American history's 25 greatest progressives

By: mkfox
Published On: 6/19/2006 3:05:04 AM

Based on their achievements, actions and impact, from presidents and Founding Fathers to suffragettes and abolitionists.
1. James Madison (1751-1836)
Father of the Constitution, co-author of the +óGé¼+ôFederalist Papers,+óGé¼-¥ fourth president of the United States

2. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
Civil rights advocate, Nobel Peace Prize recipient

3. Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Author of +óGé¼+ôCommon Sense,+óGé¼-¥ +óGé¼+ôThe Crisis,+óGé¼-¥ +óGé¼+ôRights of Man+óGé¼-¥ and +óGé¼+ôAge of Reason+óGé¼-¥

4. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
Author of the Declaration of Independence, author of the Virginia Statutes of Religious Freedom, third president of the United States, founder of the University of Virginia

5. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Author, publisher, scientist, diplomat, delegate to the Second Continental Congress, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, founder of the University of Pennsylvania

6. William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879)
Co-founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, editor of +óGé¼+ôThe Liberator+óGé¼-¥

7. Roger Williams (1603-1684)
Co-founder of Rhode Island colony, author of +óGé¼+ôThe Bloudy Tenent of Persecution+óGé¼-¥ and +óGé¼+ôThe Bloudy Tenent yet more Bloudy+óGé¼-¥

8. George Mason (1725-1792)
Author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, delegate to the Constitutional Convention

9. Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)
Abolitionist, author, civil rights advocate

10. Roger Nash Baldwin (1884-1981)
Co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union

11. Earl Warren (1891-1974)
14th chief justice of the United States Supreme Court

12. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
26th president of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize recipient

13. Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926)
Co-founder of the American Socialist Party

14. Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)
Co-organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention, co-founder of the National Women+óGé¼Gäós Suffrage Association

15. Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)
Co-founder of the National Women+óGé¼Gäós Suffrage Association, author of +óGé¼+ôThe History of Women+óGé¼Gäós Suffrage+óGé¼-¥

16. Cesar Chavez (1927-1993)
Co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association

17. Ida B. Wells (1862-1931)
Civil rights advocate, anti-lynching advocate, muckraker

18. Upton Sinclair (1878-1968)
Author of +óGé¼+ôThe Jungle,+óGé¼-¥ muckraker

19. Booker T. Washington (1856-1915)
Civil rights advocate, author, educator

20. Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804)
Treasury Secretary, co-author of the +óGé¼+ôFederalist Papers+óGé¼-¥

21. W.E.B. DuBois (1868-1963)
Civil rights advocate, author

22. Rachel Carson (1907-1964)
Author of +óGé¼+ôSilent Spring,+óGé¼-¥ environmentalist

23. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)
Civil rights advocate, author of +óGé¼+ôUncle Tom+óGé¼Gäós Cabin+óGé¼-¥

24. Margaret Sanger (1879-1966)
Founder of Planned Parenthood

25. Harry S. Truman (1884-1972)
33rd president of the United States

Comments



Hey, wait a minute! (Lowell - 6/19/2006 6:44:59 AM)
Where are George Allen and George Bush on that list?  Ha ha ha.


Your list is interesting (PaulVa - 6/19/2006 9:05:05 AM)
However, I think Kenneth Galbraith shoul dbe on this list.  His economic plan was central to Roosevelt bring us out of the great depression.

I think Walter Reuther (head of the UAW), Mother Jones, Roosevelt (both Franklin and Eleanor), should be on this.  Maybe even John L. Lewis, the head of the UMW as well. 

And I'm not so sure about Alexander Hamilton being there.



And (PaulVa - 6/19/2006 9:05:57 AM)
Maybe Robert LaFollette, the senator from Wisconsin.


you need to provide a definition of progressive (teacherken - 6/19/2006 12:04:58 PM)
it is exceedingly hard to me to imagine any definition which would, on the basis of their entire public careers, be able to simultaneously include Jefferson and Hamilton.


Progressive (mkfox - 6/19/2006 2:02:10 PM)
Making the list was hard because I figured I had to focus on more than civil rights achievements. For me, "progressive" is a new thinker who implements policies or action which not only is focused on helping his fellowman but becomes a driving force of his time, someone who, on their own, impactfully defines their time or their movement. Hamilton's economic policies helped make America more fiscally independent and eventually helped make America a more industrialized nation, the kind he invisioned. Despite his decades of criticism of it, Jefferson used Hamilton's banking system to pay for the Louisiana Purchase. As one historian said, "We speak Jefferson's words but live in Hamilton's America."


Paul Wellstone (Kip - 6/19/2006 3:54:03 PM)
He should definitely make the cut. He did revitalized the progressive flame in the midwest until his tragic death.


I agree. Wellstone was an amazing Progressive (Lowell - 6/19/2006 3:54:32 PM)


me too - Wellstone was staggeringly awesome (snolan - 6/20/2006 6:26:27 PM)
Paul Wellstone should have been President, sigh...


Very interesting list, thanks! (Lowell - 6/19/2006 3:58:06 PM)
How about FDR?


RE: FDR (mkfox - 6/19/2006 6:12:52 PM)
I really really wanted to add FDR and Lincoln to the list but felt they were more compelled to do what they did by the times than by their own choosing. Lincoln is my hero and our greatest president but he didn't urge emancipation until the Civil War necessitated it, and I think FDR needs to share credit with the New Dealers in his Cabinet and Congress who implemented the policies. Also, I think FDR should've fought for anti-lynching legislation in the late 1930s when it came up and the Japanese internment is unforgiveable.