I voted Thomas Jefferson because I think we have gotten so far from his original concept of the forming of this country. His ideas have never gone out of style. As Monticello, they are classic and grounded. I try to read him often.

Thomas Jefferson was one of the three smartest men of the 18th century. He authored of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson and Thomas Paine, Daniel Webster, George Washington, Ben Franklin, and yes, General Lafayette are ‘America’ to me. Words of Wisdom from our Greatest Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5mXPYPX79s&feature=related Jefferson’s beloved Monticello: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlQRWfi3jhg&NR=1 Thomas Paine became the best selling author of the 18th c with his “Common Sense” “Age of Reason” and “The Rights of Man” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4JbbW7vozs A traveling play on Thomas Jefferson- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYDTxA_Z5qo

ANYBODY. i thnk Mary Todd Lincoln could do a better job than Bush. seriously, it would take a Roosevelt to make a positive difference . economy and war and healthcare and…..a few leaders in Congress are also necessary. Goldwater, Dirksen, Jordan, Taft, Tower, LB Johnson, Rayburn,,,

Thomas Paine…scroll down to the 3 minute video on why he’d have the world ideas today. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/04/thomas-paine-the-man-who_n_1108…

No hero will save us. Only that person you see in the mirror. Demand paper ballots and vote as if our lives depend on it. Refuse the election stealing electronic machines. Lives actually ARE in the balance.

Eleanor Roosevelt! She had the gentleness of spirit and a real care for others that way too many presidents are short on these days.

Benjamin Franklin had the gift of explaining complex concepts in simple terms and being adored in the process by all and sundry. His sayings, such as “A penny saved is a penny earned,” would meet the intellectual capabilities of a nation raised by television sound bites. And he would be wise enough to see the real problems and address them. I also think he was smart enough to be incorruptible. So I’m voting Franklin.

I’m afraid……I should stop right there: ” afraid”. That’s what most people I speak to are. But, as I started to say, I’m afraid that what’s been done to our country will take decades to undo, if ever. George W. and those managing him will leave this administration really wealthy men, bought on the backs of American citizens. We, on the other hand, will suffer for it for a long, long time. Can any one person save us? Doubtful. It’s really hard to unbreak something; mending leaves terrible fissures.

Thomas Jefferson Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it. Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing. Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government. Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances. I am an Epicurean. I consider the genuine (not the imputed) doctrines of Epicurus as containing everything rational in moral philosophy which Greek and Roman leave to us. I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country. I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past. It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness. Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very fast. Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching. Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.

Thomas Paine. When he wrote Common Sense, it was basically reminding everyone that the Crown in merry old England could not be trusted. The crown had made many promises, and always broke them. There was a huge difference in how British subjects were treated in England and how they were treated in the colonies. He gave a great deal of motivation to the patriots to finally make the decision to fight. One of my college professors told the class (though I never did check this one out for myself) that Common Sense is banned in Iraq. Now that’s Irony.