The Greatest Leader in History

[Sandy]

I'd be interested to know some informed opinions.

Here are, as far as I can see, the best candidates:

Alexander the Great
July 20, 356 BC - June 10, 323 BC
Affilitation: Macedonian/Greek
Summary: Son of Philip II, who united the city states of Ancient Greeks, Alexander conquered most of the world known to the contemporary Greeks, spanning from central Europe to Africa and even as far east as India. Undefeated in battle, most famously against Darius III who allegedly fought with an army of two million.

Otto von Bismarck
April 1 1815 - July 30 1898
Affiliation: Prussian/German
Summary: A far less celebrated military leader who effectively unified the fledgling German states into modern Germany under Prussia, rather than Austria. Remains one of history's most brilliant diplomats as well as an able general, decisively defeating all contemporary threats and securing treaties with them after astoundingly short periods of time.

Cyrus the Great
ca. 590 BC - 529 BC
Affiliation: Persian
Summary: Founder of the Persian Empire. Conquered most of Southwest and Central Asia, creating the largest state the contemporary world had ever known. Lasting ramifications on Judaism, politics and military strategy.

Genghis Kahn
ca. 1162 - 1227
Affiliation: Mongolian
Summary: United the warmongering tribes of Mongolia into a powerful fighting force. Led an aggressive campaign that ultimately conquered most of Asia, and following his death his descendants were able to spread the Mongolian Empire across most of Eurasia, forming history's largest ever empire. Revolutionised warfare through the use of horse archers.

Adolf Hitler
20 April 1889 - 30 April 1945
Affiliation: Austrian/German
Summary: May seem like an odd nomination, but consider that he took on almost the entire world during the Second World War and probably would have won if not for a small number of poor decisions at crucial times. Faced a war on two fronts and yet still managed to take France, very nearly won a treaty with Britain and may have won even still had an Invasion of Russia been postponed to avoid the Winter. Lost it towards the end of the war, but unquestionably one of history's most able leaders.

Hannibal Barca
247 BC - ca. 183 BC
Affiliation: Carthaginian
Summary: Taught from a young age to loathe the Romans, became a Carthaginian general that very nearly defeated Rome during the Second Punic War in one of history's most audacious campaigns: Marching his army, including war elephants, across Iberia and the Alps into Italy itself. One of history's most innovative generals, is credited by some with inventing psychological and biological warfare, although seen as indecisive having made the decision not to sack Rome at the crucial moment.

Julius Caesar
July 13 100 BC - March 15 44 BC
Affiliation: Roman
Summary: Rose from a politician and general to win a civil war that saw him proclaimed Emperor of Rome. Conquered Gaul, invaded Britain and the first of an enormous list of Caesars. Is largely credited with forging Rome into a fully-fledged empire, one that to this day remains one of history's most successful.

Octavian Caesar
September 23 63 BC - August 19 AD 14
Affiliation: Roman
Summary: Caesar "Augustus". First Emperor of the Roman Empire following the death of his uncle, Julius Caesar. Officially formed the Roman Empire, and adored by the vast majority of his subjects. This included the army, with which he could influence the Senate's decisions, and was effectively an autocrat though Rome officially remained a Republic. This following, combined with financial success and conquest, effectively led to peace in the Mediterranean for over two centuries. Innovative on the domestic front. Posthumously declared a God by the Senate.

Napoleon Bonaparte
15 August 1769 - 5 May 1821
Affiliation: Corsican/French
Summary: A general during the French Revolution who led a successful coup that saw him become Consul and eventually Emperor of France. Masterfully forged alliances and won campaigns against almost every other contemporary European Power. Defeated following an unsuccessful invasion of Russia, only to return to power and lose at the Battle of Waterloo. Very nearly conquered contemporary Europe.

Richard I
September 8 1157 - April 6 1199
Affiliation: English
Summary: Richard "the Lionheart". A commander since the age of 16, one of the great Christian commanders during the Third Crusade. Countless victories against Saladin, but failed in his attempt nevertheless to reclaim the Holy Land from the Muslims. However, he managed to secure a treaty that allowed Christian pilgrims to visit.

Cite: http://en.wikipedia.org/

If anyone else deserves a nomination, please just let me know. I apologise in advance for those I've missed.

 

[Caturdayz]

History has seen no leader greater than Caesar Augustus. He has come closer than any other man to true world domination. He left a legacy that lived the empire's lifespan. And besides we don't have a month named after Napoleon.

 

[Deleted member]

I think you're forgetting someone very important

And by this I mean Oprah Winfrey, a Goddess who commands the will of 50% of our world's population

 

[Eor]

How could we debate this? Really, this falls way too much over personal opinion. This is nothing more then a top ten list. Besides, there are a lot of different things to consider. Battle per battle, my top would be Hannibal. Campaign wise, it'd be Ghengis Khan. For diplomacy and war, it'd be Alexander. There is way too much to consider in order to make a top ten list that could be debated. It's like a "top 10 best comedians". My list would include Mitch Hedburg. Most wouldn't.

 

[redgreenblue]

History has seen no leader greater than Caesar Augustus. He has come closer than any other man to true world domination. He left a legacy that lived the empire's lifespan. And besides we don't have a month named after Napoleon.

February is now Napoleonary.

Okay, I know that yes, those are all leaders, but most of them are also dictators. What about leaders like Mohandas Gandhi? Or does he not count? I would like to think he does.

 

[Prince of Pain]

The trend here seems to be more along the lines of successful military leaders, though their success was still largely determined by the size of their armies, the size of their opponents armies, and the geography of the surrounding area, so it's extremely difficult to tell. For instance, I doubt that any of these men never one a battle on luck, which alone does not really make for a good leader. In my opinion, Hitler was the "greatest leader in history" simply because his army conquered almost all of Europe in only a few years.

However, I agree that people like Gandhi or Martin Luther King were obviously successful non-violent leaders, even based solely on the amount of people they were able to convince of their ways of thinking. In my opinion, a broader range of candidates needs to be presented (difficult to pull off, as militaristic versus non-militaristic leadership is really impossible to compare, as it comes down to opinion, so this really isn't much of an option) or the title needs to be reworded to better suit the purposes of this poll.

 

[Caturdayz]

The trend here seems to be more along the lines of successful military leaders, though their success was still largely determined by the size of their armies, the size of their opponents armies, and the geography of the surrounding area, so it's extremely difficult to tell. For instance, I doubt that any of these men never one a battle on luck, which alone does not really make for a good leader. In my opinion, Hitler was the "greatest leader in history" simply because his army conquered almost all of Europe in only a few years.

However, I agree that people like Gandhi or Martin Luther King were obviously successful non-violent leaders, even based solely on the amount of people they were able to convince of their ways of thinking. In my opinion, a broader range of candidates needs to be presented (difficult to pull off, as militaristic versus non-militaristic leadership is really impossible to compare, as it comes down to opinion, so this really isn't much of an option) or the title needs to be reworded to better suit the purposes of this poll.

I beleive that the drastic fall of Hitler disqualifies him for the honor of Greatest Military Leader.

 

[Keitaro]

I beleive that the drastic fall of Hitler disqualifies him for the honor of Greatest Military Leader.

Although Hitler did fall he didn't litterally fall by the hands of someone else and his accomplishments "if i were to call them that" are too great to go unnoticed.

In my opinion I feel many of the people who are considered to be great leaders are the ones that happen to die in the middle of the reign of power. I feel there are others that are going unnoticed even though I can't remember any off the top of my head.

 

[Sandy]

My vote goes to Hitler. Yes, that's weird, but he was able to instill an idea into so many people with a few posters and inverted Kanji. He's a genius, but that doesn't make him less of an a**hole.

It should also be noted that Adolf Hitler was not a German, but an Austrian instead. I believe he did spend some time in Vienna for a while, before moving to Germany and joining the army there.

 

[Caturdayz]

My vote goes to Hitler. Yes, that's weird, but he was able to instill an idea into so many people with a few posters and inverted Kanji. He's a genius, but that doesn't make him less of an a**hole.

It should also be noted that Adolf Hitler was not a German, but an Austrian instead. I believe he did spend some time in Vienna for a while, before moving to Germany and joining the army there.

Hitler was a good military leader, no lie. His use of propaganda was impressive and he was able to do enough for him to be forever infamous. However his persecution of the Jews was horrendous and I cannot condone that, he wasn't really able to conquer enough for me to see him as the greatest leader ever. So my vote stays with Augustus. Napoleon in second for me.