1001 People Who Made America - Alan Axelrod [41]
Fischer, Bobby (1943– ) Born in Chicago, Fischer dropped out of high school at 16 to devote himself to chess. In 1958, he became the youngest grandmaster in history, but rose to international celebrity even beyond the world of chess when he became the first native-born American to win the title of world champion, defeating Soviet grandmaster Boris Spassky. After he refused in 1975 to defend his title against another Soviet challenger, Anatoly Karpov, he was stripped of his championship and withdrew into obscurity for two decades, reemerging to defeat Spassky in a private rematch in 1992.
Fitzgerald, Ella (1917–1996) After winning amateur talent contests in New York, the youthful Fitzgerald joined the Chick Webb orchestra in 1935. Webb nurtured the girl’s talent, even becoming Fitzgerald’s legal guardian after the death of her mother. When Webb died in 1939, Fitzgerald led the band until it broke up in 1942. From this point on, Fitzgerald had a solo career that spanned another five decades. Her range as a singer was unparalleled and the lyric mellowness of her voice unequalled. Many critics consider her the greatest female vocalist who ever sang jazz.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1896–1940) Fitzgerald enjoyed early success for his novels and short stories depicting the “Jazz Age” of the Roaring Twenties, but his masterpiece, The Great Gatsby (1925), now recognized as one of the greatest of American novels—a poignant study of love, passion, and the American dream—was a commercial failure during Fitzgerald’s lifetime. Fitzgerald and his exciting but mentally unbalanced wife, Zelda, led lives that were by turns fabulously glamorous and desperately frantic. They were, during the 1920s, one the world’s most celebrated couples.
Flagg, James Montgomery (1877–1960) From 1892 on, Flagg was one of the nation’s most prominent and successful illustrators, his work adorning most popular magazines. Especially celebrated for stylish and buxom young ladies, he became even more famous for his depictions of Uncle Sam on World War I and World War II “I Want You” recruiting posters.
Flagler, Henry M. (1830–1913) Flagler made a fortune partnering with John D. Rockefeller in creating the Standard Oil Company, but he is best known as a real estate entrepreneur and developer, who purchased several railway lines in Florida in 1886, combined them as the Florida East Coast Line, then built a chain of luxury hotels along the railroad. From this, modern Florida developed as a tourist, leisure, and retirement Mecca.
Flanagan, Father Edward J. (1886–1948) Born in Ireland, Flanagan immigrated to the United States in 1906 and became a Roman Catholic priest. In 1917, he founded the Home for Homeless Boys in Omaha, Nebraska, then expanded it, leaving downtown Omaha to establish Boys Town, 10 miles west of the city in 1921. Flanagan directed the growth of Boys Town into a genuine community for orphans and troubled youths. Here, boys between 10 and 16 were transformed by love and understanding into productive citizens in a “town” with a mayor, council, schools, chapel, post office, cottages, gymnasium, and vocational training facilities. The world’s most famous orphanage, Boys Town continues to operate today as Girls and Boys Town.
Ford, Betty (1918– ) Wife of Gerald Ford, 38th president of the United States, Betty Ford became addicted to pain relievers, entered a treatment center, and then founded the Betty Ford Center to treat others with addictions. Ford’s public courage in discussing her addiction removed much of the moral stigma from addictive disorders and changed the way many Americans viewed drug and alcohol problems.
Ford, Gerald (1913–2006) A Michigan Congressman, Ford was appointed vice president by Richard M. Nixon after the resignation in disgrace of Vice President Spiro T. Agnew in 1973. When Nixon resigned in 1974 as a result of the Watergate scandal, Ford became the nation’s only unelected chief executive. His conciliatory personality contrasted