Greatest Generation  

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"The Greatest Generation" is a term coined by journalist Tom Brokaw to describe the generation who grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those whose productivity within the war's home front made a decisive material contribution to the war effort. The generation is sometimes referred to as the G.I. Generation (a term coined by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe who are known for their generational theory). It follows the Lost Generation who fought in World War I and precedes the Silent Generation who did not come of age until near the end of the war. Baby boomers are mostly the children of the Greatest Generation, although some are also silent generation. Their grandchildren are mostly of Generation X and Generation Y. The youngest members of the Greatest Generation may have Generation Z grandchildren.

The Greatest Generation is generally agreed to have begun in 1901, as those people would have turned 18 after World War I ended. However, people born from 1901-1909 came of age during the 1920s and identified more with the culture of that decade than the 1930s and 1940s. The core of the Greatest Generation consists of those born in 1914-1924, with 1925-1927 forming a bridge to the Silent Generation.

Most Greatest Generation members were the children of the Lost Generation (which spanned 1883-1900). Their children are generally Baby Boomers or Silent Generation.

Famous Members

• Creighton Abrams: (1914–1974), veteran of World War II, Korean War and general in the United States Army commanding military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968–72.
• Joseph Barbera: (1911-2006) American animator, co-founder of Hanna-Barbera Productions
• Saul Bellow: (1915–2005) Canadian/American author, winner of 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature
• Leonard Bernstein: (1918–1990) American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist
• Don Bradman: (1908-2001) "The Don", an Australian cricketer and widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time.
• David Brinkley: (1920-2003), NBC News reporter and anchor
• Lenny Bruce: (1925–1966) American humorist and social critic
• William S. Burroughs: (1914–1997) American author
• George H.W. Bush: (b. 1924), 41st President of the United States
• Joseph Campbell: (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer
• Jimmy Carter (b. 1924) 39th President of the United States, winner of 2002 Nobel Peace Prize
• Julia Child: (1912–2004) American chef, author and television personality.
• Lynn "Buck" Compton: (1921-2012), World War II Veteran of the 101st Airborne, famous for his portrayal in the Band of Brothers and for his prosecution of Sirhan Sirhan.
• Walter Cronkite: (1916–2009), reporter for CBS News from 1951 to 1997, one of eight journalists selected by the United States Army Air Forces to fly bombing raids over Germany in a B-17 Flying Fortress
• Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.: (1912–2002), United States Air Force General and commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen
• Joe DiMaggio: (1914–1999), famous player for the New York Yankees
• Eugene B. Fluckey: (1913–2007), United States Navy submarine commander who received the Medal of Honor during World War II
• Margot Fonteyn: (1919-1991) British prima ballerina assoluta
• Gerald Ford: (1913–2006) 38th President of the United States
• Joe Foss: (1915–2003), World War II USMC fighter ace, Governor of South Dakota, featured prominently in Brokaw's book
• Friz Freleng: (1905-1995), American animator
• Betty Friedan: (1921–2006) American writer, activist, and feminist
• John Glenn: (b. 1921) Marine Corps fighter pilot, Mercury astronaut, U.S. Senator from Ohio
• Billy Graham: (b. 1918), televangelist
• Woody Guthrie: (1912–1967), American musician and author
• William Hanna: (1910-2001), American animator
• Daniel Inouye: (b. 1924), third longest-serving US Senator in history, officer in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
• Lyndon B. Johnson: (1908–1973) 36th President Of the United States
• Chuck Jones: (1912-2002), American Animator
• Howard Keel: (1919–2004), American actor
• John F. Kennedy: (1917–1963), 35th President of the United States
• Jack Kerouac: (1922–1969), American author
• Henry Kissinger: (b. 1923) American political scientist and diplomat. 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
• Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya: (1923-1941) Soviet partisan and revered person.
• Timothy Leary: (1921–1996) American psychologist and writer. Advocated advanced research into the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic drugs.
• Norman Mailer: (1923–2007) American author
• Thurgood Marshall:(1908–1991) American civil rights attorney and Associate Justice Of the United State Supreme Court
• Bill Mauldin: (1921–2003) American cartoonist and author
• Joseph McCarthy: (1908–1957) United States Senator, anti-Communist crusader
• George McGovern: (b. 1922 ), U.S.Senator, Presidential candidate
• Arthur Miller: (1915–2005) American playwright
• Thelonious Monk: (1917–1982) American musician
• Edward R. Murrow: (1908–1965) American broadcast journalist
• Richard Nixon: (1913–1994) 37th President of the United States
• Robin Olds: (1922–2007), American fighter pilot, ace, general officer in the U.S. Air Force and veteran of World War II and Vietnam War.
• J. Robert Oppenheimer: (1904–1967) American theoretical physicist, head of Los Alamos laboratory during the Manhattan project
• Charlie Parker: (1920–1955) American musician
• Maya Plisetskaya: (b 1925) Soviet prima ballerina assoluta
• Jackson Pollock: (1912–1956) American painter, a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement
• Ronald Reagan: (1911–2004), 40th President of the United States
• Jackie Robinson: (1919–1972), American Major League Baseball player, Civil Rights pioneer
• J. D. Salinger: (1919–2010), an author best known for the controversial 1951 novel, The Catcher in the Rye
• Jonas Salk: (1914–1995) American medical researcher and virologist. Developed first safe and effective polio vaccine.
• Sophie Scholl: (1921-1943), Member of the White Rose resistence organisation. Executed by the nazis.
• Charles M. Schulz: (1922–2000), American cartoonist, served with U.S. 20th Armored Division in World War II
• Pete Seeger: (b. 1919) American musician and folklorist
• Eugene Sledge: (1923–2001), United States Marine who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, specifically Peleliu and Okinawa. He documented his experience in his memoir, With the Old Breed. Certain material from the memoir was used by Ken Burns in his seven-part documentary The War. It was also used by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg in their miniseries The Pacific.
• Jimmy Stewart: (1908-1997), Academy Award-winning actor, enlisted in U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
• I.F. Stone: (1907–1989) American independent journalist
• Charles Upham: (1908-1994) New Zealand WW2 war veteran, only combat soldier to have been awarded two VCs.
• Paul Volcker: (b 1927) Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board from August 1979 to August 1987.
• Kurt Vonnegut: (1922–2007) American author
• Muddy Waters (1913–1983), American musician
• Hank Williams (1923–1953) American musician
• Ted Williams: (1915–2002), famous baseball player for Boston Red Sox, fought in World War II and Korean War
• Orson Welles: (1915–1985) American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer
• Jonathan Winters: (b. 1925) American comedian and actor.
• Richard Winters: (b. 1918–2011), World War II veteran of the 101st Airborne Division, famous for his portrayal in Band of Brothers
• Andrew Wyeth: (1917–2009) American realist painter
• Galina Ulanova: (1910-1998) Soviet prima ballerina assoluta
• Chuck Yeager: (b 1923) American pilot, WW2 ace, and first to break the sound barrier
• Howard Zinn: (1922–2010), author and historian famous for his A People's History of the United States
• Jacque Fresco: (1916- present) self educated structural designer, philosopher of science, concept artist, educator, and futurist.

See also

• Military history of the United States during World War II
• United States home front during World War II
• Great Depression in the United States
• List of generations