Team Boss

TEAM BOSS

Caroline Passalacqua 

Olivia Lindgren

Katharine Larson

Annie Varellas

Allie Figueredo

Roni Marrone

Norman Schwarzkopf 

• Very strategic mind, went to the prestigious West Point military academy when he later volunteered to participate in the Vietnam War.  He was a hard working individual who earned a degree in engineering
• Although many may argue that being a military hero has its losses (at what costs are there hero’s …) Sch. balanced his military involvement through challenging Bush by disagreeing with his decision for the invasion of Iraq.  Clearly, he understood what battles were worth fighting
• During the Vietnam War he gained a multitude of awards including (3 silver stars a bronze star and a purple heart)
• Despite undergoing back surgery, he lead Operation Desert Storm (liberating Kuwait from the control of Saddam Hussain)
• He also received a knighthood from Elizabeth the second
• Being able to balance all aspects of life, Lee also supported a number of different charities ( children's organizations, environmental groups- conserving grizzly bears and campaigning awareness about prostate cancer)
• An exemplary American

Elizabeth Cady Stanton
helped organize the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY (1848)
Helped create the Declaration of Sentiments, which advocated for women’s suffrage
Fought for women’s political and economic equality through speeches and journalism
 president of the National Woman Suffrage Association and the National American Woman Suffrage Association

Helped edit the Revolution, a radical feminist magazine.
Motivated to organize women together to fight for equality after witnessing the segregation at the international slavery convention in London she attended
“The best protection any woman can have… is courage.”

Alexander Hamilton
Despite the fact that Hamilton was slightly arrogant by believing that the rich should have superiority over the poor, his political actions stand place to prove why Hamilton is one of the most influential Americans. He was the First US secretary of the Treasury and was instrumental in developing the party known as the Federalists. Working hard in his early years as an American, Hamilton became established at the side of Washington through the American Revolutionary War.  His affluence in the world came through his writings in “The Federalist” papers.  Not to mention, his establishment and support of the bank of the United States, what our country depends on today, is all thanks to his work, not the disapproval from old folk like Jackson.  He was intelligent and wise to understand that a centralized government was the only way for prosperity.  He was an eloquent speaker and a participant in the Constitutional Convention. Despite the fact that Hamilton expanded the federal government and supported “unpopular taxes”, he was key in saving the economy and inputting his view of the role government should have in society.

Robert E Lee
·       Lee’s credentials: Military officer in the US army and a West Point commander and general of the Confederate forces during the Civil War
    Pros·       Although Lee did not want the South to succeed from the Union, he supported his country by sticking with them despite his own beliefs (showing his loyal and admirable qualities) His kind hearted nature is shown when he wrote a letter to his former commander, Winfield Scott, explaining his thanks and remorse as Lee had to resign his position in order to help his hometown of Virginia with succession.
·       Lee was a major contributor in finding the ways around Mexican defense in order to gain the desirable land
·       Lee’s successful battles:
·       Gaines Mill and Glendale: Saved 933 acres of 3 battlefields
·       Malvern Hill: Saved 952 acres
·       Second Manassas, Antietam and Fredericksburg: Saved a total of 654 acres of land
·       Chancellorsville and Gettysburg: Saved 1,295 acres of land
·       (Just some examples of the victories Lee achieved and lead through his valiant efforts and commands)
·       Lee was a success in his credentials.  His work in his early years of school demonstrate his hard work and ambitions.  At West Point Military Academy, Lee was one of 6 cadets that graduated without receiving a single demerit.  He also had perfect scores in artillery, infantry and cavalry.  He is known for his tactical brilliance.
·       His most well known battle victory was the “Defeat of Joseph Hooker at Chancellorsville”
·       Cons
Arguments may be made on behalf of Lee’s support of the South as a war general from their succession from the union (Negatives of the south succeeded from the union - their motivations for succeeding)
·       Negatives of the Mexican American War (ie : details)
·       Lee’s failures as a war general, having too complicated of plans, and ultimately losing to the North in the Civil War

Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King has proved himself to be one of the most influential people in all of history for a variety of important and valuable reasons. In his 13 years of leading and campaigning for the civil rights movement, he was able to get closer to achieving racial equality than all of the previous people combines in the past 350 years. He was very firm in the belief that violence should not be utilized by any means necessary to achieve their goal. He strictly believed in nonviolent protest and was able to accomplish professedly unattainable goals, without breaking his faith a single time. This reality is a further testimony to his power of speech and his immense influence in that he was able to achieve this goals while sticking with his morals. He led the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, a boycott that lasted 381 days, and resulted in a supreme court ruling against any kind of segregation of transportation. In 1957, he became the leader of the SCLC, a leadership role that would prove him to be the most influential leader of the modern civil rights movement. He set out to Birmingham Alabama in 1963, possibly the most segregated town at the time, and still led a series of nonviolent civil rights protests. In 1963, he also was an enormous help in the “march on washington” where he gave his famed “I have a dream speech” and was ultimately named Time Magazine’s “Man of the year”. In 1964, he received the nobel peace prize at the age of only 35, the youngest person ever to do so. In 1964, congress passed the civil rights act eliminating all segregation and discrimination in regards to certain aspects of life such as hiring and in the work force, a decision of which was at least in part due to the march on washington, which was again lead by MLK. In 1965 congress proceeded to pass the voting rights act which eliminated all remaining barriers for African Americans, and this decision was in fact DIRECTLY a result of MLK's leadership and work with the AL march. He also continued to fight for other movements and rights he felt important such as the “poor people's campaign” which was aimed at repairing economic problems and supporting international peace.

Andrew Carnegie

• came from rags - brought to America at age 13 by his impoverished parents in 1948
• only became successful through hard work.
• he wasn't handed anything but instead rose up from the bottom to the top through hard work, doing extra chores, and cultivating influential people
• After he made some money he went to Pittsburg to join the steel business.
• In 1889 Carnegie established Carnegie Steel Company
• He had successful business tactics such as eliminating many middle men and choosing his associates wisely
• not a monopolist
• against monopolies and disliked trusts
• simulated economy with big business but was into philanthropy
• by 1900 he was producing 1:4th of nations Bessemer steel
• Profits from his company in 1900 were 40,000,000 and Carnegie personally had a share worth 25,000,000
• Sold his company to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for 250,00,000
• Carnegie didn't want to die with so much wealth so he dedicated the end of his life to giving away money for public libraries, pensions for professors, and other charitable purposes. In total he gave away 350$ million dollars.

• “Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.” - Carnegie

In 1889 he wrote an article about the gospel of wealth in the North American Review. He depicted the need for rich men to give away some of their money to charity and said that they have a duty to give away money for “the improvement of mankind”  

Henry Clay

-secretary of state under John Quincy Adams

-speaker of the house longer than anyone else in the 19th century

-most influential member of the senate during its prime

-one of most adored politicians

-nationalist

-devoted to Economic development

-disapproved of slavery as a system

-advocated gradual emancipation

-stood up for native Americans

-held good relations with Latin America

-created the American System (protective tariff, national bank-fed gov and private stockholders, fed internal improvements)

Henry Clay=the great compromiser

-helped with 1820 Missouri compromise, Tariff comp 1833, and comp of 1850

-wanted to avoid civil war

Thomas Paine

• Without Paine, America could arguably not exist. Let that sink in.
• Wrote “Common Sense” in 1976, a pamphlet that boldly and openly advocated the revolution
• “Common Sense” influenced many colonists to break away from the distant centralized government through its certain way of speaking to people through pure “common sense”
• Through this pamphlet, Paine had a serious effect on people and their sense of righteous and justified equality
• “Common Sense” sold 150,000 copies in 1776, showing Paine’s immense persuasiveness and ability to electrify people with ideas of revolution. It is arguably the first real Declaration of Independence. He had the ability to comfort and excite people with this words.
• Thomas Paine’s goal in reaching the majority was through simplicity in his writing. He wanted everyone to be able to understand what was going on around them, and so he created a pamphlet that not only the wealthy could understand. In fact, his main argument was that it only took common sense to understand politics
• “Common Sense” marked an era of democratic revolutions, giving the masses motivation for political participation
• Paine continued his influence during the revolution through his “Crisis” papers, which had the effect of bolstering the morale of the revolutionary army.
• Not only did Paine positively affect North America, but he also was a huge advocate of the French Revolution, and proved this advocacy with his “The Rights of Man”. “The Rights of Man” defended a new goal of a republican state to assist with social welfare, progressive taxation, and other benefits to the mass, such as public employment.
• He gave “The Rights of Man to every state in the union, and it sold no less than 100,000 copies.

Franklin D Roosevelt

• Caught polio in 1921, but was elected in 1933 - shows his perseverance from the start, regardless of struggles
• Broad overview - led the U.S. through the Great Depression and World War II (two of the hardest times in the history of the nation) - immense amounts of pressure but led the nation through
• Was invited at age 28 to run for New York State Senate
• Ran as a Democrat, regardless of the fact that the state had been Republican for 32 years, showing his boldness
• FDR was known as energetic and efficient
• In his First 100 Days he showed his dedication through his economic reform. He called this the “New Deal”
• Formed a “Brain Trust” to help create the alphabet agencies that had the goal of spreading economic, social, and political benefits to as many Americans as he could
• A few of these amazing and effective agencies are the AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Administration) to support farm prices, the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), which employed young men and the NRA (National Recovery Administration) which helped with regulating wages and prices
• He helped a vast amount of people throughout the nation during these trying times
• 1935 - allowed people to organize and collectively bargain
• His “fireside chats” comforted people of the nation while using new technology to efficiently communicate.
• By 1936, gross national production was up 34%
• Unemployment decreased from 25% to 14%... TEN PERCENT
• Helped with some foreign affairs as well… He established the Good Neighbor Policy with Latin America - the good neighbor respects LA with non-intervention and cooperation
• FDR was able to understand that Japan and Germany were threatening the freedoms of his American citizens, and tried to stay out of the war while still aiding the nation’s allies with the Lend Lease Act.
• FDR stayed out of WWII until he truly had to interfere after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941
• FDR was a huge part in the United Nations and believed that the world could become more secure and peaceful
• By 1945, the U.S. had increased its global power and responsibility
• He worked hard until the stress of the war had an immense effect on him and he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage
• So influential that an FDR Memorial was created in Washington D.C. on a 7.5 acre site. Congress voted $42.5 million to fund six waterfalls, an 800 foot wall, and other amazing qualities that depict FDR’s effect on this nation.

Thomas Edison

• Edison was interested in mechanics and chemistry at an early age
• Enjoyed independent self instruction 
• Had only 3 months of formal education but he didn’t let this hold him back
• Rose from humble beginings, and exemplifies the driven attitude of Americans -- “Genius was 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” --exemplary figure of chasing after the American dream
• Learned about the emerging technology of telegraphy during the Civil War
• Developed serious hearing problems which prompted him to quit telegraphy and pursue inventing products
• Light bulb, phonograph, motion picture camera, improved stock ticker (first invention)
• The invention of the light bulb has changed human existence and paved the way for modern life today- by illuminating the night,  people were able to work longer hours into the night allowing an increase in productivity; today our world is filled with electric powered devices  
• Founded the first modern research laboratory 
• Has over 1,093 patents- most issued to any person 
• Has made America a world industrial power
• Contributed in World War 1 by working on several projects, most notably a submarine detector and gun-location techniques
• Encouraged Henry Ford to use gasoline to power his automobile model
• Known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park” 
• By turning failure into success, Edison also emerged as a savvy businessman
• By many he is considered one of America’s leading businessmen because he contributed to building the economy during America’s early vulnerable years

Boss Tweed

• Known as one of the most ruthless politicians in American history
• A 300 pound leader of New York City’s corrupt Tammany Hall political organization during the 1860s and early 1870s
• corruption was commonplace in his era of the Gilded age
• Boss and his “Tweed Ring”  encouraged judicial corruption by bribing judges and officials, rigged elections by openly buying votes, dominated New York City politics, and extracted millions from city contracts
• He falsified government expenses and had contractors pad his bills on construction projects→ $45 and $200 million in stolen city funds (equivalent to $2.4 billion today)
• made little attempt to hide his fraudulence--> bought huge amounts of property in Manhattan, dined in New York city’s finest restaurants and wore a 10-and-a-half carat diamond on his shirtfront
• The Boss and the Tweed ring hoped the criticism would blow over but it didn't thanks to the efforts of opponents such as political cartoonist Thomas Nast
• Boss Tweed served time for forgery and larceny and other charges but in 1875 escaped from prison and traveled to Cuba and Spain
• In 1876, he was arrested by Spanish police, who reportedly recognized him from a famous Nash cartoon depiction→ returned to prison 
• Famous quote that exemplifies Tweed's corruption: “I don’t care who does the electing, so long as I get to do the nominating”