Okay, time for a new history item!!  Let's get a sense of our own
historical interests.  Which historical figure(s) do you admire the most
and why?

19 responses total.

  Okay, I'll go first....my choices are fairly obvious but what the heck.  I
think the two people I admire the most from my study of history are
Mahatma Gandhi and Thomas Jefferson.  

Gandhi's model of pacifism and non-violence saved an entire part of the
world and his lessons of tolerance for other peoples and other religions
have been followed all over the world, most notably by Martin Luther King
during the Civil Rights confrontations in the 50's and 60s

Thomas Jefferson is the true father of this country.  He was the one who
championed the radical idea of a government that was totally separate from
any organized church or religion.  He was the one who pushed forward the
concept of an independent, participatory, free democracy.  Jefferson was
way ahead of his time we would be in a totally different world today
without his foresight.

Interesting trivia about Thomas Jefferson.  He was born, and he died, on the
same exact day of the year.  July 4th.  Makes one wonder.....

Correction: Tom Jefferson was born on 13 April 1743. He died on 4 July
1826, the same day as John Adams died. I know his birthdate because
13 April is my wife's birthdate!

        Interesting that you should bring up Jefferson. I am within
        a few pages of finishing Willard Sterne Randall's biography
        of Jefferson. I have little to add to what you say about
        him in #1, and agree with it completely. He is one of the
        historical figures whom I admire the most. "True father of
        this country" is a fair description.

No fair picking my favorite, Jefferson, before I even read the item.
I even like his monument better than the Lincoln Memorial, or the
Washignton Monument.

Jefferson, like all men a product of his times, owned slaves.
I have grudgingly forgiven him that for all else he did for this country.

I have always admired Winston Churchill.  I like the way he told it like it
wa, and I like the way he stood up for what he believed.

My favorite Winston Churchill story is the one about the time he was told not
to end a sentance with a preposition.  His response: "That is the kind of
blooody nonsense up with which I shall not put."

 Marcus Lucius Cincinnatus.
   A general in the Roman army who lost his wealth and spent his latter days
working his farm. When an invading army threatend Rome, the city fathers
gave Cincinnatus all the power. When he defeated the enemy, he handed the
power back to the city fathers and returned to his humble farm. He was the
Big Cheese for exactly 16 days. (paraphrased from The Book of Virtues by
William Bennett).
  
  George Washington.
   I try to live by his "rules of civility". It has made me a better human
being.

I am all for the egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II.
He was a guy who conquered everything, and was still able to live a life
of luxury and wealth.  He also gave lots of selfworth to his people,and
the surrounding countries.  He was a ruler who lived long and had many
children 100 to be exact.  The new info about him tells of him as a pharaoh
of the peoples.  I think thats great in a leader.

Rameses II was a tyrant and warmonger. Some people thrive under tyrrany
(someone has to operate it), but I don't think the Phoenicians, 
Ethiopians, Hittites, Syrians, and Hebrews held him in a place of honor.
He also had to rob a lot of people blind to have built a 92 foot high
statue of himself (seated!). Sounds like a Hitler of 1300-1280 B.C.

 Yeah, like a major crumb. Plus Rameses II wanted to wipe out the Jews. 

Better you should admire Stalin ;)

The kind of guy who would put all the male Hebrew children to death.
No, I'd say that they don't think much of him to this day, though they tell
stories about him every year. He did a good job of getting remembered.

I can see I did not pick favorable for the crowd does ROAR! I seam to 
remember a lot of so called great people who had skeletons in their
closets, and only now do we hear of it.  No matter I still think that
RAMESSES THE II, RAMESSES THE GREAT, was a great historical person in
his day, as I might think any one of you would be, With your skeletons
and all. <smile> <grin>

No way could he have been a historical person in his day. Now, he is
very historical, for which we should be grateful.

I admire many people who I never knew..my great great grandparents..and older.
It's always interesting to read and learn about my family's history..and who
was in wars and where they came from..and all of that.

Going beyond Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln,
Churchill, Gandhi, King, etc., let's go to the next tier of very worthy
but less widely known historical personages, or those who worked in fields
other than politics or philosophy. 

I'd like to nominate Antoni Gaudi, a Catalonian architect and one of the
most brilliantly creative designers and builders of all time. 

In the category of less widely revered political figures, I'd like to
mention Martin Van Buren and Grover Cleveland as being especially
admirable.

Here are a few who aren't usually thought of, then. At least
except for by certain subgroups of people.

Mordechai Anielwicz, leader of the Warsaw Ghetto rebellion
King Juan Carlos of Spain, even though he's not historical yet, for
        managing to be a really *good* figurehead king
Hannah Senesh, paratrooper into Hungary in WWII, executed for 
        trying to rescue Jews
Arthur Griffith, theoretical architect of the political process
        by which most of Ireland won its independence from Britain
Emile Zola, for his J'Accuse article
Siegfried Sassoon, poet and decorated war hero in WWI, who was the
        first soldier in western modern warfare to defy military
        authority openly in order to protest the continuation of
        the war on behalf of the soldiers. (He later, when it was
        clear his protest would do no further good, rejected both
        continued hospitalization and a desk job at home in order
        to insist on returning to the trenches to share the fate
        of the men.)
Practically any citizen of Denmark in October, 1943

Me?  I like Aristotle, Copernicus, Pastur, and Gallelo.  I think all of these
are lesser known personages.

Erwin Rommel was a great man. He gave up his life and risked the lives of his
family to try and kill Hitler, even though he was considered a great hero by
the Nazi's (at least until they tried to kill Hitler) I am an artist so there
are many artists whose lioves I find very admirable. Some of them like Vincent
Van Gogh never made any money but they worked extrememly hard so that the rest
of us could enjoy the beauty, Rembrandt is another artist who seems to have
been a very very good man. Of the American presidents, I have a lot fo
admiration for Harry Truman. He did dome things I did not agree with but above
all he was a man of integrity. This is a good question to think about.

I favour Gandhi. He may not have won independence for India straight away,
but his ideas of non-violence have influenced India and millions of others
for years.

I also like him because he reminds me (indirectly) of what's bad about
Churchill. Churchill once said of Gandhi, "I'm perfectly satisfied with my
opinion of India, ad I don't want it changed by any bloody Indian."

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