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By Newsweek Editors
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NEWSWEEK asked readers to tell us about the public figure that they most respect. Here are some selected entries (others can be found at NEWSWEEK.com):
Lucretia Mott
A Quaker lay minister and abolitionist, Mott spoke with power and eloquence on behalf of women and slaves. She founded the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society in 1833 and worked tirelessly with Elizabeth Cady Stanton to further women's rights. What makes Mott a particularly powerful inspiration today, with religion so much in the news, is her embrace of a nonjudgmental philosophy of faith. She spoke of an "inward light," rather than a spotlight shining on the sins of others. She was talking about a small light--just enough to guide us without becoming blinded by self-righteousness.
Lynda Zielinski
Rocky River, Ohio
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Martin Luther King Jr.
Given the virulent, institutionalized racism that existed in our country, to dream that things could be different, as King did, was extraordinary. And to face violence and state-sanctioned oppression with nothing other than the word of God and the conviction of one's soul was truly remarkable. Who among us would have the bravery to walk with Dr. King, facing violence, arrest and jail? He inspired people of all colors to respond to enmity with compassion. I am not a member of the community he sought to liberate, but every time I hear the recordings of his speeches, the power and passion of his voice moves something deep inside me.
John McNulty
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Billy Graham
Graham has offered people from all walks of life and every religion the chance to have peace and purpose in their lives. He has preached to more than 200 million people around the world and been an unofficial ambassador for the United States. He has been a friend to every president of the last 50 years, yet no one could accuse him of favoring a particular party's candidates. Despite his fame, Graham continues to live a humble life, remaining faithful to his wife, Ruth, of nearly 62 years.
Glenn Dill
Coronado, Calif.
Alexander Hamilton
As George Washington's protege and the nation's first Treasury secretary, Hamilton embodied the hard-nosed pragmatism that has allowed the American experiment to flourish while other idealistic ventures foundered on the shoals of reality. Hamilton built the American economy, a shambles after the Revolution, into a booming industrial upstart through his canny managing of the nation's finances and his pro-trade, pro-industry, pro-city policies. If he were alive today, he would have no truck with the fearmongers or economically reckless politicians. Nor would he support the illusory search for "moral values" in a complex world. Rather, he would be the kind of uncompromising decision maker that this country needs most in a time of political divisions.
Jack Cosgrove
Evanston, Il.
Margaret Sanger
She advocated against the Comstock Act, which made it a federal crime to transport contraception across state lines. Sanger knew the damage multiple pregnancies without adequate medical care could do. She had witnessed her own mother, who had given birth 11 times and suffered seven miscarriages, weaken under the strain and die of tuberculosis at the age of 50. Sanger worked in the ghettos of New York City to teach immigrant women about their own health and pushed the medical community to support contraception education.
Amy Rankin
Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Henry David Thoreau
If greatness is not measured solely by the actions a person takes, but by the ability of a person's legacy to continue to shape future men and women, then Thoreau was truly our greatest American. Whether extolling the virtues of the natural world or expounding on the evils of slavery, he left the United States, and ultimately the world, richer for the reflections he meticulously kept in his many journals. His famous essay on civil disobedience inspired people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, who led thousands of Indians on a 1930 march against the British Empire's monopoly of salt production that paved the way for their nation's freedom. Thoreau's face isn't used to sell toothpaste or laundry detergent, but his spirit is the American spirit--it speaks for the weakest and not just the strongest.
Elizabeth Napp
Mount Kisco, N.Y.
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