I realize you are just playing... No, he wasn't Not a god, just an religious icon You forgot having her ship nearly destroyed due to cheese and making coffee from a nebula. No, that was Riker Yes, Picard grew up learning about the sexual exploits of Kirk on the Orion homeworld and his frequent trips to Risa.
^no. It's Molly O'Brien. She would grow up to save the universe from his father who had turned to the dark side after being tortured for the last time.
He didn't just learn about them, he had the collector's edition holoprogram! Under his mattress of course.
Maybe compare a list of major exploits? KIRK Major accomplishments off the top of my head, and by no means a complete list: Prevented a war with the Romulans (Balance of Terror) Stopped the twin Lazarus's from destroying two universes (The Alternative Factor) Stopped a potential invasion from another Galaxy (By Any Other Name) Stopped the Planet Killer from passing through a densely populated section of the galaxy (The Doomsday Machine) Destroyed the "space amoeba" before it could reproduce and endanger many worlds (The Immunity Syndrome) Stopped the utter annihilation of Earth's surface (ST:TMP) Stopped all non-oceanic life on Earth from being annihilated (ST:TVH) Prevented the assassination of the Federation President and likely war with the Klingons (ST:TUC) I'm not an expert on the other shows. Who wants to chime in with lists for each of the other Captains?
I think it would be better to look at it this way (Non-Americans, feel free to insert any alternative leaders you deem fit.): Archer = Washington Kirk = Lincoln Picard = FDR If there were only one monument in D.C. or one face atop Rushmore, it would be Lincoln.