From time to time I purchase a copy of The Atlantic magazine because of some high interest article they promote on their cover. I was broke when in Barnes and Noble bookstore this morning, but Mary came along and loaned me a little cash so I could lay out the $5.95 plus tax and buy one. The article I want to read carries the title "The 100 Most Influential Americans of All Time." Now, I can't think of a topic that can be more subjective than that, but they gathered together a panel of ten important historians to make their pronouncements of their choices. One thing I like about these kinds of lists is they foster a debate and make one think of whom he thinks should or shouldn't have been on the list. In fact the magazine invites readers to add names that they think have been left off and will print a compiled top ten list in the next issue.
The top five Americans of influence listed in order of appearance are Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Alexander Hamilton. The list ends at #100 with the author Herman Melville who the magazine terms as the American Shakespeare. After I read the lengthy article I'll have more thoughts regarding the choices, but a quick glance tells me one thing: very few contemporary, still living people find themselves listed. In fact, I find only one at number 54, Bill Gates, who is called here the Rockefeller of the Information Age.
I suppose the question goes begging, but does it mean that we need to stand back with the perspective of time's passing to determine a person's influence, or does it mean that few people today match up?
