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Thomas Jefferson would be pretty close to the ideal hacker. (if others disagree I'm interested in why as I have very little opposing data so far).

• philwelch 16y ago
  First major North American proponent of the tomato, inventor of the swivel chair, father of archeology--there's a lot of stuff there. He was about as prolific as Franklin.
  • hop 16y ago
    Add to that architect, champion of liberty, states rights, and freedom of religion. Also drafting the declaration of independence and being responsible for the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
    • philwelch 16y ago
      Yeah, but everyone knows about that stuff. (Maybe not the architecture.) He also founded the University of Virginia. But his more "hackerly" accomplishments are among the less historically noteworthy ones. He was personally very disappointed in his presidency, despite all the accomplishments you note, plus winning the First Barbary War. He was in many ways a frustrated idealist, most dramatically in his moral disgust at slavery contrasted with his lifelong ownership of slaves.