59
Louis
Sullivan
The father of architectural modernism, he shaped the defining American 60
William
Faulkner
building:
the
skyscraper.
The most gifted chronicler of America’s tormented and fascinating 61
Samuel
Gompers South.
The country’s greatest labor organizer, he made the golden age 62
William
James
of
unions
possible.
The mind behind Pragmatism, America’s most important philosophical 63
George
Marshall school.
As a general, he organized the American effort in World War II; as 64
Jane
Addams
a
statesman,
he
rebuilt
Western
Europe.
The founder of Hull House, she became the secular saint of social 65
Henry
David
Thoreau work.
The original American dropout, he has inspired seekers of authenticity 66 The 67
P.
T.
Barnum
king
of
Elvis rock
and
roll.
Enough
Presley said.
for
150
years.
The circus impresario’s taste for spectacle paved the way for blockbuster 68
James
D.
Watson
movies
and
reality
TV.
He codiscovered DNA’s double helix, revealing the code of life to 69
James
Gordon
Bennett
scientists
and
entrepreneurs
alike.
As the founding publisher of The New York Herald, he invented
the
modern
American
newspaper.
70 Lewis and Clark
They went west to explore, and millions followed in their wake. 71
Noah
Webster
He didn’t create American English, but his dictionary defined it. 72
Sam
Walton
He promised us “Every Day Low Prices,” and we took him up on 73
Cyrus
McCormick
the
offer.
His mechanical reaper spelled the end of traditional farming, and 74
Brigham
Young
the
beginning
of
industrial
agriculture.
What Joseph Smith founded, Young preserved, leading the Mormons 75
George
Herman
“
Babe
”
Ruth
to
their
promised
land.
He saved the national pastime in the wake of the Black Sox scandal—and permanently linked sports and celebrity.
76
Frank
Lloyd
Wright
America’s most significant architect, he was the archetype of the 77
Betty
Friedan
visionary
artist
at
odds
with
capitalism.
She spoke to the discontent of housewives everywhere—and inspired 78
John
Brown
a
revolution
in
gender
roles.
Whether a hero, a fanatic, or both, he provided the spark for the 79
Louis
Armstrong
Civil
War.
His talent and charisma took jazz from the cathouses of Storyville 80
William
Randolph
Hearst
to
Broadway,
television,
and
beyond.
The press baron who perfected yellow journalism and helped start 81
Margaret
Mead
the
Spanish-American
War.
With Coming of Age in Samoa, she made anthropology relevant 82
George
Gallup
—
and
controversial.
He asked Americans what they thought, and the politicians listened. 83
James
Fenimore
Cooper
The novels are unreadable, but he was the first great mythologizer 84
Thurgood
Marshall
of
the
frontier.
As a lawyer and a Supreme Court justice, he was the legal architect 85
Ernest
Hemingway
of
the
civil-rights
revolution.
His spare style defined American modernism, and his life made 86
Mary
Baker
Eddy
machismo
a
clich
é
.
She got off her sickbed and founded Christian Science, which promised
spiritual
healing
to
all.