Alexandra von Maltzan has challenged the blogosphere to name the 10 worst Americans of all time.
She asked for an American list after the BBC History Magazine came up with a list of the 10 worst Britons of the last 1,000 years.
The BBC list of worst Britons:
1. Oswald Mosley
2. Jack the Ripper
3. Duke of Cumberland
4. Titus Oates
5. Sir Richard Rich
6. Thomas Arundel
7. Hugh Despenser (the younger)
8. King John
9. Thomas Becket
10. Eadric Streona
My list of 10 worst Americans ever:
1. Benedict Arnold
2. Jefferson Davis
3. Nathan Forrest (started KKK)
4. John Chivington (massacred Indians)
5. William March "Boss" Tweed
6. Al Capone
7. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and conspirators
8. Lee Harvey Oswald
9. John Wayne Gacy
10. Tim McVeigh
What’s your list?
Frank Warner
What about Jeffrey Dahlmer?
Posted by: Paul Dirks | December 28, 2005 at 11:00 AM
Robert E. Lee
Nathan Bedford Forrest
James Buchanan Duke
Aaron Burr
Benedict Arnold
Henry Ford
J. Edgar Hoover
Henry Kissinger
Brigham Young
Al Capone
Posted by: jj mollo | December 28, 2005 at 11:15 AM
David Duke - Besmirching the word 'Republican'
Lyndon Johnson - Creating 'measured response'
Lyndon LaRouche - Destroying the fledgling replacement for the Democrat party
I'm not good at dwelling on negatives. Here are some of the 10 best!
1. Ronald Reagan (R) - For saving America when even Americans hated America. (I will fight anyone who disagrees)
2. Teddy Roosevelt (R) - Creating national parks, national forests, and using the Sherman anti-trust act to such good effect.
3. FDR (D) - Lend-lease, and WWII motivation.
4. George - For separating us from England, and for not accepting any higher deference than "Mr. President". (Did you know 'your highness' was suggested when referring to the prez?!?)
5. JFK (D) - For beginning the march to force the southern Democrats to accept blacks as equal (this honor kind of belongs to Johnson and the Republicans in congress in 1964, but Kennedy got it started, and Johnson's ridiculous micromanaging of the war effort removes him from consideration for honors)
It's interesting to not that both Frank and jj's lists include serial killers who killed less than 100 people. You've got to be impressed with a country that in 200+ years has not produced 10 worse people (I'm thinking Stalin, Hitler, etc)
jj... Ford!?!?! Kissinger? Splain plz. Brigham Young? Wasn't he a mormon who made a university? How did he screw America? Do you mean by perpetuating the Mormon religion?
Posted by: Kevin | December 28, 2005 at 02:05 PM
Hey Frank, I see that you say you are one of the 'last true liberals'. Could it be that there are a lot of people like you, but they just call themselves something else? Liberalism has meant something bad since Carter to me. Maybe it's the same with your comrades.
I'm thinking if you lose the pro-tax thing I could easily buy into your philosophy, and I'm a libertarian/conservative (libertarian added per your discussions :)
Posted by: Kevin | December 28, 2005 at 02:27 PM
All Things Beautiful TrackBack A Challenge To The Blogosphere: 'The Ten Worst Americans' List':
"As a post Christmas/Hannukah Challenge, I invited the Blogosphere to name 'The Ten Worst Americans'...as well as Frank Warner whose list is here."
Posted by: Alexandra | December 28, 2005 at 02:56 PM
Kevin, maybe the worst Americans should include the conservative, change-nothing Democrats who inaccurately label themselves liberals.
Posted by: Frank Warner | December 28, 2005 at 03:13 PM
Heh, the Captain's Quarters has Jimmy Carter
in the top ten. The sad truth is that
his reasoning is rock solid:
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/006028.php
Posted by: George | December 28, 2005 at 11:24 PM
The Captain gives the Rosenbergs et al a free pass. I'll write more about that some time. The fact is, the Rosenbergs denied the Free World valuable time to build democracies after World War II. We're still paying the price.
Posted by: Frank Warner | December 29, 2005 at 12:31 AM
Brigham Young tried to set the status of American women back to the standards practiced by Medieval Arabs. He also supported the racist theory of "The Curse of Ham", and is probably responsible for at least one massacre of 120 non-Mormons. At the very least, he was a religious fanatic who lead his people to essentially rebel against the USA. Mormons have since sought moderation and repaired most of the damage.
Henry Ford promulgated the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", which was used by Hitler, and which Islamo-fascists still use, as an anti-Semitic device. He was also the most successful proponent of the anti-union philosophy that still cripples the thinking of Americans on both sides of the issue. His inflexibility essentially forced American unions to much more radical measures than they would have otherwise employed.
Posted by: jj mollo | December 30, 2005 at 11:13 PM
I like your faves, but others better. Who would we miss the most if never born?
Ben Franklin
George Washington (gave up power)
Abe Lincoln (Union and land grant colleges)
Thomas Jefferson (Independence, Constitution, Louisiana Purchase, Philosophy of Freedom, Science)
FDR
DDE
Stephen Girard
DeWitt Clinton
Milton Friedman
Ralph Nader
Kevin, I don't think I named any serial killers, but Duke may have been responsible for millions of deaths.
Posted by: jj mollo | December 31, 2005 at 12:07 AM
I stand corrected jj. I have no idea who in your list I thought was a serial killer. I also had no idea Brigham young was a bad guy. In fact I assumed he must have done a lot of good since they named a college after him. I've never taken a close look at the mormon's because their religion seems as far-fetched as scientology to me.
Posted by: Kevin | December 31, 2005 at 11:45 AM
There's another guy. L. Ron Hubbard. Great SF writer though. You too can do great things if you get your engrams cleared, only $1995 for level I.
Posted by: jj mollo | December 31, 2005 at 03:43 PM