Who is the most popular person in the united states

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The Greatest American was a four-part American television series hosted by Matt Lauer in 2005. The show featured biographies and lists of influential persons in U.S. history, and culminated in a contest in which millions in the audience nominated and voted for the person they felt was the "greatest American". The four-part competition was conducted by AOL and the Discovery Channel and reported on by the BBC.[1]

The Greatest AmericanPresented byMatt LauerCountry of originUnited StatesProductionExecutive producerJason RaffReleaseOriginal networkDiscovery ChannelOriginal release5 June 2005 (2005-06-05)

President Ronald Reagan achieved the highest position. His son, Ronald Reagan Jr., commented to the network that "I'm sure he would be very honored to be in the company of these great gentlemen." In total, the American public cast over 2.4 million votes during the nomination process.[2]

In detail, Martin Luther King Jr. was the highest-ranked person of color, at number three, while Oprah Winfrey, at number nine, was the highest-ranked woman. George W. Bush, at number six, had the highest status of any living American.

Nominations were accepted through 31 January 2005. The seven-hour-long series was broken into four episodes: The first episode counted down the top 100 and introduced the top 25 nominees in alphabetical order. The second episode featured biographies of the top 25 nominees as well as commentaries from influential people such as celebrities and politicians. The third episode, called "The Great Debate", introduced the top five nominees and pitted the studio audience supporters of each of the nominees and a person selected to represent each of the top five candidates against a panel of three celebrities. In the finale, the top five "Greatest Americans" were announced as well as what percentage of the votes each had received. Votes were taken through a toll-free (if calling from a land line) phone number, through text messages from cellphones, and through online voting. Voters were allowed to vote three times per voting method, so anyone had a chance of voting at least nine times.[citation needed]

1. Ronald Reagan,
40th president of the United States (1981–89).

2. Abraham Lincoln,
16th president of the United States (1861–65).

3. Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights activist.

4. George Washington,
1st president of the United States (1789–97).

5. Benjamin Franklin,
author, inventor, statesman, and scientist.

Ronald Reagan (1911–2004), actor and 40th president
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), 16th president
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968), minister and civil rights leader
George Washington (1732–1799), general and 1st president
Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790), author, printer, scientist and politician
George W. Bush (born 1946), 43rd president
Bill Clinton (born 1946), 42nd president
Elvis Presley (1935–1977), musician and actor
Oprah Winfrey (born 1954), talk show host and actress
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd president
Billy Graham (1918–2018), minister
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), writer and 3rd president
Walt Disney (1900–1966), animator and film producer
Albert Einstein (1879–1955), physicist (born in Germany)
Thomas Alva Edison (1874–1931), inventor
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th president
Bob Hope (1903–2003), actor and comedian
Bill Gates (born 1955), businessman
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962), First Lady, activist and diplomat
Lance Armstrong (born 1971), cyclist
Muhammad Ali (1942–2016), boxer
Rosa Parks (1913–2005), civil rights activist
The Wright Brothers, inventors and aviation pioneers
Henry Ford (1863–1947), industrialist and businessman
Neil Armstrong (1930–2012), astronaut

On 18 April 2005, AOL and The Discovery Channel announced the top 100 nominees.[3]

The remaining 75 nominees:

Maya Angelou (1928–2014), poet and writer
Susan B. Anthony (1820–1904), women's rights activist
Lucille Ball (1911–1989), actress and comedian
Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), inventor and scientist
Barbara Bush (1925–2018), First Lady
George H. W. Bush (1924–2018), 41st president
Laura Bush (born 1946), First Lady
Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), industrialist and philanthropist
Johnny Carson (1925–2005), comedian and talk show host
Jimmy Carter (born 1924), 39th president
George Washington Carver (the 1860s–1943), botanist and inventor
Ray Charles (1930–2004), musician
César Chávez (1927–1993), labor leader and activist
Hillary Clinton (born 1947), politician
Bill Cosby (born 1937), comedian
Tom Cruise (born 1962), actor
Ellen DeGeneres (born 1958), comedian and talk show host
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895), writer and abolitionist
Amelia Earhart (1897–1937), aviator
Clint Eastwood (born 1930), actor and film director
John Edwards (born 1953), politician
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), general and 34th president
Brett Favre (born 1969), football player
Mel Gibson (born 1956), actor and film director
Rudolph Giuliani (born 1944), politician
John Glenn (1921–2016), astronaut and politician
Alexander Hamilton (1757–1804), statesman and 1st Secretary of the Treasury
Tom Hanks (born 1956), actor
Hugh Hefner (1926–2017), magazine publisher
Katharine Hepburn (1907–2003), actress
Howard Hughes (1907–1979), businessman, film producer, and aviator
Michael Jackson (1958–2009), musician
Steve Jobs (1955–2011), businessman and inventor
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973), 36th president
Michael Jordan (born 1963), basketball player
Helen Keller (1880–1968), author and activist
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–1994), First Lady
Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968), politician
Rush Limbaugh (1951–2021), radio talk show host
Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974), aviator
George Lucas (born 1944), film director
Madonna (born 1958), musician
Malcolm X (1925–1965), civil rights activist
Phil McGraw (born 1950), psychologist and television personality
Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962), actress
Michael Moore (born 1954), documentary filmmaker
Audie Murphy (1925–1971), soldier
Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994), 37th president
Barack Obama (born 1961), politician (became 44th president after airing)
Jesse Owens (1913–1980), track and field athlete
George S. Patton (1885–1945), general
Colin Powell (1937–2021), politician and general
Christopher Reeve (1952–2004), actor
Condoleezza Rice (born 1954), politician and diplomat
Jackie Robinson (1919–1972), baseball player
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), writer, explorer, naturalist, and 26th president
Babe Ruth (1895–1948), baseball player
Carl Sagan (1934–1996), astronomer and writer
Jonas Salk (1914–1995), medical researcher
Arnold Schwarzenegger (born 1947), actor and politician
Frank Sinatra (1915–1998), musician and actor
Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805–1844), religious leader
Steven Spielberg (born 1946), film director
James Stewart (1908–1997), actor
Martha Stewart (born 1941), businesswoman, writer, and television personality
Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), inventor
Pat Tillman (1976–2004), football player and soldier
Harry S. Truman (1884–1972), 33rd president
Donald Trump (born 1946), businessman (became 45th president after airing)
Harriet Tubman (1822–1913), abolitionist
Mark Twain (1835–1910), writer and humorist
Sam Walton (1918–1992), businessman
John Wayne (1907–1979), actor
Tiger Woods (born 1975), golfer
Chuck Yeager (1923–2020), aviator

Other countries have produced similar shows, see also: Greatest Britons spin-offs

^ Greatest American, retrieved 9 April 2020
^ Wilson, Jamie (27 June 2005). "The greatest American? Lincoln? Einstein? No - it's Ronald Reagan". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^ "The Top 100". Discovery Channel. Archived from the original on 20 April 2005. Retrieved 29 May 2021.