Who were the most influential politicians/leaders of the twentieth century?

Question

My twenty in a loose order:

1) Lenin
2) Roosavelt
3) Stalin
4) Hitler
5) Ghandi
6) Mao
7) De Gaulle
8) Ben Gurion
9) (Jean) Monnet
10) Churchill
11) Nasser
12) Mussolini
13) (Martin Luther) King
14) (Kaiser) Wilhem 2
15) Reagan
16) (Che) Guevara
17) Hirohito
18) Nkrumah
19) Ho (Chi Minh)
20) (Ayatollah) Khomeini

Pity to omit Franco, De Valera and Trotsky (and any women). Anyone I have forgotten or ludicrously overrated?

Answer 1

I agree with you, just want to add a couple:

Margaret Thatcher
Indira Gandhi
Josip Broz Tito,
Tomas Garrigue Masaryk ...

Answer 2

1. Mao
2. Reagan
3. Truman
4. Hitler
5. Wilhelm 2
6.Hirohito
7. Ghandi, Mahatma
8. Mother Theresa
9. Churchill
10. Stalin
11. Lenin
12. Ben Gurion
13. Roosevelt, Franklin
14. Thatcher
15. Castro
16. Guevara
17. Ghandi, Indira
18. Kennedy
19. Mussolini
20. Martin Luther King

Answer 3

Wilson;Lenin; Theodore Roosevelt; FDR; Stalin; Hirler; Mao;Ben Gurion; Ghandi; Churchill;Nasser; Sadat; Begin; Mussolini; Kaiser Wilhelm II;Reagan; Che Guevara ; Castro;Hirohito; Saddam Hussein; Ayatollah Khomeini; The Shah of Iran ; Ho Chi Minh; Martin Luther King; JFK( this list is not in order as to influence or importance)

Answer 4

Well apart from about three of them the rest seem to have been involved in killing a lot of innocent people.

Nelson Mandela is notable by his absence, as is Princess Diana, Golda Mayer, Margaret Thatcher, Bob Geldorf and Indira Gandhi.

If it is "influence" you are really looking for you need to look deeper at who really changed ideas in the most people. Which might include Marie Stopes, Germain Greer and Coco Chanel, or Frank Lloyd Wright and a few notable scientists. Politicians and "leaders" aren't always the same thing.

Answer 5

Yeah I 'd have to agree its a pretty impressive list, ableit in the wrong order. Im not quite sure how you can place de Gauille, Roosavelt or Ben Gurion above Churchill or for that matter nasser abover martin luter king.

I would also have included Lloyd George, Thatcher, Gorbachov and I would have put Hitler at the top.

Answer 6

Pretty good list. I might have added Woodrow Wilson. His 14 Points were the compelling reason that the Germans accepted the Versailles Treaty. That treaty played a significant role in helping the Nazis come to power in a Germany that felt abused and betrayed by the Versailles Treaty.

Answer 7

Depending on your perspective, but I think the Pope John Paul II made a great impact the twentieth century because he had a great power to reach people and catch their attention. I am not religious, totally agnostic, nevertheless I got to see this man a few times when he visited my country and I can tell you he made the world stop for a second, just looking at him made your body chill with his greatness.

Answer 8

I don't think De Gaulle should be on there, certainly not so high. I agree with a previous poster that Gorbachev should be on the list. Winston Churchill would be much higher on my list as well, either at 1 or 2.

Answer 9

Mikhail Gorbachev belongs on that list, more so than Hirohito or Mussolini. They pall in comparison to the influence of Hitler in WWII. Gorbachev brought down communism, whether he meant to or not, while effectively ending the Cold War (on the surface).

I appreciate my two favorite Soviets being close to the top, btw.

Answer 10

I would go for Gorbachv and Mandela. To Gorbachev goes my vote because Communism looked like it was going to blight the world for a long time, until he came along! He is my top man! Mandela deserves second place simply on the basis of his humanity. Who could have blamed him if he resented white people, and sought to avenge himself because of the treatment he had suffered, along with his people, at their hands. But he rose above that, and did what was best for his country. He was, and is, the best of Men.
Both these men are examples to us all.