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1 results

  • 3 - The Rise and Fall of the Great Changemakers

  • Zev Eleff, Gratz College
  • Book:
    The Greatest of All Time
    Published online:
    23 January 2025
    Print publication:
    06 March 2025, pp 81-121

  • Summary

    This chapter studies the interlocked biographies of three interwar figures: Charlie Chaplin, Charles Lindbergh, and Mickey Mouse. All three achieved renown as changemakers and the title “greatest of all time” in their various social/cultural arenas. More importantly, for this chapter, all three figures undergo a steep decline, forcing the American public to reconsider the contours of greatness. Chaplin is branded a Communist. Lindbergh a Nazi. Mickey Mouse is eventually seen as too unmasculine to support patriotism during World War II and is therefore swapped by Walt Disney for Donald Duck. The chapter highlights the historical contingencies of greatness.