Who has made the most positive impact on American life and why?

Question

Any other people besides George Washington and Abe L.?

Answer 1

Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The only four term President and the man who led America through the two most calamitous events of the twentieth century: WWII and the the Great Depression.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Roosevelt created the New Deal to provide relief for the unemployed, recovery of the economy, and reform of the economic system. His most famous legacies include the Social Security system and the regulation of Wall Street.

After 1938, Roosevelt championed re-armament and led the nation away from isolationism as the world headed into the war. He provided extensive support to Winston Churchill and the British war effort before the attack on Pearl Harbor pulled the U.S. into the fighting.

During the war, Roosevelt, working closely with his aide Harry Hopkins, provided decisive leadership against Nazi Germany and made the United States the principal arms supplier and financier of the Allies who defeated Germany, Italy and Japan. Roosevelt led the United States as it became the Arsenal of Democracy and put 16 million American men into uniform.

Answer 2

Martin Luther King Jr. without a doubt. Why?

Our country stands for certain ideals - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We fought a civil war over the fact that some states did not want to grant those basic rights to African Americans. The Union won, but winning a military war and changing the hearts and minds of a whole group of people is another matter. It happened slowly and surely, bit by bit. But MLK Jr. made it clear that 100 years after the war that they had waited long enough. It was time to put the US's money where its mouth was.

If you don't have true civil rights for all, just economic ones, you cannot call yourself a free and democratic country. Just ask the Chinese.

Answer 3

Lyndon Baines Johnson, the greatest and most adept presidential legislator of all time. No one was able to pass more legislation that he. It was he he made the civil rights movement was it is. It was his "Great Society' that facilitated and stimulated that great social changes that took place during the 60's and 70's. Unfortuately, he will forever be marred by the Vietnam War. Otherwise, most would agree he is easily one of the best Presidents of all time. Next, FDR, hands down. But naturally, LBJ will never get his credit, as I'm sure many commentators after me will affirm with their misconstruing of actual events.

Answer 4

Sorry folks. It's a four-way tie. The Wright Brothers, Dr. Alexander Graham Bell and Glenn Curtiss. All for their advancement of aviation. The Wrights for having gotten us off the ground and Bell and Curtiss for the aileron. At any given moment on any given day, there are at least 61,000 people flying over the U.S..
The next day...
Yep, Rosa Parks was SOOOO incredibly important to EVERYBODY that most of you couldn't even do her the honor of remembering her name. Not that I support any one race over another. But what you miss on a point such as this, is that for "Equality" to happen. someone has to lose for others to gain. In the case of Rosa Parks, her gain was a loss of priviledge for whites. Someone loses so that others may gain.
As for FDR, history shows that the Republic never came as close to falling to communism as during the tenure of FDR. Of which, we are still paying to this very day.
LBJ, yes, the man signed into law more programs to help the "less fortunate" than any other president. He also had no plan for how to pay for those programs and most had to be scrapped by Nixon. Typically, his definition for "Success" in regards to those programs was: "See, look how many we signed up, it's working." When it should have been: "See how many we were able to get off the program and make selfsufficiant! It's working." This is why to this very day, the various welfare programs are such abismal failures. We have a generational gravey train going with no end in sight. Thanks LBJ.
Kennedy, got us into Vietnam, and need I mention Bay of Pigs or Marilyn? Lets just stick with a serious escalation of "the Cold War."
While I support MLK Jr., I still have to refer back to the Rosa Parks deal. The majority lost priviledge so that the minority could gain.

Answer 5

Roosevelt, Tom Payne, Tomas Jefferson,

Answer 6

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - He was elegant with a non violent approach to achieving a greater good for all Americans and humanity. Something we could use some more of.

Answer 7

Jonas Salk and his grou of doctors that came up with the vaccination for Polio and other diseases. Theses diseases used to cripple and take our child. Now, we have healthly children and do not have to face death or disability of our little ones.

Answer 8

I think the middle class Americans,They are the ones who really take care of the country.

Answer 9

The black woman who sat at the front of the bus, when segregation was in affect. I think her name may have been Parker, but, I would need to pull out my books for that. I just got done eating, I'm too lazy right now...LOL

Answer 10

Richard Nixon.
Because of him people no longer blindly trust their government and elected officials are doing the right thing.