The Top 100 Leaders in History

Phillip II of Macedon certainly comes to mind, and I may sound like a broken record, but also Alexander the Great.  I'll think about it some more and give my list; as well as explaining my reasons for the fantastic father and son combination. 

I've revised my US leaders:

Top United States Leaders
1. George Washington.  Without him, the nation is totally different or non-existent.   He changed the course of history.  Probably a top 5 overall.
2. Abraham Lincoln.  Again, changed the course of history.  Do I agree with his policies?  No.  But he changed the trajectory of the US, for the stronger.  (Of course, I'm in the South, so I don't like him much...)  Probably a top 25 overall.
3. Thomas Jefferson.  Molded the shape of the US, wrote Declaration, purchased Louisiana.  Top 50 overall.
4. James Madison.  Co-author of the Constitution and president of the war of 1812. Top 100.
5. Benjamin Franklin.  All-around leader up to Revolution, very influential in US development.  Top 100.
6. Franklin Roosevelt.  WWII!  Top 100 overall?
7. Ronald Reagan.  End of Cold War.  Top 100 overall?
8. Dwight D. Eisenhower.  WWII and President.  Top 100 overall?
9. Douglas MacArthur.  WWII and Korea.  Top 100 overall?
10. Andrew Jackson.  Battle of New Orleans (I know, the war was over...) and a vigorous presidency that molded the future.  Top 100 overall?
11. Theodore Roosevelt.  Turned the US toward imperialism, helped make US a world player.  Top 100 overall?

I'd forgotten some of the early leaders that had such a profound impact.


Edited by DSMyers1 - 05-Mar-2008 at 01:56

For more American leaders I'll add:

Originally posted by DSMyers1 Where did I say he was a president?!  I just had him on a potential list of US leaders!

mmh okay, so what qualifies as "leader"?

Originally posted by rider Well, Barbarossa managed diplomacy and he cared about the society.

which society? thats all folklore and myths, he did nothing for Germany whatsoever...and certainly he was outwitted in diplomacy by Stupor Mundi the big time.


Edited by Temujin - 04-Mar-2008 at 18:05

Originally posted by DSMyers1 I've revised my US leaders: Top United States Leaders   7. Ronald Reagan.  End of Cold War.  Top 100 overall?

He, according to the researches I've read, established the first inter-community relations, processed state lands to be taken for agriculture and started establishing roads. That's just a tiny bit. Plus, he was the last grand Emperor and one of the last to hold the title 'well' (Friedrich II would be the next and last one).

Originally posted by Temujin what do you mean? Reagan was perhaps the best president of the USA and one of the greatest leaders ever.

Originally posted by Ikki Sorry Seko , was so much evident for me that MLK was important for USA that when both you published your opinions i thought (("what the hell guys what are you thinking about!"))     My top american 5:   1. Franklin D. Roosevelt - general, top 5 in fact third 2. John F. Kennedy - no matter the few changes he made, the few time he was president, he was a true leader and his footpring in the world is... a world at all, that we can see the morning and not the nuclear apocalypse. (general 20-30) 3. Abraham Lincoln, the president in front of the most dangerous hour for the nation(general 20-30) 4. Marthin Luther King: what to say here? (general 20-30) 5. Bill Clinton: what a happy country, everyone turn the eyes to the past and can see the shining 90's, the good work. (general between 40-50)   OMG i think i have put in all the lists too much guys for the echelon 20-30

As a real-life American , here's my response.
1. Franklin Roosevelt.  America was already at/near the apex of its power; he simply made its power felt in WWII.  His handling of the depression, in my opinion, was awful (I don't want to discuss that in this thread).  I don't see that the trajectory changed much.  The US was powerful before and after him.  He simply presided over the peak; I feel his economic policies started pushing us toward the beginning of decline.  He didn't make America great; he simply helped break down the isolationism which (to a large extent, I think) helped make America as great as it was.  And that is typically the beginning of the decline of a great power (if you read The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers).  Nevertheless, so far the US has mostly maintained its position, though it is losing steadily its economic dominance that put it in that position in the first place.
2. JFK.  He, again, just happens to be leading near the top of the US power.  Didn't do a whole lot--he did pull off a peaceful resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis.  That means very little.  I don't see him even sniffing this list.  I think you, like many, are mistaking presiding over a powerful nation to making that nation great.
3.  I agree.
4.  MLK.  I agree that he was a great leader, and brought great changes to the US.  I may add him to my list, I kinda forgot about him.  Nevertheless, he didn't make the US become powerful or substantially change its course in terms of the balance of power in the world.
5.  Clinton.  Again, gets credit for something he had little to do with.  This is a trend in the world.  Typically the forces that great the great powers happened long before the people who get credit.  Honestly, I think he and others that increase social spending decrease the nation's power--government is more inefficient at distributing money than the free market, and takes a huge chunk out of the GNP.  More government compared to production = sooner or later decline.  Again, Rise and Fall of the Great Powers.

BTW, the saying, at least where I live, is "What can I say?" not "What to say here?."

Yeap. Reagan got a very smart plan with the SDI. However, I am afraid he believed it was going to work .

Edited by pinguin - 05-Mar-2008 at 01:05

Originally posted by Mixcoatl Originally posted by pinguin From pre Hispanic Mexico:      Nezahualcoytl (engineer, poet and king of Texcoco, the Athens of the Americas)     Pacal, the greatest mayan king. Nezahualcoyotl is a good choice, but personally I would not select Pacal. The epithet 'Pacal the great' was given him by 20th century archaeologists, and was not used by the Mayas themselves, and also Palenque was never as powerful as Calakmul or Tikal. If you want to pick a Mayan leader Sky-Witness of Calakmul would be a better one, he defeated Tikal and made Calakmul the sole superpower of the Mayan world. Other Meso-American nominees could be the Toltec ruler and culture hero Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, the founder of Tula and possibily Chich�n Itz�, or the Mixtec ruler 8-Deer Jaguar Claw of Tilantongo.