Who are your top 5 politicians of all time?

[Jingles]

Quite simple really. In fact you don't even have to put them in any particular order, and yeah obviously this can include politicians that are retired/dead - generally speaking today's politicians are all pretty boring anyway.

So who are your 5 favourites? A little info and maybe a picture would be nice for those of us who don't know who you're talking about

[Farnan]

George Washington - If you don't know who he is, well yea...
Teddy Roosevelt - President of the United States. Far from perfect, but he made strides in Civil Rights, broke monopolies, established the national parks, built the US Navy to a level that made it a significant force, got the Panama Canal. Only man to be awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Nobel Peace Prize.
George Marshall - As Secretary of State helped rebuild Europe. Favored a more sensible approach to the Middle East than was accepted, and saw that Chiang Kai Shek wouldn't win.
Cincinnatus - When Rome was in need they made him dictator, once his time was up he went back to his farm not abusing the position. Rome again asked for his help, he took the job and then returned home. The inspiration of George Washington.
Marquis de Lafayette - Hero of two continents. Wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man and attempted to moderate the Revolution before it got crazy.

[hellheaven1987]

George Marshall - As Secretary of State helped rebuild Europe. Favored a more sensible approach to the Middle East than was accepted, and saw that Chiang Kai Shek wouldn't win.

No, Marshall's comment was Chiang would not win if he did not reduce army size first, which was exactly what he complained so bitterly. Rather surprised, he failed to see that if Chiang really followed what he said, the result would be all warlords started another Central Plain War just like what happened in 30s - consider he was in China for three years, it is rather puzzled how could he fail to understand such a basic political situation at first.

Either way, his comments sealed Nationalist China's fate, as he constantly forced one-side cease fire and cut off Nationalist China's supplies during the most crucial time.

[The.Delegate]

Perikles of Athens - Did his best to hold Athens together during the Peloponnesian War with Sparta until his death in a plague.

Napoleon - His achievements in domestic reform such as the Napoleonic Code and the fact he managed to become Emperor of France and defeat the combined might of Europe several times.

Sir John A MacDonald - A masterful statesman who had a vision for a country. Although he got involved in political mucky-muck, he always seemed to bounce back.

Sir Winston Churchill - Let's just say Britain needed someone like him during the war.

Theodore Roosevelt - Seemed like he had the interests of America and its people at heart while in power. Did a lot of good things for the country.

[tommyboy]

-napoleon because he made whole europe pissed
-churchil cuz who doesnt love cigares?
-bush (both of them) because they are so dumb that it is funny
-maccarthy cuz he can manipulate almost an entire nation
-bill clinton cuz hes a player

[Hattushilish]

Great idea for a topic.
Glad to see George Marshall getting props. I second Redleg on him and Washington.

I would add:
- Nelson Mandela. Spent nearly 30 years fighting for justice from a prison cell.
- Abraham Lincoln. Won the civil war and ended slavery.
- Franklin Roosevelt. Made unpopular decisions that were necessary to get us out of the Great Depression and help defeat fascism. The Japanese internment camps are the only thing that prevent me from ranking him higher than Abraham Lincoln.

[Farnan]

-napoleon because he made whole europe pissed
-churchil cuz who doesnt love cigares?
-bush (both of them) because they are so dumb that it is funny
-maccarthy cuz he can manipulate almost an entire nation
-bill clinton cuz hes a player

Actually the first Bush was extremely intelligent. Most scholars on his era see him as responsible for the Cold War ending and the Soviet Union falling as peacefully as it did.

[Hattushilish]

N
- David Lloyd George, Britain's last Liberal prime minister. A great war leader, and an even greater reformer, particularly when he was still Chancellor under Asquith.

I actually thought about mentioning him. He was one of the few politicians who tried to "please everybody" and actually had some degree of success. He did a lot to help Britain prevent the internal strife that plagued a lot of other European countries during the interbellum period.

Actually the first Bush was extremely intelligent. Most scholars on his era see him as responsible for the Cold War ending and the Soviet Union falling as peacefully as it did.

You're right... I'm not a big fan of the first Bush, but dumb he was not. I actually think he has been sort of unfairly treated.

[Farnan]

Marshall definitely doesn't get enough credit during his role of Secretary of State. If not for him much of Europe would have fallen to communism. If Truman listened to Marshall the Arab world and the US would be good friends today.

[Jingles]

Nice choices, people - especially FRO's.

Let's see....

- Vladimir Lenin, again, no explanation really required, but I'm more interested in his contributions to political theory than his work as a revolutionary.
- David Lloyd George, Britain's last Liberal prime minister. A great war leader, and an even greater reformer, particularly when he was still Chancellor under Asquith.
- George Washington (OMG yes, commies quite like some of the founding fathers). 'nuff said really, one of history's greatest revolutionaries - ironically a fighter of Western Imperialism.
- Nikita Khrushchev, perhaps not the greatest Soviet leader, and did make some big mistakes, but his domestic reforms, particularly in areas like censorship and even internal checks and balances are admirable - it's a genuine shame Brezhnev forced him to resign.
- Yuri Andropov, probably the last Soviet leader since Stalin to have any real brains behind the driving seat. Despite being in office for such a short time, he got some real reform on the way. Bottom of the list simply because he died too soon to see any massive changes.

[Cussa]

George Washington
John. F. Kennedy
Bill Clinton
Jawaharlal. Nehru
Gamal Abdel Nasser

- Cussa

[IndianPrince]

George Washington
John. F. Kennedy
Bill Clinton
Jawaharlal. Nehru
Gamal Abdel Nasser

- Cussa

I like this list,

though I'd take Clinton off and put Gandhi in there

Prince

[Nietzsche]

Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Franklin
Fabius Maximus
Solon
Cicero

[Caelifer_1991]

David Lloyd George - Excellence in both domestic and foreign affairs, what more can be asked of a politician?
Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov - Not really sure where to begin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin - Rapidly industrialised Russia in the 15 years prior to WW2 in the only way possible, was willing and capable of making tough decisions to get the job done - in this case to prevent occupation and probable genocide by the nazi's, though requiring purges to remove effective opposition internally, and necessitating massive suffering to industrialise to prevent worse suffering and death in the future otherwise.
Napoleon - A man ahead of his time
Nelson Mandela - fought for his principles at great personal expense and with great conviction, an admiration to all

P.S: yes I'm english and put a frenchman in 1 spot, and a communist in another, get over it ...
P.S.(2): No, I'm not a communist, or in anyway french, don't ask

[Landsknecht_88]

1. Adolf Hitler. He turned Germany into a great power again, gave the German people faith for the future and almost came to establish a German hegemony in Europe when trying to rid Europe of the Communist vermin.
2. Karl XII, king of Sweden. Fought a defensive war against Denmark-Norway, Saxony, Poland-Lithuania and Russia. Like many of the former Swedish kings, he led his troops personally. But unlike them, he lived a military life without much luxuries.
3. Bismarck. Played a decisive part in establishing Germany with his cunning diplomacy.

[intel]

1. Adolf Hitler. He turned Germany into a great power again, gave the German people faith for the future and almost came to establish a German hegemony in Europe when trying to rid Europe of the Communist vermin.
2. Karl XII, king of Sweden. Fought a defensive war against Denmark-Norway, Saxony, Poland-Lithuania and Russia. Like many of the former Swedish kings, he led his troops personally. But unlike them, he lived a military life without much luxuries.
3. Bismarck. Played a decisive part in establishing Germany with his cunning diplomacy.

I'd love to write a comment about this posts. Sooo much.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Germany was always a great power when unified. And he was worse than "the communist vermin" he wanted to get rid of. Plus his hegemony over Europe was some of the worst things to happen to Europe in last thousand years..


Also, Karl XII didn't fought a defensive war against Poland-Lithuania. In fact, he atttacked it!

[Landsknecht_88]

Also, Karl XII didn't fought a defensive war against Poland-Lithuania. In fact, he atttacked it!

You should open a history book before uttering such stupidities. The war was defensive (as in, Sweden didn't initiate it), but it was fought offensively.

[intel]

You should open a history book before uttering such stupidities. The war was defensive (as in, Sweden didn't initiate it), but it was fought offensively.

I don't need it, recieved adequate education, thanks. You should open a book about the conflict and read that August got involved in the conflict as elector of Saxony, not as a king of Poland. Poland didn't participate in the conflict until Karl invaded it.

[Jom]

• Cicero - He is one of the greatest orators of all time and a new man who made it to the pinnacle of Roman politics, no simple feat.
• Caesar - An incredible gambler who would risk everything on one throw of the die if he thought it was worth it. A politician who understood the power of the mob and manoeuvred perfectly.
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington - Apart from being a soldier, Wellesley was also an excellent politician, a fact that is often overlooked. During his time as Prime Minister, he oversaw the long overdue Catholic Relief act, and his negotiations at Vienna cannot be downplayed, either.
• Aneurin Bevan - The creator of the National Health Service, who fought extremely hard in the face of quite obstinate opposition from doctors. I don't think I have to say anything more.
• William Beveridge - The author of the Beveridge Report, which lay the foundations for the modern British welfare state.

[Tiberios]

Winston Churchill - A great man.

Valdemar IV Atterdag - Saved Denmark from possibly being swallowed by the HRE.

George Washington.

Theodore Roosevelt.

George Bush Sr.