arab results but I would guess Gandhi, Mel Gibson, and Mohammed respectively. LOL, one of these things doesn't belong here.

[icarus]

Originally posted by Winsor_Pilates@Aug 7 2005, 11:28 PM
I would guess Gandhi for India.

edit:After reading up the link, South Africa has him at #3. Not sure how he's South African?

Gandhi lived and worked for many years as a lawyer in South Africa before returning to India, IIRC. I can't remember how long he spent in South Africa but it seems to me he was there for more than ten years.

[Displaced Flames fan]

I'm surprised Reagan was picked as the greatest American too. I would've thought Kennedy would be the popular choice.

I like Lincoln or King as the greatest. I would push for Jefferson as well, except for the fact he was a slave owner.

[Patek23]

Out of all North American leaders in the past while, Clinton was the best............................ because he did the least.

[HOZ]

Originally posted by Displaced Flames fan@Aug 8 2005, 12:11 AM
I'm surprised Reagan was picked as the greatest American too. I would've thought Kennedy would be the popular choice.

I like Lincoln or King as the greatest. I would push for Jefferson as well, except for the fact he was a slave owner.

There are a couple reasons why he wasn't picked.

1) The time. Generations change +Memories fade

2) REAGAN destroyed that which Kennedy hated and could not destroy.

It is amazing how many liberals love Kennedy. Surprising since he would certainly be looked upon as a Christian fundamentalist war-mongering unilateralist neo-con by todays standards.

He was the only President to bring the world to the brink of nuclear conflict. He screwed around on his wife like no one's business. He made great inspirational speeches, invaded Cuba, blockaded Cuba, started the most hated conflict in America's history (no he wasn't bringing anyone home he hated commies and what they stood for) and then got his head blown off....all in 3 years!

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally posted by Displaced Flames fan@Aug 8 2005, 12:11 AM
I'm surprised Reagan was picked as the greatest American too. I would've thought Kennedy would be the popular choice.

I like Lincoln or King as the greatest. I would push for Jefferson as well, except for the fact he was a slave owner.

Kennedy made a lot of huge mis-steps in my mind, somebody mentioned the invasion and blockade of Cuba, which was b huge cluster -**** and extended the cold war by 30 years, when Kruschev (sorry, can never spell his name) was actually trying to thaw the cold war while gutting his military. In my mind he was a great speechmaker but a pretty bad president in terms of his foreign policy.

Reagan, I've always had a ton of respect for, he pretty much forced the Warsaw pact to blink and crumble, worked for the re-unification of Germany, and helped his own country recover from the malaise of the Vietnam war. I'd definately rank Reagan as a top 5 president.

[Weiser Wonder]

USA
1. Ronald Reagan

Seriously? Reagan?

[Table 5]

Originally posted by icarus@Aug 7 2005, 06:53 PM
Netherlands
1. Pim Fortuyn

yikes.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally posted by CaptainCrunch+Aug 8 2005, 02:51 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (CaptainCrunch @ Aug 8 2005, 02:51 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Displaced Flames fan@Aug 8 2005, 12:11 AM
I'm surprised Reagan was picked as the greatest American too. I would've thought Kennedy would be the popular choice.

I like Lincoln or King as the greatest. I would push for Jefferson as well, except for the fact he was a slave owner.

Kennedy made a lot of huge mis-steps in my mind, somebody mentioned the invasion and blockade of Cuba, which was b huge cluster -**** and extended the cold war by 30 years, when Kruschev (sorry, can never spell his name) was actually trying to thaw the cold war while gutting his military. In my mind he was a great speechmaker but a pretty bad president in terms of his foreign policy.

Reagan, I've always had a ton of respect for, he pretty much forced the Warsaw pact to blink and crumble, worked for the re-unification of Germany, and helped his own country recover from the malaise of the Vietnam war. I'd definately rank Reagan as a top 5 president. [/b][/quote]
I agree 100%. Kennedy has always been put on a pedestal in this country though. The whole illusion of Camelot and of course the fact he was assassinated in office have caused him to be looked on in a kinder light than he probably otherwise would have been. I guess I wasn't aware that, as Hoz said, enough time has passed that it is starting to change.

I like Reagan too, but don't think he compares to the other 3 I mentioned very favorably.

[CaptainCrunch]

Honestly to King, no, what he did is something we probably won't see again for generations. But based on generational context, Reagan's legacy could be equally as impressive as Lincoln's. My humble opinion of course. But by the time that Reagan hit office, the U.S was in a pretty deep spiral due to bad policies, bad economics, bad military decisions and bad foreign and domestic policy. Reagan through force of will changed that and pushed the U.S. back onto its podium both internally and externally. He was a great president in my mind.

[icarus]

Originally posted by Table 5+Aug 8 2005, 03:40 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Table 5 @ Aug 8 2005, 03:40 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-icarus@Aug 7 2005, 06:53 PM
Netherlands
1. Pim Fortuyn

yikes. [/b][/quote]
Well here's what it says:

"The assassinated politician Pim Fortuyn was announced as the winner in a live television broadcast on November 15, 2004, two weeks after Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered in Amsterdam. This was said to be an "embarrassing" choice by several journalists and historians. The amount of calls was so large that not all could be counted before the end of the show; later it was announced that if all calls had counted, William of Orange would have won."

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally posted by CaptainCrunch@Aug 8 2005, 04:01 AM
Honestly to King, no, what he did is something we probably won't see again for generations. But based on generational context, Reagan's legacy could be equally as impressive as Lincoln's. My humble opinion of course. But by the time that Reagan hit office, the U.S was in a pretty deep spiral due to bad policies, bad economics, bad military decisions and bad foreign and domestic policy. Reagan through force of will changed that and pushed the U.S. back onto its podium both internally and externally. He was a great president in my mind.

I think he was a great president as well, but....

Lincoln held the Union together in the face of the most daunting obstacles I can imagine. He had to stomach 4 years of the most brutal combat this country will ever see because he knew what had to be the end result. In my mind, that is probably the single most important event in the history of the US. Huge changes followed, and progress.

I would rate my top Presidents list would go something like this (off of the top of my head)...

1. Lincoln
2. Jefferson
3. F. Roosevelt
4. Reagan

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally posted by Displaced Flames fan+Aug 8 2005, 04:17 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Displaced Flames fan @ Aug 8 2005, 04:17 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-CaptainCrunch@Aug 8 2005, 04:01 AM
Honestly to King, no, what he did is something we probably won't see again for generations. But based on generational context, Reagan's legacy could be equally as impressive as Lincoln's. My humble opinion of course. But by the time that Reagan hit office, the U.S was in a pretty deep spiral due to bad policies, bad economics, bad military decisions and bad foreign and domestic policy. Reagan through force of will changed that and pushed the U.S. back onto its podium both internally and externally. He was a great president in my mind.

I think he was a great president as well, but....

Lincoln held the Union together in the face of the most daunting obstacles I can imagine. He had to stomach 4 years of the most brutal combat this country will ever see because he knew what had to be the end result. In my mind, that is probably the single most important event in the history of the US. Huge changes followed, and progress.

I would rate my top Presidents list would go something like this (off of the top of my head)...

1. Lincoln
2. Jefferson
3. F. Roosevelt
4. Reagan [/b][/quote]
Its a good list, and I don't really disagree with it, however its tough to rank political leaders because it all comes down to circumstance

Reagan - reunited a nation that was spiraling due to a poor economy, the war in vietnam, the mishandling of the middle east situation, the oil crisis.

Reagan - Sheparded the end of the cold war, the reunification of germany and destroyed the validity of an actual system of government (communism - Russian)

Reagan - rallied the nation into becoming a true super power, which it was in danger of slipping away from.

Reagan - One thing is sure, Reagan was incredibly good at building strong alliances, results that we're still seeing today.

Reagan - had a big hand in reforming and professionalizing the U.S. Military which was well funded when he became president, but badly trained, badly lead, and completely not up to the tasks given to it at the time. the changes that Reagan made, created reasults that wouldn't be seen until the golf war.

Reagan - Is there an Aircraft carrier named after Lincoln? Actually as I write this, I now remember that there is one, and its a Nimitz class but the Reagan was commissioned later, so its better

[icarus]

Here's the American top ten as voted by the public:

Ronald Reagan - 24.0%
Abraham Lincoln - 23.5%
Martin Luther King, Jr. - 19.7%
George Washington - 17.7%
Benjamin Franklin - 14.9%
George W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Elvis Presley
Oprah Winfrey
Franklin D. Roosevelt

May I suggest that people tend to forget their history classes? I mean, Oprah Winfrey is greater than Thomas Edison?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally posted by icarus@Aug 8 2005, 04:37 AM
Here's the American top ten as voted by the public:

Ronald Reagan - 24.0%
Abraham Lincoln - 23.5%
Martin Luther King, Jr. - 19.7%
George Washington - 17.7%
Benjamin Franklin - 14.9%
George W. Bush
Bill Clinton
Elvis Presley
Oprah Winfrey
Franklin D. Roosevelt

May I suggest that people tend to forget their history classes? I mean, Oprah Winfrey is greater than Thomas Edison?

I don't think Oprah, Clinton or George W. belong on that list at all. I would even question Elvis being on that list. There's got to be better and more impactfull people then those 4

[Displaced Flames fan]

:P Great post Capt.

Hilarious, my little brother is currently serving on the Reagan!

And Icarus...if it wasn't for Oprah..... :P

That's just typical of our entertainment driven society. Kind of sick.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally posted by Displaced Flames fan@Aug 8 2005, 04:42 AM
:P Great post Capt.

Hilarious, my little brother is currently serving on the Reagan!

And Icarus...if it wasn't for Oprah..... :P

That's just typical of our entertainment driven society. Kind of sick.

Your brothers on the Reagan, whats he do. And congrats to him, that the crown jewel of the Carrier community.

[Displaced Flames fan]

He's an electrician. I'm not sure he's a big fan of Navy life, but he sure is excelling. He's been promoted pretty quickly. I'd like to see him stay in and make it a career (hard to beat these days), but he speaks as if he's 4 and done.