A great Amercican man? (HW help)?

Question

I need to do a presentation about a man (or men) who have been influential in American history. Any ideas on who i should pick?

Preferably someone who was influentially impoirtant but not that well known. I can't do Hamiltong, because that's the name of my high school, so he is rather well known to the students...

TELL ME WHY!

Answer 1

How about one of these? They are not overly done, but their deeds made a impact on the country. (this is just a preview of the site. Many others are listed there.)

Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion

Jeannette Rankin
Born in Missoula, Montana, Jeannette Rankin became the first woman to serve in either house of the United States Congress. She was elected in 1916, a time when most states did not even permit women to vote.

Nellie Tayloe Ross
In 1925 Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman governor in the United States. She later served four years as director of the United States Mint.

Jefferson C. (“Soapy”) Smith
Famous (or infamous) outlaw and con-man who left Colorado on unfriendly terms with the law and showed up in Skagway, Alaska at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. He was quick to organize his own gang of brutes to fleece the miners for as much as he could in this lawless gold-rush town.

Philo Farnsworth
Born in Indian Creek, Utah, Philo was fascinated with the study of electricity. Although he attended a small school, he worked closely with his chemistry teacher, and by the time he was 15 years old, he had developed a theory of electronic transmission of pictures.

Ruth Handler
Ruth Handler (1916-2002) was born in Denver. In 1945, she and her husband Elliot established a small business enterprise, calling it Mattel Creations. In 1959, she created the Barbie Doll, naming it after her daughter.

Julius Robert Oppenheimer
Born in New York City, Oppenheimer was the son of a wealthy textile importer. As a child, he became interested in mineral collecting, and through his letters to the New York Mineralogy Club, was invited to present a paper there when he was only twelve years old. In 1922, he enrolled in Harvard, and worked with an experimental physicist there. He continued his work in theoretical physics, and in 1942, he was asked to work on the US Atomic bomb program (eventually to be called the “Manhattan Project”).

Gutzon Borglum
Born near Bear Lake, Idaho, the son of Danish immigrants, Gutzon may have learned his love of sculpting from his father who was a woodcutter. Borglum is best known for his work designing and working on the massive sculptures of Mount Rushmore.

Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) was born in Okemah, Oklahoma. He was a prolific American folk music composer and performer who wrote more than 1,000 songs.

Chester Arthur
The son of a Baptist clergyman and abolitionist, Chester A. Arthur, was born in the Green Mountain country of Vermont. He became a successful lawyer in New York City, served as the state’s quartermaster general during the Civil War, and was appointed collector of customs at the port of New York by President Grant in 1871.

James Buchanan
James Buchanan, the 15th President of the United States (1857-1861), was born in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in 1791. After graduating from college, he established a successful law practice, earning more than $300,000 by the time he was thirty years old. Buchanan was engaged to married in 1819, but his bride-to-be broke off the engagement due to a misunderstanding. Buchanan he remained a bachelor for the rest of his life.

Mary McLeod Bethune
Born in 1875, one of 17 children of former slaves, Mary McLeod Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for ***** Girls (now Bethune-Cookman College) in 1904, and served as president from 1904-1942 and from 1946-47.

Answer 2

Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, George Washington, Martin Luther Kings Jr

Answer 3

Inventors:
Ben Franklin (also a politician / statesman)
Thomas Edison
Bill Gates

Athletes:
Jackie Robinson
Muhammed Ali
Jessie Owens

Politicians:
Woodrow Wilson
Teddy Roosevelt
John F. Kennedy

Celebrities:
Elvis Presley
John Wayne
Charlton Heston

Writers:
Ernest Hemingway
John Steinbeck
Stan Lee (very pop culture here)

Answer 4

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Robert E. Lee
James Longstreet
Jefferson Davis
Stand Watie
John Moseby
Nathan Bedford Forrest

Answer 5

Either of the Kennedys - JFK because he called to a new generation, he really did, but RFK is in many ways the more interesting because he had the courage to do his growing in public. One example of RFK's direct influence was the completely impromptu speech he gave in Indiana the night that Martin Luther King was assassinated - black people were rioting in most of the cities, but after RFK's speech (you can get it on video, I know) they didn't riot, they went home and mourned peacefully. That's as direct a piece of influence you can find. You could also use it, should you choose, to make a point about the decline in public debate and maybe in educational standards, because he quotes from the Greek poet Aeschylus (how many of today's politicians could do that, I wonder?). A truly remarkable man and a great loss.

Answer 6

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy without his influence there would not be a Peace Corps or Space exploration. Two things that I believe were essential to the future of America and Americans.

Answer 7

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was a huge influence in history because he helped American get out of the Depression after World War One by his programs in the New Deal. Also, he was influencial because people were criticizing him about being very democratic.

Answer 8

My American heroes are Andrew Carnegie, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Ford, Sam Walton and of course, Martin Luther King.

Answer 9

Alexander Hamilton

Answer 10

Do Teddy R. he set a great influence on this country. he is also easy to do reasearch on. good luck doing that.hope you get an A++++++