not asking who YOU like. this is family feud, who do you think had the biggest effect on public policy? who got respect from multiple parties? whose ideas were always taken seriously by the media? who got a blank check to do whatever he/she wanted?

Kissinger rest in piss and it's not even close

Though I have a feeling this isn't a serious inquiry but it still needs to be said

Hunter Biden

Donald Trump

Brongus.

joe_lmr wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2023 5:44 pm Kissinger rest in piss and it's not even close

even more than franklin? ok.

Though I have a feeling this isn't a serious inquiry but it still needs to be said

hey, she's a silver medalist!

This poll is kind of a cluster.

OP asks (paraphrased): who was most influential?

Poll asks: who was most popular?

I’m going to answer it this way:

In recent history (last 100 years), I think that the development and use of the “bomb” has changed subsequent events the most.

How many people alive in the USA today can almost certainly say that they would not have been born if it weren’t for the bomb? My grandfather fought in the Pacific Theater and was gearing up to invade Japan at the end of WWII. Instead he came home and my Dad was born a year later. (multiply this by millions)

This was not intended to be a positive or negative assessment of the use of the bomb.

Vote for Oppenheimer.

jfv wrote: Sat Dec 02, 2023 11:38 pm This poll is kind of a cluster.

OP asks (paraphrased): who was most influential?

Poll asks: who was most popular?

I’m going to answer it this way:

In recent history (last 100 years), I think that the development and use of the “bomb” has changed subsequent events the most.

How many people alive in the USA today can almost certainly say that they would not have been born if it weren’t for the bomb? My grandfather fought in the Pacific Theater and was gearing up to invade Japan at the end of WWII. Instead he came home and my Dad was born a year later. (multiply this by millions)

This was not intended to be a positive or negative assessment of the use of the bomb.

Vote for Oppenheimer.

good answer. i was hesitant to put him on there because i guess his work is more polarizing. (same thing with general lee. his legacy is immeasurable.) but the movie was good, so there he is. he also pairs well with fauci, on the science front.

i know it's tough wording. Is influential to this day? was popular at the time? Just work with me here. It's cool.

Chief Justice John Marshall implemented the process of judicial review of laws passed by Congress.

Think about how strongly that has shaped US history. Our system of checks and balances is in large measure due to this principle. Jefferson hated him because he thought this would nullify the voice of the people. And let's be honest, for most of its history the court has indeed been a blocking agent for elite financial interests.

He is the most influential guy on this list. Honorable mention goes to Colin "There are WMD" Powell, J. Edgar Hoover and Bennie Franklin (more of a cultural influencer). Franklin's autobiography is some solid assed reading.

Greenspan and Kissinger were influential but they were more functionaries than anything else. Replace them with a couple of other toadies from Harvard or Yale and you get similar results. Marshall and Hoover wildly shaped the whole future course of their institutions.

InMySoul77 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 1:25 am Chief Justice John Marshall implemented the process of judicial review of laws passed by Congress.

Think about how strongly that has shaped US history. Our system of checks and balances is in large measure due to this principle. Jefferson hated him because he thought this would nullify the voice of the people. And let's be honest, for most of its history the court has indeed been a blocking agent for elite financial interests.

absolutely. i made this list off the top of my head (to ensure they weren't obscure) and he was the only judge that i could safely say will never get overturned.

Honorable mention goes to Colin "There are WMD" Powell,

he probably could have been VP if he wanted to. rumsfeld had more power over bush, but powell was more trusted on the world stage.