This is the first in a series about America. Each post will be a list of ten, people, places, events, and with their effect on America and the world today. Folks my age may know about most of them. I’m not so sure about the youngins.

Today I would like to honor ten Americans who changed world history.

1. Ronald Wilson Reagan
   Somehow we’ve forgotten. Less than 20 years ago, hundreds of millions of people were enslaved by a theology called Communism. One man had a vision, and made that vision a reality. Freedom today means Ronald Reagan. Don’t ask the residents of Hollywood. Ask the people of Bulgaria, Poland, Albania.
   White House
2. J. Edgar Hoover
   Hoover headed the FBI for 48 years. He is responsible for the creation and continuance of one of the most professional federal police forces in the world. On a planet with memories of the Gestapo and the KGB, and the religious police of Saudi Arabia, the FBI still serves as a model for the national police of free nations worldwide.
   FBI
3. Barbara Bush
   Wife of a President in wartime, and mother of another, I would suggest that Barbara Bush has had as much effect on world history as any on this list. Much of that history remains to be written, but this lady’s relationship with each of the two Bush presidents certainly help make them who they are and molded how they acted.
   White House
4. President Theodore Roosevelt
   Teddy gives America and the world a two-fer. The Panama Canal and the idea of preserving unique, unspoiled areas for future generations to enjoy. The Canal linked the world’s two major oceans in a commercially viable way for the first time, enabling trade. Roosevelt’s work on national parks and monuments saved much of the beauty of the wild west for our generation and those who will follow.
   White House
   
5. Andrew Carnegie
   Once the richest man in the world, Carnegie saw wealth as an obligation to give. By his death he had donated $350 million to charity, and built over 2,500 public libraries. Without him, libraries would still be the province of the rich and famous. Being able to read builds wealth, and Carnegie made it possible for millions to read.
   Carnegie Corporation of New York
6. Clarissa Harlowe Barton
   A resident of America’s North Shore, Clara Barton’s work has saved millions of lives. You know, the American Red Cross and all those groups inspired by it.
   American Red Cross
   National Park Service
7. President Thomas Jefferson
   Jefferson is not on this list for his political work. He’s here because he created America, by making the Louisiana Purchase. Taking authority he may not have had, he bought a largely unknown tract of land, doubling the size of the United States. Without this addition, we would have remained just another coastal nation, depending on other nations for resources and with limited room to grow. America exists because Thomas Jefferson bought it.
   National Park Service
   Monticello website
8. George Washington Carver
   Peanuts are ugly. They look like a useless bit of flora. But you and I eat peanuts every day thanks to George Washington Carver. Carver is one of a handful of people that can be legitimately credited with saving billions of people from starvation. His work with peanuts and crop rotation saved the agricultural industry of the cotton South, and much, much more.
   George Washington Carver National Monument
   Inventors’ Hall of Fame
9. Clarence Birdseye
   Birdseye perfected freezing food. You may think of it as just TV dinners, but the invention made it possible to store food for long periods of time and have it retain most of the original flavor and texture. Thank Clarence Birdseye the next time you eat a food that could not possibly have been grown locally or at this time of year.
   Birdseye Foods
   Inventors’ Hall of Fame
10. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
    I think that it may be argued that much of the history of East Asia in the last sixty years is due to Douglas MacArthur. The Philippines, Japan and free Korea owe their democracy, and their freedom to him. In an era of heroes, he was one of the elite, and the fall from the top is always the longest. His flaws are duly noted and his achievements honored.
    Army bio
    City of Norfolk memorial