Your Nation's Greatest Leaders

[PimpyMicPimp]

I won't give a full list for Canada, but add one glaring omission (IMO anyways).

At number one I'd definitly include Tommy Douglas. He may have never been elected Prime Minister, but he may as well have, he gave Canada so much that we hold dear. Obviously, health care is the major one (if you want to lose an election in Canada, promise an American style health-care system, or any other harm to it and I gaurentee you will be crushed), but so many other things like public transportation.
If Canada ever makes it into Civ, Tommy deserves a leader spot without a doubt.

 

[REDY]

TomᚠGarrigue Masaryk
Karel IV
Přemysl II. Otakar

 

[jessiecat]

I won't give a full list for Canada, but add one glaring omission (IMO anyways).

At number one I'd definitly include Tommy Douglas. He may have never been elected Prime Minister, but he may as well have, he gave Canada so much that we hold dear. Obviously, health care is the major one (if you want to lose an election in Canada, promise an American style health-care system, or any other harm to it and I gaurentee you will be crushed), but so many other things like public transportation.
If Canada ever makes it into Civ, Tommy deserves a leader spot without a doubt.

I'll bet there are not many in this forum who even know who you're talking
about. Most younger Canadians won't know much about him either.
But I sure do. Like the fact that Saskatchewan had the first universal
heath care system in the world. That the FBI used to infiltrate his
political meetings in the 30's cause J. Edgar Hoover thought they were an
evil "commie" front. That he belongs in a long tradition of democratically
elected socialist politicians in Canada. That we owe him a lot in helping
to shape the liberal enlightened Canadain society we enjoy today.
How do I know? Cause I grew up in a leftwing union town in Canada myself.
You'll have heard of Oshawa, Ontario which always elected socialist MP's
and even had a communist mayor at the end of the war. And I was a
campaign worker for the NDP in the 60's and 70's and was lucky enough
to meet Tommy Douglas in Toronto before he died.
Sorry to bang on about this, but I was going to PM you about this
when I saw your avatar anyway, but why not do it here?

 

[Zhuge_Liang]

My country, Philippines although I have also diferrent opinions about the presidents.

President Emilio Aguinaldo - a hero and a president, he led the revolutionary forces to victory.

Pres. Ramon Magsaysay - a great political leader and a master manager. He defeated the "HUKs" in our country.

Pres. Ferdinand Marcos - even though a dictator, he thinks about how to improve philippines. He declared the martial law for the gain of the people. IF he was not overthrown by Corazon Aquino, HE could have built the philippines' first Nuclear Power Plant.

Pres. Estrada - he also cared for the people by lifting the taxes on all aspects of trade. He angered the aristocracy, which is making huge PROFITS.

My Favorite: President Marcos.....

 

[aronnax]

Marcos was an idiot. He reversed years of development and stability for Phillipines. He was the most corrupt goverment in the world at that time aside from Suharto! Aquino did not just overthrow him, she did it with Phillipines.

 

[gangleri2001]

My nation is Catalonia

And our best leaders in my opinion were:

1. Jaume I el Conqueridor (James I the Conqueror)
2. Pere III el Gran (Peter III the Great)
3. Francesc Macià
4. Pau Claris
5. Jordi Pujol

And here we got them:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

[e350tb]

1. Winston Churchill
2. David Lloyd George
3. Elizabeth I
4. Benjamen Disralli (sp?)
5. Mary I

 

[Plotinus]

I don't think Churchill should make the list, let alone be at the top. He wanted to make "Keep Britain white!" his party's slogan, and helped create a political climate in which previously marginal extreme racist views and policies became more acceptable and mainstream in the late 1950s. And that's a poisonous legacy we're still dealing with today.

 

[Cullyn]

Ireland hasnt had any good leaders since the stone age.

What sort of History where you taught in school?

here's my list of Irish leaders, in chronological order

Brian Boru - Lunatic Irish Leader who fought the Vikings,
Hugh O'Neill - Ulsterman who very, very nearly ended British rule in Ireland.His defeat lead to the Ulster Planations
Daniel O'Connell - Emancipated the Catholics
Charles Stewart Parnell - Lead the Home rule and Land League movments
Michael Collins - Lead Ireland to independence
Seán Lemass - put Ireland on the road from insular agrarian society to a modern western industrialsed country

 

[Zhuge_Liang]

Marcos was an idiot. He reversed years of development and stability for Phillipines. He was the most corrupt goverment in the world at that time aside from Suharto! Aquino did not just overthrow him, she did it with Phillipines.

No he's not like that. Even though he gave the gov. positions to his relatives, he is a good man. A nuclear plant in the philippines would surely lessen the burden of people...

Unlike what you are saying, you only heard it from news and read it from books, am I right?

 

[Dann]

Marcos was a classic case of Darth Vaderism - a once brilliant leader who succumbed to the dark side and turned bad. He indeed had grand ideas during the early years, and had they been implemented he might have been remembered as another Lee Kuan Yew now. Instead all we remember him for is as this ailing, corrupt dictator who insisted on hanging on to power despite the handwriting on the wall.

"The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones." Filipinos today remember not the Cultural Center, The PICC, the Lung Center, the IRRI, the Heart Center (which saved my aunt's life BTW), the highways and other infrastructure etc. Instead all we remember him for is for the ridiculous amount of corruption, the rampant nepotism, the abusive military and police, the fear of being abducted in the dead of the night (but of course applicable only if you made yourself a target in the first place), and worst of all, the crappy economy as investors started to avoid us in the face of 2 armed insurrections, no safety and security, obsene amounts of grease money necessary before being allowed to do anything, and a generally bad business climate. In the late 1960s we were 2nd only to Japan in Asia. By 1986 not only have we missed out on the chance to tag along with the 4 little dragons, we lag behind even the other Southeast Asian countries. How can he be called a good leader?

 

[LightSpectra]

U.S., moderate-conservative point of view

1. Washington
2. Eisenhower
3. McKinley
4. T. Roosevelt
5. Lincoln

I'm probably the only person who thinks McKinley was excellent. If I were going to extend the list, I would probably put Monroe and Lyndon B. Johnson up.

 

[Zenon_pt]

You MUST be joking. The guy basically spend 4 years spending EU money and a further 3 inflating a stock and real estate bubble that finally exploded by 2002 (as it happened elsewhere). Because he had already inflated real estate (a consequence of having Portugal join the Euro zone with its low interest rates form the start) the country sunk into an economic depression (or should I say a swamp?) and has been stagnant since then - the current government has given um on waiting for the economy to improve and is simply putting forth some false statistics claiming a little "economic growth".

And that's why I don't see any modern leaders after the 25th of April...

My top 5:
Portugal:

Our 1st King - D. Afonso Henriques (OF COURSE)

Infante D. Henrique (Henry to the CFC club)

The Marquis of Pombal (I know he want absolutism but he was a Great Leader so)

D. Pedro IV AKA Emperor Pedro I (Brazil) - Introduced the Constitution in Portugal, Fought his Brother (which was in favour of an absolutist regime), and Liberated Brazil. (Ok he's more Brazilian than Portuguese, but I considered him as Pt Leader)

The 5th, well it could be Salazar. He had some positive issus but to many negative ones... (Not my favourite, but need to be considered)

In modern times I can't see none so every yet.

BTW how about India?
Who are the top 5 India Leader's?

 

[Huayna Capac357]

I'm not Indian, but I'll take a stab at it:

1. Gandhi
2. Asoka
3. Chandragupta
4. Akbar
5. Babar the Tiger

 

[carmen510]

1. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Teddy Roosevelt
4. Thomas Jefferson
5. Ronald Reagan/Richard Nixon/James K. Polk