William Tecumsah Sherman: Robert E. Lee was the best general of the Civil War and U.S. Grant wasn't far behind, but I've always been a particularly big fan of Sherman. Now, a lot of my fellow Southerners spit when they hear the name Sherman, but his military strategy was not only brilliant and much copied, it saved a lot of Southern lives. Atlanta could be rebuilt, but the fathers, husbands, and sons who lived because Sherman ravaged the countryside instead of grinding them down as Grant did, couldn't have been as easily replaced.

Thomas Sowell: Sowell's books, The Vision of the Anointed and Basic Economics are conservative classics and his ethics, class, and knowledge of economics shine through in column after column.

John Wayne: If it were possible to make a movie that captured the essence of what it means to be an American, it would be a Western starring John Wayne.

John Hancock: We hear a lot of laughable talk about "speaking the truth to power" today, but when John Hancock and his fellow Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, that was really what they were doing. They risked their lives, fortunes, & sacred honor for freedom and Hancock stood out amongst all of those great men because he made his signature large enough for the British to read "without spectacles." Since then, his act of defiance has been etched into the character and culture of our country.

George Washington: If not for the greatness of George Washington, America's "indispensable man," history would have turned out far differently. He may have been the only man in the whole nation capable of saving our troops from destruction after numerous defeats by superior British forces, while keeping morale high enough to insure that our army was stocked with new recruits. Had a stray bullet killed Washington, America would have lost the Revolutionary War and although we would likely have eventually shaken the British shackles off, it may have been put off for decades.

Then, when Washington became President, he was so wildly popular with the American people and the troops, that it may very well have been possible for him to rule the country as a dictator. A lesser man might have succumbed to the temptation, particularly back then when America was taking its first unsteady steps towards freedom. But Washington served with honor and set precedents that to this day, Presidents are still obliged to follow.

George Washington was truly the "Father of Our Country" and all Americans past and present owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude.