Who is your favorite Founding Father and why?

[ProgressiveVictory]

Mine is George Washington because he said "I did not fight against George the 3rd to become George the 1st." he knew what he had to do to start this nation and then was willing it give it up to watch it succeed.

[CoffeeCat]

1. All of em...any of em...

Ooops, sorry, I was temporarily possessed by the spirit of Sarah Palin.

I shall now consult an exorcist and see a doctor about repairing my 100 point IQ drop.

[ProgressiveVictory]

4. You don't have one?

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. With all his deffects

I'd have to say Thomas Jefferson... and boy he had many defects. That said, the man was still way ahead of his time in some respects, and his "bible" is great.

Of course he also got it, the importance of an informed citizenry, and he stood up to Adams, who was the first President to actually go down the road of... going after enemies because they did not agree with him... That took guts...

[HughMoran]

20. I think he was so cool to cut up the Bilble to make his own "Jefferson Bible"

WAY ahead of his time.

[csziggy]

3. The only President who was never President

Benjamin Franklin. He pushed for public libraries and the Post Office, and he had to have had a great sense of humor.

[HuckleB]

8. +1 For Ben.

[phasma ex machina]

19. +2 Everybody likes the Benjamin

[hyphenate]

24. Well, he WAS very disappointed that his choice

of a national bird got nixed. I can see, however, his national bird choice being a very solid choice nowadays!

[csziggy]

28. Having had a bald eagle and some turkey vultures fight

Over a carcass in my front pasture, I am not sure which would be the more appropriate national bird. The eagle did win, against three to one odds, so that must mean something.

[Historic NY]

5. George Clinton the fighting governor.

http://www.nndb.com/people/052/000049902/

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Hell YES! ...He's my favorite, too.

[Hosnon]

6. I have a hard time choosing between Madison and Jefferson.

Madison was the brains behind the Constitution but Jefferson was a passionate populist.

Each represents what the other exists for.

[ProgressiveVictory]

7. Very True!

[Warren DeMontague]

10. Jefferson, because he didn't take any shit from glassy-eyed God Knobbers. nt

[flamingdem]

11. Ethan Allen rawks nt

[Warpy]

12. Franklin

who never sought patents on his many inventions, preferring to get them out so that people would derive the greatest benefit for the lowest cause. He was a bon vivant who tried to have a great deal of fun with the whole thing yet he's the brains of the whole operation.

I have a feeling that both Madison and Jefferson cribbed a lot of their stuff from his idle musings. Intelligences like Franklin don't come along very often.

Besides, he could turn into one hell of a sarcastic SOB, something I have always related to fully.

[Chulanowa]

13. The Great Peacemaker, and Hiawatha

They're a package, can't pick one without the other.

[jobycom]

18. Nice pick.

:thumbsup:

So many of our ideas of freedom and government came from the Iroqouis. The exact influence is hotly debated, but it's clear that pre-Colonial Americans saw the Iroquois as symbols of freedom--that is probably the reason the Sons of Liberty dressed as "Indians" for the Boston Tea Party. Even more so, the discovery of functioning non-royal governments in the Americas influenced philosophers like Locke and Rousseau. There's a lot there waiting for, if you'll pardon the expression, discovery.

[Chulanowa]

22. The image actually went global

There were pro-democracy protestors in Tienanmen Square "dressed like indians"

Normally the whole "dressing in feathers" thing bugs the hell out of me, but i guess I can make exceptions like that.

[MrScorpio]

14. Jefferson...

A great wordsmith, plus he partook of a little jungle fever here and there as well.

[Greyhound]

15. Benjamin Franklin and Abagail Adams.

Why is a question that cannot be answered on a BBS, but in short they epitomized the ideal of The United States of America.

Both native-born, she to the ruling class he to the working, they both had the intelligence and fortitude to point out wrong and work to right it. As with all of the those terrorists, they stood up for their cause and gave all they could to make it happen.

[bedazzled]

16. i like ben franklin - must've been fun to party with!

he had a great sense of humor. i like jefferson,
too. i like some of his thoughts on religion.
he sounds open minded...

[jobycom]

17. Washington, for a number of reasons.

He's the one our first generations knew about, but we later forgot. His charisma kept our military in the field, his planning won the Revolution, his even demeanor and wisdom helped shape the presidency when it would have been easy to turn it into something more powerful and kingly, like recent presidents have tried to do.

But most of all, he was a true egalitarian, and that's rare. Everyone preached it, but few put it into practice. Washington avoided creating a class, even when he'd have been the king of the upper class. His one flaw was his ownership of slaves, but even there he stopped buying slaves even before the Revolution, and freed or arranged to have freed them on his deathbed--he was the only one of the Founders to do so. Not perfect, but slaver is the evil most of our Founders committed. One can even see his attitude maturing over his life--he never purchased a slave after 1772, and in 1785 he said he wanted to see slavery abolished. Sadly, he refused to try to abolish it because he feared it would split the Union.

He was a deeply spiritual man who never promoted his religion over others--to the point where no one can even prove his religion, though those closest to him said he was a deist--and is famous in his private dealings for complete equality. When he requested laborers to be hired, he gave instructions not to discriminate amongst Christians, Jews, Deists, and even Muslims and atheists.

Once, when asked what he liked about the newly created Constitution, he replied that there were two things (I'm paraphrasing because I don't have the exact quote): that you could read it from beginning to end and find no mention of God, and no creation of class. It was not that he disliked religion--his various speeches used religious imagery (always neutral) often. He hated the strife and division it could cause. He hated class for the same reason. To him, in his actions and words, he truly believed all humans were created equal, and if he were alive today it's very clear which way he'd fall on the other human rights issues we face--marriage equality, gender discrimination, etc.

He impressed his equals, even his enemies. When told that Washington planned to return to his farm after the war, King George was impressed, and said "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." On his death Napolean ordered ten days of mourning in France.

A great man, and mostly great for the right reasons.

[HughMoran]

21. My avatar - Jefferson

Man was WAY ahead his time (obviously with some notable exceptions.)

[hyphenate]

23. Thomas Jefferson

Because he was so firmly against mixing religion with politics. (And the fundies hate him the most!)

[Arctic Dave]

25. Ben Franklin baby.

You cant get a cooler founding father

[FedUpWithIt All]

26. Benjamin Franklin.

His thirteen virtues.


1. "TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation."
2. "SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."
3. "ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time."
4. "RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve."
5. "FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing."
6. "INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions."
7. "SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly."
8. "JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty."
9. "MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve."
10. "CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation."
11. "TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable."
12. "CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation."
13. "HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates."

[JackRiddler]

27. The anti-Federalists who forced through the Bill of Rights. "Fathers" or not.