Pete The Elder

Abraham Lincoln (obvious choice, any president on Mt. Rushmore is)
Albert Einstein (another obviously correct choice)
Alexander Graham Bell (one of the best inventors)
Alexander Hamilton (not a bad choice, but not a great choice either)
Amelia Earhart (interesting, but not great)
Andrew Carnegie (industry is very American)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (I like Arnolds movies and would have voted for him if I still lived in California, but aside from being an immigrant success story he is not a top 100 American)
Audie Murphy (good choice as he killed lots of Germans and was otherwise an ordinary good American)
Babe Ruth (if you are going to include sports figures he is an obvious choice)
Barack Obama (and his accomplishments are what exactly? Maybe someday, but not yet)
Barbara Bush (I like her and all, but still she is not that great. She may deserve to be on the list more than her husband though)
Benjamin Franklin (probably my choice for # 1 on this list)
Bill Clinton (not to bash Clinton too much, but he would not make my top 20 presidents, much less top 100 Americans)
Bill Cosby (William Henry Cosby, Jr.) (If you are going to include entertainers not a bad choice, but I suspect present bias here)
Bill Gates (I am using multiple products made by him right now so it is hard to deny that choice)
Billy Graham (the most influential spiritual leader of the past 50 years)
Bob Hope (nice guy, but not that great. Does anyone today even watch his stuff?)
Brett Favre (Brett Farve? Brett Frave?!? If you are going to include a football player, make it Red Grange. Even Joe Namath or Johnny Unitas would be a better choice)
Carl Sagan (reasonable choice)
Cesar Chavez (Not a bad choice, but if you are going to start including labor leaders where are Eugene Debs and Samuel Gompers?)
Charles Lindbergh (like Earheart not a bad choice, he probably deserves to be on the list a bit more than she does)
Christopher Reeve (what the hell? I would put Superman on this list first and he isnt even real)
Chuck Yeager (ok choice. He had guts. But he is the third pioneer pilot on the list so far and we are still in the Cs)
Clint Eastwood (I am not necessarily opposed to Hollywood types making the list, but there are several other actors and directors I would put first such as Orson Wells)
Colin Powell (not that bad, but others who I would put first)
Condoleezza Rice (maybe some day after she has been in more powerful positions for a while)
Donald Trump (I like the Apprentice, but please! How did he make the list before JP Morgan)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (He deserves to be here more for WWII than for what he did as president)
Eleanor Roosevelt (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt) (Most influential of all first ladies possibly, but still not that great)
Ellen DeGeneres (The Brett Farve of the entertainers on the list. I had to read the name twice to make sure they had really put her here)
Elvis Presley (at least one Rock and Roll guy should make it and he is the obvious choice)
Frank Sinatra (I like the chairman and all, but he was not that great)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (I do not like FDR that much, but he won the war)
Frederick Douglass (good choice)
George H. W. Bush (I would have voted him if I was old enough, but like Clinton he would not have made my top 20 presidents)
George W. Bush (He may deserve it someday)
George Lucas (other directors belong here more)
George Patton (probably greatest 20th century American military leader)
George Washington (Rushmore + Father of the country)
George Washington Carver (Maybe. At least one farmer type is not a bad inclusion)
Harriet Ross Tubman (good abolitionist and like Carver a former slave)
Harry Truman (maybe. Better Choice than Clinton or H.W. Bush. Won one war, but almost lost another. Would make my Top 20 Presidents list)
Helen Keller (ok choice I guess)
Henry Ford (we all have cars because of him)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (I would put Barbara Bush or Eleanor Roosevelt on the list before her)
Howard Hughes (there are other more important industrialists like JP Morgan I might put first, but not a terrible choice)
Hugh Hefner (no pornographers need to be on this list)
Jackie Robinson (Jack Roosevelt Robinson) (might be most influential athlete in America)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Probably even below Hillary)
Jesse Owens (He pissed off Hitler. Good for him)
Jimmy Carter (Probably the worst president of the 20th century)
Jimmy Stewart (If you had to pick one movie actor for this list he would be my choice)
John Edwards (And he has done what exactly besides lose as a freaking VP candidate. Notice that John Kerry did not make the list.)
John Glenn (He orbited the earth, but was also part of the Keating 5)
John F. Kennedy (Might make my Top 20 presidents list. A bit of present day bias got him on this list)
John Wayne (I love John Wayne, but he should not be on this list)
Johnny Carson (John William Carson) (He was a good TV guy, but TV is not that important)
Jonas Edward Salk (I dont have polio. Thanks Mr. Salk!)
Joseph Smith Jr. (He may have been a loony cult leader who died over a hundred years ago, but his followers are still opening up new temples)
Katharine Hepburn (I never liked her acting that much)
Lance Armstrong (hopefully this is a typo and they meant to type Louis instead of Lance)
Laura Bush (I like her, but she needs to be about the same place on the list as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis)
Lucille Ball (If I had to pick one TV person for the list it would be her.)
Lyndon B. Johnson (Would not make my Top 20 presidents list, but he got a lot of stuff done)
Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone) (Some people seem to think that she is talented. I am not one of those people)
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) (Interesting choice. His autobiography may make him worth including)
Marilyn Monroe (Pretty, but not that important or great)
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) (Of course. His stuff is still funny)
Martha Stewart (I think her parole should include staying away from lists like this)
Martin Luther King Jr. (Good spiritual and civil rights choice)
Maya Angelou (Her poetry never did anything for me. Where is Henry Longfellow on this list anyways? Everybody read him in the 19th century)
Mel Gibson (even less worthy than Schwartzenegger)
Michael Jackson (better choice than Madonna, but Elvis was enough. Maybe for Top 100 Freaks he would be a good choice)
Michael Jordan (I guess if you are going to include basketball he is a good choice, but why include basketball? I might put Wilt Chamberlain first)
Michael Moore (He is not that talented or great)
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) (He is actually a pretty good choice although the list is starting to be a bit over represented in athletes)
Neil Alden Armstrong (He walked on the freakin Moon)
Nikola Tesla (zap)
Oprah Winfrey (If you are going to do media tycoons, where is Hearst?)
Pat Tillman (Gave up NFL and life for country, but not that influencial)
Dr. Phil McGraw (Oprah I can kind of understand, but this guy?)
Ray Charles (It seems like a lot of people on this list have been in the news lately doesnt it?)
Richard Nixon (my other candidate besides Jimmy Carter for worst president of the 20th century)
Robert Kennedy (Baby Boomer nostalgia, although he did take on the mob)
Ronald Reagan (Probably should be on Rushmore)
Rosa Parks (Not that great)
Rudolph W. Giuliani (Maybe if he gets elected president someday, but not that great)
Rush Limbaugh (El Rushbo deserves to be on list about as much as Oprah does)
Sam Walton (Never actually made anything, but he still became richest man in America)
Steve Jobs (I am writing this on MS Word. Sorry Steve)
Steven Spielberg (Deserves to be on the list more than Lucas although I am still mad about how he ended A.I.)
Susan B. Anthony (good feminist choice)
Theodore Roosevelt (Rushmore and roughriders)
Thomas Edison (Best inventor ever)
Thomas Jefferson (Rushmore, Declaration of Independence and Louisiana Purchase)
Tiger Woods (May be the best golfer ever, but it is still just golf)
Tom Cruise (Lots of more important artists out there)
Tom Hanks (see above)
Walt Disney (we still watch his movies)
Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur Wright) (invented the plane and deserve to be on the list more than some of the other pilots)

Here are some names I might have put on the list first (I may keep updating it as I think of more people):

Herman Melville
William Jennings Bryan
Clarence Darrow
Aaron Copland
Cotton Mather
John Paul Jones
Lewis and Clark
P.T. Barnum
Boss Tweed
Alfred Hitchcock
Orson Wells
JP Morgan
William Randolph Hearst
Louis Armstrong
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Wyatt Earp
Elliot Ness
John Adams
Scott Joplin
Andrew Jackson
Edgar Allan Poe
George Gershwin