Americans have always been on top since last few centuries.
Here’s a List of the top 10 greatest Americans in history of America which are an inspiration for all of us with their major achievements:
(This data is in accordance to a survey conducted by the Discovery Channel)
1. Ronald Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004)
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Ronald Reagan holds the top position in the list of top 10 Americans; He was the 40th President of the United States, serving from 1981 to 1989. Prior to that, he was the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and a radio, film and television actor.
Major Achievements of Ronald Reagan:
- Ending the Cold War
- Reaganomics
- Revitalizing the GOP and the conservative movement
- Peace through Strength, Nuclear weapons cuts
- Tax reform, Taking on PATCO.
2. Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865)
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He was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.
Major Achievements of Abraham Lincoln:
- Signed into Law the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in the rebellious states.
- Saved the Union by leading the US to victory in the Civil War.
- Lincoln’s leadership had helped to guide the nation through the greatest internal turmoil in its history and sustained the Union as a united body.
- His recognizable image appears on the penny, the five dollar bill, the national landmark, Mt. Rushmore, and in his own memorial in Washington, D.C.
- Lincoln oversaw the creation of the national bank system.
- He approved the Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 paved the way for the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.
- Lincoln remains the only person to ever both hold a patent and serve as President of the United States.
3. Martin Luther King Jr (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)
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He was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Major Achievements of Martin Luther King Jr:
- Became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation, and racial discrimination using non-violent methods in 1964.
- Awarded Congressional Gold Medal in 2004.
- King became a symbol of protest in the struggle for racial justice.
- Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977; and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986.
- Advocate for direct action nonviolent protest.
4. George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)
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He was the first President of the United States of America, serving from 1789 to 1797, and the dominant military and political leader of the United States from 1775 to 1799.
Major Achievements of George Washington:
- In 1754, George Washington was appointed the lieutenant colonel for the mission to Fort Duquesne against the French
- During the Monongahela expedition of 1755, Washington showed great valor emerging as the Hero of Monongahela.
- During the American Revolutionary War that continued from 1775 to 1783, Washington was the leader of the Continental Army
- In 1793, George Washington issued the Proclamation of Neutrality.
- Washington signed the Jay Treaty in 1795, marking the beginning of a decade of peace with Britain.
- Today, the image of George Washington is the national symbol of the United States. His sculpture has found a place on Mount Rushmore.
5. Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790)
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He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.
Major Achievements of Benjamin Franklin:
- He Invented Stove, lightning rod, bifocals and many others useful things.
- He founded 1st U.S. Hospital
- He introduced several crops to U.S.
- He Noted Colonial printer – “Patron Saint of Printing”
- He Started 1st insurance company
- He was involved in founding two colleges
- He was the first postmaster of the world
- He started the first circulating library
- He wrote for several early newspapers
- He started 1st police department
- He started 1st fire department
- He introduced idea of prayer in Congress
- He invented musical instrument – glass armonica
- He was Colonel in Militia
- He was the Grand Master of Pennsylvania
- He was the Ambassador to England Minister to France
- He started Leather Apron Club
- He started American Philosophical Society
- He started Society to Abolish Slavery
- He is considered as America’s 1st writer of humor
- He published Poor Richards “Almanack”
- He drew 1st cartoon in an American newspaper
6. George W. Bush (July 6, 1946 - Present)
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He is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.
Major Achievements of George W. Bush:
- Banned Partial Birth Abortion – by far the most significant roll-back of abortion on demand since Roe v. Wade. Reversed Clinton’s move to strike Reagan’s anti-abortion Mexico Policy.
- Upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals.
- Signed two income tax cuts, one of which was the largest dollar-value tax cut in world history. Supports permanent elimination of the death tax.
- Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.
- Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains.
- Signed trade promotion authority.
- Signed the No Child Left Behind Act, delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation.
- Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary cleanup of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.
- Killed Clinton’s CO2 rules that were choking off the entire electricity surplus to California.
- Provided matching grants for state programs that help private landowners protect rare species.
- Killed the old US/Soviet Union ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses.
- Has been one of the strongest, if not THE strongest friend Israel has ever hand in the U.S. presidency.
- Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia.
- Pushed through THREE raises for our military. Increased military pay by more than $1 billion a year.
- Part of the coalition for an Israeli/Palestinian “Roadmap to Peace,” along with Great Britain, Russia and the EU.
- Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court.
7. Bill Clinton (August 19, 1946 – Present)
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He is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president.
Major Achievements of Bill Clinton:
- Longest economic expansion in American history
- More than 22 million new jobs
- Highest home ownership in American history
- Lowest unemployment in 30 years
- Largest expansion of college opportunity since the GI Bill
- Connected 95 percent of schools to the Internet
- Enacted most sweeping gun safety legislation in a generation
- Family and Medical Leave Act for 20 million Americans
- Lowest infant mortality rate in American history
- Deactivated more than 1,700 nuclear warheads from the former Soviet Union
- Converted the largest budget deficit in American history to the largest surplus
- Most diverse cabinet in American history
8. Elvis Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977)
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He was one of the most popular and among the top American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King“.
Major Achievements of Elvis Presley:
- He has sold over a billion albums worldwide, has over 30 Top # 1 hits, and won 3 Grammy.
- He broke several records for television such as his appearance on the Ed Sullivan show
- Rolling Stone named him the greatest Rock icon, and he continues to top the list of other magazines as well.
- He starred in 30 films and was one of the biggest box office draws of the 1950′s and early 60′s.
- He has been praised by several acts such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, U2, and Bruce Springsteen.
- He was also named one of the top 10 outstanding men of America by the Jaycees.
9. Oprah Winfrey (January 29, 1954) – Present)
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She is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011.
Major Achievements of Oprah Winfrey:
- In the year 1972, Oprah Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant and started working with a local black radio station WVOL as a news presenter.
- In the year 1973 Oprah graduated from Tennessee State University with a degree in Speech and Performing Arts and became the first black TV news anchor with WTVF-TV.
- In 1983, Oprah moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV’s low-rated half-hour morning talk-show, AM Chicago and within months after Oprah took over, the show went on to become the highest top rated talk show in Chicago and was renamed as “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.
- In the year 1987, Oprah won her first Emmy award for best talk/service show host and best show.
- Oprah received the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Entertainer of the year award in 1989.
- Oprah testified before the US congress and initiated the National Child Protection Act in 1991.
- In 1995 Oprah not only won an Emmy for Best Talk Show and Best Host for the second year in a row but also kick started Oprah Online on AOL (American Online) in partnership with ABC. Oprah became the first woman and the only black on Forbes list of 400 richest Americans in the same year.
- In the year 1996, Oprah received the prestigious George Foster Peabody’s Individual Achievement Award. In the same year she co-authored the book “A Journal of Daily Renewal: The Companion to Make the Connection” with Bob Greene.
- In 1997 Oprah’s Angel Network was formed which encouraged people to make charitable contributions and volunteer work. In the same year she co-authored another book “Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey: A Portrait in Her Own Words” with Bill Adler.
- In the year 1998 Oprah received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Daytime Emmy Awards and an award for top talk show host.
- In 2002, Oprah received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy Awards for her services to television and film.
- In the year 2005 Oprah was named by Time magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people of the year. She also ranked in 9th place in public poll of the greatest Americans.
- She was also the first black person listed by Business Week as one of America’s top 50 most generous philanthropists.
- Oprah has invested $40 million and much of her time creating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Johannesburg in South Africa, which started in January 2007.
- Her efforts were applauded by Nelson Mandela who congratulated her for overcoming her own disadvantaged youth to become a benefactor for others and for investing in the future of South Africa.
- She has her own magazine titled O Magazine, where she touches upon different areas of one’s life like health, interior decorating, spirituality and the likes.
- She has her own commendable network known as the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) with shows featured specially on these – The Rosie Show, Extreme Clutter, Oprah’s Lifeclass. Facing Trauma, The Ambush Cook and Our America with Lisa Ling to name a few.
10. Franklin D. Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945)
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He was the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1945) and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic depression and total war.
Major Achievements of Franklin D. Roosevelt:
- He sent Congress a record number of bills, all of which passed easily.
- He signed the Social Security Act
- He signed the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
- Worked for initiating Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
- He made the Works Progress Administration (WPA) which set up a National Relief Agency that Employed Two Million Family Heads.