Americans Who Changed The World
Thomas Jefferson - Author of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was a unique thinker and polymath who was interested in many different sciences and arts. Another significant contribution to America was Thomas Jefferson's statue of Religious Liberty for Virginia. This was a groundbreaking law which gave people the explicit right to pursue which ever religion their conscience dictated. President 1800-1808
Martin Luther King - A key figure in the US civil rights movement of 1960s. His speeches on equality, freedom and peaceful resistance galvanised the conscience of America and led to a change in civil rights legislation
Abraham Lincoln. - Led America into a civil war in order to protect the union. Also committed the US to ending slavery. His Gettysburg address is one of the great expressions of American principles.
George Washington - First president and often considered the father of the New American state.
Franklin Roosevelt - President from 1933 to 1945, Roosevelt presided over the most testing experiences of the US in the Twentieth Century - The Great Depression and World War II.
Woodrow Wilson - President during the First World War. It was Wilson who sought to establish a League of Nations and provide a framework for resolving international conflict.
Rosa Parks - The Woman who began the Montgomery bus boycott, propelling the civil rights movement to the forefront of the political debate.
Benjamin Franklin - Great wit and intellect of the age. Helped negotiate peace treaty with Great Britain after war of independence.
See Top 100 Greatest Americans