Who was your favorite?

[exitseven]

The United States of America had many founders. They created the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and the US Constitution. They were true statesmen who put their nation before their own interests. .

These men became the founders of the greatest country the world has ever known.

Thomas Jefferson "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal"

John Adams "Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people"

George Washington "The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and alter their constitutions of government"

Benjamin Franklin "Haste makes waste"

John Hancock "True patriotism hates injustice in it's own land more than anywhere else."

Somebody Else

[nightdrot]

Put me down for Alexander Hamilton. He had a surer sense of the practical aspects of political life and human nature. In this he was a Burkean conservative who understood the relationship between statecraft and the development of society at the intersection of culture.

Implicitly, Hamilton subscribed to Burke's axiom, "The effect of liberty to individuals is that they may do as they please. We ought see what it will please them to do before we risk congratulations." He did not, unlike his great rival Thomas Jefferson, presume the goodness of human nature and its' spontaneous tendency to virtue.

Rather, Hamilton understood that virtue had to be nurtured by society and culture. Moreover, Hamilton understood that government had very limited power to affect changes in human nature. Yet he did not - the other error of the Jeffersonians - absent government from responsibility for nurturing virtue.

He recognized, as the title of George Will's book two centuries later would suggest, statecraft is soulcraft. Thus, for example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 reinforced an ethic in society that mitigated against racial bias. By placing that mitigation in law, the Civil Rights Act, in effect, institutionalized - not perfectly or completely, to be sure, but nonetheless to a great degree - though convictions in society that mitigated against racial bias.

All of this was in the Hamiltonian tradition. I has been well said that Americans are Jeffersonians in theory but Hamiltonians in practice. Suffice to say that they would do well to have a greater degree of self-awareness of the pedigree of their ideas.

[OlderAndWiser]

Jefferson is the man!

[exitseven]

I agree.

[Jennz6]

Jefferson is good

[OlderAndWiser]

Thanks for MHO!

[midnightmoon05]

My favorite is T. Jeff.

I like US history in MS and my HS teacher also made the US history class a lot more interesting than my HS global teacher.

I always like Ben Franklyn when teaching my young students about his contributions. It's always fun to ask which US currency is he on and why was he never the president.

All the men above are significant figures composting the Decl. of Indep.

[exitseven]

Yes, he is my fave as well.
Ben Franklin is on the C note but i do not know why he was never the President.

[midnightmoon05]

He was never in the US long enough to be elected.. the joke is… he was too busy chasing the French ladies 😂

[Jennz6]

Go “TRUMP”

He’s the man!

[exitseven]

Yes, he is the man. He has done a lot of great things but signing the Declaration of independence was not one of them.

[Lliam]

Probably Franklin. He was quite a guy, even when he was younger. Witty, charming, brilliant, wise.

My second favorite would be Jefferson.

But they were all extraordinary men whose vision I admire.

[exitseven]

When Ben Franklin was Ambassador the France he got drunk one night and sent a toilet seat to his girlfriend that said "To the part of you I love the best"
Ben Franklin was a man ahead of his time.

[Daniela1982]

He was also the first Postmaster General. And the post office has been going downhill ever since. 🤣

[exitseven]

@Daniela1982 he invented the Franklin Stove, bifocals and electricity.

[Daniela1982]

He didn't invent electricity, he "discovered" it. 😉

[exitseven]

@Daniela1982 how do you know he didn't?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90eg_erObDo

[Jennz6]

@exitseven true

[TrueConfection]

These are all great men and it was hard to pick just one. I went with Washington for his courage and leadership.

[exitseven]

Okay then. He is not known as the father of our country for nothing.

[Avicenna]

I think if I had to choose only one of the Founding Fathers as the most pivotal figure, it would be Madison.

[exitseven]

Good choice.

[AviatorTom]

I have always liked Ben Franklin. He was the main reason France helped the colonists defeat Britain. It's debatable whether it was his diplomacy in France, or that he wooed so many French women. 😎

[Anpu23]

Oh Masons all, many members of the Hell Fire club. Atheists, men of their times and fiercely independent. Love em all, how many other "great statesmen" do you know who may have been a mass murderer, grave robber or ritualistic sacrificer? (10 boddies found hidden under the house of Jefferson)

[RealMarek]

I think Washington is my favorite. He matured from initially being ambitious and grasping to, by the time of the Revolution, being personally modest and among the most reluctant of the patriots. He was a practical man who knew his limitations and also thought about the precedents he was setting. There is a reason he was so widely admired.

[Sparkie460]

I don't really have a favorite other than Ronald Reagan as president

[Anonymous]

None

all are the founder of this criminal empire

[strateguy632]

but empire cannot change the bad emperor but u. s. did get rid of obama emperor.

[RavVid]

Was listening to a podcast on US Presidents and to a non US cit he seems to be a god pick.

[SotiCoto]

Don't know, don't care. Muricans don't concern me. Especially not murican politicians.

[Mangospacho]

John Hancock - he was the only declaration signer to sign in ALL CAPS.

[andreasderjuengere]

Bill Clinton: ''Look! I have cigars''

[jjj101010]

King George 3rd, without him America wouldn’t have pushed for independence.

[TiaNour]

LeBron James

[exitseven]

really?

[Jennz6]

Why?

[exitseven]

@Jennz6 he was not even born when the Declaration of independence was signed

[Iron_Man]

Where is Ronald Reagan?

[strateguy632]

not a "founder" category.

[Iron_Man]

I didn’t read that part

[exitseven]

Yes, 18th century guys only

[Iron_Man]

I just read the headlines

[Anonymous]

Thomas Jefferson

[Jamie05rhs]

Patrick Henry