Im not a big fan of the Duke but thought he was outstanding in the Searchers, then theres Red River, The Cavalry Trilogy and my Personal fave The Shootist, that he could play an ageing character in She Wore A yellow Ribbon and another in The Shootist nearly 30 years later shows he had more range than people credit him with.

It depends on whether people judge him for his politics, lack of participation in the war or his film roles. But I guess he became an icon because he represented on screen what most people consider to be honourable virtues, courage, humanity and self sacrifice.

Despite what I said at the beginning of this post I now sound like a John Wayne fan, im not but like a lot of his movies.