Being the end of the millennium and all that, there is a great hue and cry
over who the man of the century should be. The broad consensus is that it
should be Roosevelt, Franklin not Theodore. However, there are a number of
men - and some women - who deserve consideration. As we here at DBR begin our
second millennium (relax, in a few short months the word millennium will seem
hopelessly 20th century and you won't have to hear it ever, ever again), we'd
like to throw out our nominees.
- Franklin Roosevelt. There's a solid case for him
- Winston Churchill. What can you say about him? He was
brilliant, relentless, a master of the English language, a painter - and he
managed to save the world despite a chronic depression. The image of
Churchill standing alone against Hitler, and rallying his people, is
unforgettable. Remember that great quote (we don't) about where they
would fight - on the beaches, on the shores, and we shall never
surrender." Every word is old English, except for surrender, a concept
brought over by the French, and the English never really bought into it
anyway. - Margaret Sanger. Whatever her motives, and if they were to keep the
non-white, non-English speaking world at bay then that's creepy, but
birth control is a defining idea of the 20th century. - Elvis Presley. When Elvis showed up, no one could predict how popular
culture would spread across the world and undermine political systems and
cultural ideas. Viva Las Vegas! - Adolph Rupp. We just threw that in for the Kentucky readers. Your heart
raced, admit it. It's ok. It'll pass. - Gandhi. It's astonishing, in retrospect, what this man did, and
while some of his ideas were bizarre - like burning everything Western even
when poor people could were going naked and hungry, or suggesting mass
suicide as a response to Hitler, there is no denying his impact on our
times.
Anyway, it's almost time to turn the clock, and soon Fox will have to become
21st Century Fox. Who's your Man of the Century? We'd be curious to see
what you think .