Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Religious Music & Entertainment
Post-Independence Day, TV Stars’ Favorite Founding Fathers

Post-Independence Day, TV Stars’ Favorite Founding Fathers

Last updated on: July 4, 2016 at 8:48 pm by Kate O'Hare

Post-Independence Day, TV Stars’ Favorite Founding Fathers 2016-07-04T20:48:37-08:00 Kate O'Hare

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Wish I’d thought of this in time to do this post for the morning of the Fourth, but better late than never . A few years ago, in 2009 and 2010, when I worked for the Tribune syndicate and its online site, Zap2it.com, I set upon a project to ask Hollywood types about their favorite Founding Fathers.

Click through to read the entire stories, but here are some highlights:

“NCIS: LA” star LL Cool J:

You know what, that’s a good question, interesting question. My favorite Founding Father .. wow. Benjamin Franklin was brilliant. I think I will go with Benjamin Franklin first. I would go with Jefferson and then Adams, but I would go with Franklin.

“When he talked about wealth … his ‘Poor Richard’s Almanack’ was amazing. Him being a scientist; him being an author; him being a businessman; him being an entrepreneur; him being a guy who understood how important it was to be conservative when it came to a dollar, and conserve your wealth.

I just thought he was a very wise guy. I would go with Franklin.

Walton Goggins of “The Shield,” “Justified,” “The Hateful Eight” and HBO’s upcoming “Vice Principals,” via Facebook:

OK, this one’s easy.JOHN ADAMS. Why? The sacrifice that this man made over the course of his life for our REPUBLIC, from representing the British officers accused in the BOSTON MASSACRE to procuring funds for our fledgling uprising from the Dutch — a man among men; a just man with a moral compass pointing due North.”

And from “Shield” star Michael Chiklis, seen most recently in Fox’s “Gotham,” also via Facebook:

Being from the Boston area, I’m going to have to go with a local boy, John Adams, for many reasons, not the least of which was he stood to lose the most. When someone supports a cause because they believe in it, in spite of the fact that they risk life, liberty, family and personal wealth, that is the definition of courage and integrity.

Adam Baldwin of “Independence Day,” “Firefly,” and, currently, “The Last Ship” on TNT:

My favorite Founding Father would be John Adams or James Madison. Madison wrote the Constitution, gotta love that guy. Or George Washington, because he was a great general. I also like (Alexander) Hamilton.

I can’t nail it down to one. Look, I’m an individualist. You need a band of brothers with divergent viewpoints that distill down to the most wonderful document ever created in the history of man. Those guys all got together. What did you expect me to say, John Hancock?

Franklin is too much of a partier, although he does have one of my favorite sayings of all time. He said that beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. That’s the quote.

Veteran actor Gary Graham of “Alien Nation,” “JAG,” “Star Trek: Enterprise” and much more, via Facebook:

And though I am tempted to say Jefferson, Franklin or Madison … I think I’ll chose Patrick Henry, for so eloquently stating the grave consequences at stake: ‘I know not what course others will take, but as for me … give me Liberty or give me death.‘”

Matt Iseman, currently the host of NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”:

I’m going with someone I consider to be an underrated Founding Father — James Madison. I’m a big fan of the Federalist Papers, where he convincingly lays out the argument for our republican government as we know it today (relax, politicos, that’s republican with a small ‘r’).

Yes, I might’ve gone with Alexander Hamilton, but I prefer to picture my Founding Fathers like Clint Eastwood in ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales,’ and Hamilton lost in a duel with Aaron Burr, so he’s out.

Madison is also considered the Father of the Constitution, which, in my mind, means he slept with Lady Liberty and gave birth to a lil’ democracy known as the U.S. of A.

Furthermore, his wife, Dolley Madison, inspired delicious pastry snacks. And, he went to Princeton, so I like to think I might run into him at reunions — If I have enough beers.

Hearing Iseman’s answer, Graham replied:

Matt — HAAAAA! Fantastic post. I’m with you on Madison. I’m a HUGE fan of his … as well as the Federalist Papers. Should be mandatory reading in schools.”

John Walsh, formerly of “America’s Most Wanted”:

Thomas Jefferson. He was a renaissance man. He has such great side interests — architecture and farming, all the different things he was involved in. The dichotomy, of course, was that he owned slaves, but he was conflicted about that.

He sorta got drafted into (the Revolution). I’m not making a parallel between myself and Thomas Jefferson, but sometimes you do what you have to do. Life takes you in the strangest, strangest ways. There’s no real plan.

Dana Delaney of “China Beach,” “Body of Proof” and Amazon’s “Hand of God” (BTW, I asked several women, and for whatever reason, didn’t get much of a response), picking a fellow wine connoisseur:

I would say Jefferson just because I like the fact that he was an oenophile. Also, people criticize Jefferson now, but I understand the whole thing, that he came from an elite class, was and wasn’t. He saw the value of his education, but he was also a man of the people. It was an interesting combination.

James Badge Dale of “24,” “The Pacific,” “Rubicon” and the recent Benghazi movie “13 Hours”:

John Hancock — he was the jerk who signed his name bigger (Editor: So, he said, King George could read it without his spectacles). No, Thomas Jefferson. I find him a very interesting man. The interesting thing about these men, the original band of brothers, is that they all had completely different opinions of what America is and what it should be and what is important and not important, and they were still able to come together and work together. I think there’s a real important message in there.

Joe Mazzello, also of “The Pacific,” along with “Justified” and “The Social Network”:

What was amazing about George Washington was that he had this crazy idea — ‘I’m going to give up power.’ They called him the king of America. No one thought it was real. They thought, ‘If this man gives up power, he’s the greatest man in the world. It’s just such an amazing thing.

Now, we take that for granted, yeah, every four, eight years, presidents go and then we get a new one. But up until through (Franklin Delano) Roosevelt, it wasn’t even a rule. Men just did that. He started that off. That can’t be overlooked, how amazing it was for him to say, ‘I’m going to do this. It’s my job, and I’m going to go back home and be a private citizen.’

That notion, it’s amazing. It was walking the walk. All of the guys, Jefferson and Adams and all of them, said, “We don’t want your tyranny. You can have it. Leave us alone. Let us be free.” Then George Washington walked the walk by saying, “I’m giving up power and handing it over to the next man,” and just started that tradition — something that is so mind-boggling.

Ed O’Neill of “Modern Family,” echoing Delany:

I would probably go to (Thomas) Jefferson, just because I thought he was brilliant, a vital guy, interesting guy, bon vivant. He knew a lot about wine.

Mike Vogel, of “Bates Motel,” “Under the Dome” and Syfy’s “Childhood’s End”:

Being from Philadelphia, I’m a fan of Jefferson and Franklin. You’re indoctrinated with all that. There’s something so amazing, being a massive history buff and growing up where I did in Pennsylvania. I was a mile away from George Washington’s headquarters before he crossed the Delaware. Every year, you’d take a field trip down to Independence Hall and Betsy Ross’ house and Ben Franklin’s placeand the history that exists there.

As for my favorite, I think Jefferson — his ideals, the conservatism that he espoused, at least as I know it, Jeffersonian democracy, I like. (James) Madison … when you look at the checks and balances that you had to go through just to get these guys to show up at a meeting of the federal government.

They had to take it through every level of their state governments, to make sure their state would be OK with them showing up, because they were so adamant about maintaining the rights of the state before turning it over to the federal level of government.

Mike Rowe, of “Dirty Jobs” and CNN’s “Someone’s Gotta Do It”:

The short answer for me was always John Adams. Adams was so contrary and so unlikable, so devoted to his wife. He was the only actual Founding Father who never owned a slave. He made principled decisions and was perfectly comfortable with the fallout — happy to be unpopular. But also, it’s hard to beat Ben Franklin.

Where do you draw the line in terms of time? Lincoln was so late. There’d be no union without (George) Washington. There probably wouldn’t be a union without Jefferson. There definitely wouldn’t be a union without Lincoln. There’d be something, but I don’t know what.

I’m kind of sad that no one mentioned Charles Carroll, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, but he hasn’t gotten a lot of press.

Here’s a photo meme that appeared on the Facebook page I manage for Holy Cross apostolate Family Theater Productions in Los Angeles:

Images: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons, Family Theater Productions

Don’t miss a thing: head over to my other home at CatholicVote and like my Facebook page; also like the Patheos Catholic FB page to see what my colleagues have to say.

Previous Post

July 1, 2016

'The Innocents': How Horror Can Be Transformed Into Joy

Next Post

July 9, 2016 Bridging the Cultural Divide With Seahawks Love

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category books breaking news digital media Faith practice food interview jane the virgin media movies music NFL Pope Francis Showbiz 101 social media sports technology television Uncategorized video

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz