Let's chat about Atlantic's list of The Top 100 most influential figures in American history.

#1 is inarguable.

yeah, the list ain't really clear; is it american history or just americans? 'coz i figure James Watt, Louis XVI, Broseph Stalin, Hitler, George III, Cromwell, Louis Pasteur, and even Tim Berners-Lee had a bigger effect than fuckin' bill gates, joseph smith, or BYU did.

This list is as thoughtless and wanked off as the one about weird haircuts & jobs. Why does Watson get the nod, but Crick not? Had Thomas Edison not had Nikola Tesla & George Westinghouse as contemporaries, those little bulb things wouldn't get too damn far. Without Sears & Roebuck's catalog service and the railroads they shipped on, american retail, domestic life, and distribution woulda bit a whole bit different.

and on and on and on

Spam in a can.

I don't know about that... seems like a pazz and jop of a few historians, and take it with a grain, etc.

and on and on and on

Yeah, Henry Ford did not invent the assembly line.

Ok, this one baffles me totally:

72 Sam Walton
He promised us “Every Day Low Prices,” and we took him up on the offer.

In which case, yeah, Hitler belongs on the list, too.

(See also the answer to "Why does Watson get the nod, but Crick not?" - that'll be because Watson's American and Crick's British.)

I picture the little guy from the Onion editorial cartoons saying this.

I thought only professional Republocrats and ILX dillydos were the only ones still wheezing this.

FWIW, in the print version of the magazine, the list is accompanied by a lengthy article explaining a lot of the reasons the list is the way it is. it also has smaller lists for authors, architects, people still living, etc.

I thought only professional Republocrats and ILX dillydos were the only ones still wheezing this.

-- Bill Weber (wjwe...), November 28th, 2006.

Yeah, it made me wonder if we aren't witnessing the process of a myth making it into the history books.

Walt Disney is more influential in US history than all women.

This may sadly be true, tho.

It seems like this list is skewed in the same way that VH-1 countdown specials are. It's a snapshot of what would a) placate the greatest number of history snobs that care about such things, b) reflect current status of who is/isn't in favor c) get people to buy the magazine.

People who really need to be on the list:
-Bob Dylan
-William Mullholland
-Ken Kesey
-Carl Sagan
-Jimmy Hoffa
-JFK

definitely, for at least some of the choiecs, but looking at it again, it is pretty on the money in other areas. where it seems to break down is in the last 60 years or so, ie in the lifetimes of those who put it together. it's like a serious list with an overlay of boomer navelgazing. a mashup of stars and stripes forever, appalachian spring (ahem) and we didn't start the fire.

also, bill gates as a stand in for all tech dudes is pretty lame.

frederick douglass ought to be at least ten spaces higher.

OTM.

This may sadly be true, tho.

Well, it depends on who's defining influential, no?

The accompanying article more or less ends on this point. but i think they put the date at 2050.....

Paul Revere should be #1 on this list, and Paul Revere and the Raiders should be #1 on the music list, and then RL Stevenson who wrote "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" should top the authors list. Let's revere him!