What general, ruler, etc. got to the top and deserved to be there? It can be from any era. For example, a leader that was heir to the throne did not have to work to get into power, so were they deserving of their power?

George Washington.

George Washington seems a good choice.

Alfred the Great

Well, perversely, Stalin deserved to get to the top, at least for his brilliant scheming and manouvering. If you are afraid of wolves, stay out of the woods...

Lenin endorsed terror, the whole Central Committee were a gang of in-fighting, back-stabbing jackals. In that kind of political climate, Stalin very much earned his success.

Charles the Great, Otto the Great! :yeah:
Caesar and Napoleon, even though the latter didn´t deserve to stay at the top once he reached it. :eek:

Otto von Bismarck.
:D

Caeser, although he didn't stay there he deserved it.

Good 'ol Washington did.

Robert Lee and *forgot his first name* Grant (Although few will agree about the latter) both deserved the top, where they ended up.

Originally posted by Lucky
Otto von Bismarck.
:D

Wasn't a general. He is one of my Idols, a Diety of statesmanship in my book. My favorite historical figure (tied with Lincon actually).

But no general.

Originally posted by SKILORD
Wasn't a general. He is one of my Idols, a Diety of statesmanship in my book. My favorite historical figure (tied with Lincon actually).But no general.

But he was a leader, and definitely earned his way to the top! :)

sorry i thought it was generals only :oops:

In that case i'm nominating Abraham Lincon and Winston Churchill.

Dwight Eisenhower. Very humble beginnings, a man of principle, and a great leader.

Politically I'll go along with all the others and also include Alexander Hamilton. Very, very humble beginnings. Even though he didn't make it to the very top, he earned every inch of his success.

I'll second Ike. He had to contend with the colossal ego's of Montgomery and Patton and defeat Hitler at the same time.
;) :lol:

Good one knowltok!

Originally posted by Lucky

Caesar and Napoleon, even though the latter didn´t deserve to stay at the top once he reached it.

Napoleon deserved to rule for being defeated in Egypt and lying about it?

Aren't you all forgetting the BEST example of this kind of leader? ie Nelson Mandela :)

alexander the great.

Yeah, Nelson Mandela seems to be a good example for me.

Rommel's bravery was the stuff of legend...

He definitely deserved the rank he received.

A man who deserved the power he had and really deserved more since he was a GREAT leader, Robert E. Lee. This man was able to get victories while out numbered, out guned, and out supplied. Even in defeat, his men loved him, he did everything he could for them. He called his men his "boys" and didn't really mean it in the normal southern use of calling all men "boys" as a term of endearment, he really saw each and every man under his command as his son. The only reason he surrendered was he knew he couldn't win and didn't want anymore of his "boys" to die invain. His army would have kept fighting if he would have let them. Instead he told them to go home with thier head held high.
After the war, he choose to not run for public office and simply lived out his life as chancellor of Washington University in Virgina, which is now Washington and Lee.

There is no other leader in the history of the United States who was as beloved as Lee. Still today many southerners name their first born sons "Robert E. Lee (last name here)" out of thier respect for him. If the CSA would have succeded in thier bid for independence, Lee would be to the CSA as Washington is to the US now, a founding father who serves as the first peace time president.

Abraham Lincoln

Marshal Zhukov.

Eventhough, he did not rule anything but he was the best WW2 general

Well, everyone seems to be concentrating on the land-bound leaders. For naval leadership, I nominate John Arbuthnot ("Jacky") Fisher.

What about Roosevelt? I mean he pulled america out of the depression near single handed and turned a sleeping giant into a superpower

"I have not yet begun to fight"

Who said that?

also Admiral(?) Nelson

John Paul Jones if I am not mistaken.

Cunobelin: WWII pulled the US out of the depression single-handedly. Roosevelt was a great leader, and a lot of what he did helped to mitigate the suffering during the Depression, but he didn't solve the problem all by himself.

Originally posted by knowltok2
Cunobelin: WWII pulled the US out of the depression single-handedly. Roosevelt was a great leader, and a lot of what he did helped to mitigate the suffering during the Depression, but he didn't solve the problem all by himself.

Funny, I thought he was talking about Theodore.