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A Note on the Rankings

Choosing the top stories of the 20 century and the most influential Vermonters of the 20th century was purely subjective. There was no balloting by readers, no voting by newspaper editors; it was entirely a personal decision, although many Vermonters were consulted.

People will differ on what they consider the top story. Some believe the honor should go to the 1927 flood because of the scale of the disaster as well as the impact on the future of the state. But in reaching my decision to make the construction of the interstates the top story, I considered how different the Vermont of 1999 is from the Vermont of 1900 and then tried to decide what was the single most important factor in causing that change. The answer is the interstate system.

In deciding the Vermonter of the century, the first criterion was that person's influence must have been on Vermont, not the world stage. Vermonters such as Ralph Flanders or Warren Austin or Robert Frost were thus out of the running. In choosing George Aiken, I did so not because of his years as a U.S. senator, although he continued to shape Vermont from Washington, but primarily because of his years as House speaker, lieutenant governor, governor and for his win in the hotly contested 1940 race for the U.S. Senate.

In so listing the top stories and most influential Vermonters, the hope is to educate Vermonters about their state and to prompt discussion about this amazing century of change.

Chris Graff, - The Associated Press