15 Great Leaders Through History

[Gerald]

http://www.life.com/image/53370403/i...hrough-history

[frau kaleun]

No love for Shackleton, I guess.

[Gerald]

Probably not

[Takeda Shingen]

Tak's view of the compilation.

Probably belongs on the list:

Golda Meir
Franklin Roosevelt
Wiston Churchill
Martin Luther King Jr.
Mohandes Ghandi
Nelson Mandela

Probably doesn't belong on the list:

Gloria Stienem
Eleanor Roosevelt
Douglas MacAurthur
John Paul II

What?:

Vince Lombardi
Steve Jobs
James T Kirk--wasn't even real
Oprah Winfrey
Count Basie--Love the music, but a great leader of history?

Overall, the list is very, very short-sighted. Even in the terms of American history, most of the 'great American presidents' are absent. Where are Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and the rest? Going a step further and outside of the US, where are Napoleon Bonaparte, Lord Nelson, Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, Ivan III, Elizabeth I, Frederick Barbarosa, Richard I, Charlemange, Constantine I, and Saladin? Going further, what about, Ceasar Agustus, Marcus Aurelius, Alexander the Great, Nebuchadnezzar II and Ramses II? Among the great idealists and philosphers, what of Kant, Hobbes, Descartes, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Voltaire, Nietzsche, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, et al?

On the whole, Life has compiled a very silly list.

The greatest............Temujin. Or, Alexander of Macedonia

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

Tak's view of the compilation.

Probably belongs on the list:

Golda Meir
Franklin Roosevelt
Wiston Churchill
Martin Luther King Jr.
Mohandes Ghandi
Nelson Mandela

Probably doesn't belong on the list:

Gloria Stienem
Eleanor Roosevelt
Douglas MacAurthur
John Paul II

What?:

Vince Lombardi
Steve Jobs
James T Kirk--wasn't even real
Oprah Winfrey
Count Basie--Love the music, but a great leader of history?

Overall, the list is very, very short-sighted. Even in the terms of American history, most of the 'great American presidents' are absent. Where are Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and the rest? Going a step further and outside of the US, where are Napoleon Bonaparte, Lord Nelson, Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, Ivan III, Elizabeth I, Frederick Barbarosa, Richard I, Charlemange, Constantine I, and Saladin? Going further, what about, Ceasar Agustus, Marcus Aurelius, Alexander the Great, Nebuchadnezzar II and Ramses II? Among the great idealists and philosphers, what of Kant, Hobbes, Descartes, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, Voltaire, Nietzsche, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, et al?

On the whole, Life has compiled a very silly list.

[Diopos]

Once upon a time there was a magazine called "LIFE" ...

.

[frau kaleun]

I think the inclusion of people like Lombardi and Basie is an indication that they are looking at leadership not in terms of the political or social impact made by the people in question, but simply in terms of them being great leaders in whatever type of leadership role they had.... whether it was leading an army, a country, a football team, or a band.

Still doesn't explain why no love for Shackleton, lol.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

On the whole, Life has compiled a very silly list.

"Silly" is probably the best term available. Even if it was titled "Great Leaders of the Twentieth Century" it would still be silly.

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

I think the inclusion of people like Lombardi and Basie is an indication that they are looking at leadership not in terms of the political or social impact made by the people in question, but simply in terms of them being great leaders in whatever type of leadership role they had.... whether it was leading an army, a country, a football team, or a band.

Still doesn't explain why no love for Shackleton, lol.

Basie then remains a poor choice. Why not Edward Kennedy Ellington, who's musical impact was the greatest of any of the 'big band' era? Or, even Benny Goodman, who pioneered mixed race music and fought discrimination from promoters and club owners who prohibited his band to play because he hired African American musicians?

For athletics, Pop Warner or Joe McCarthy or the venerable Yogi Berra would have been superior decisions.

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

Basie then remains a poor choice. Why not Edward Kennedy Ellington, who's musical impact was the greatest of any of the 'big band' era? Or, even Benny Goodman, who pioneered mixed race music, and fought discrimination from promoters and club owners who prohibited his band to play because he hired African American musicians?

For athletics, Pop Warner or Joe McCarthy or the venerable Yogi Berra woudl have been superior decisions.

They gave their reason for including Basie in the caption to the photo. Purely anecdotal, but nothing to do with being a pioneer in fighting discrimination in the business or anything else other than what happened when he sat down and "took over" a group of musicians.

I'm not saying it's a great list or that I agree with all of it, lol, just that the criteria they are using for what makes someone a "great leader" and in what context is not what one usually expects with lists like this (judging by the responses here so far).

That said, as a bandleader pure and simple, IMO Count Basie kicks Benny Goodman's butt, takes his lunch money, steals his girlfriend, and drives off with her in Goodman's car.

But I'm right there with you on Kirk. Including him is just bizarre. Everybody knows Picard is way better.

[Bilge_Rat]

here is my list.

17 political leaders who had the most significant impact, good or bad, in the age they lived in:

Mao
Stalin
Hitler
Napoleon
Frederick the Great
Peter the Great
Louis XIV
Akbar the Great
Charles V
Tamerlane
Genghis Khan
Charlemagne
Muhammad
Justinian I
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus
Alexander the Great
Ramses II the Great

yes, not one american, but it is hard to pick out of 40 centuries of recorded human history.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

My list:

Kemal Ataturk
Alexander the Great
Ieyasu Tokugawa
Mohammed
Shi Huangdi
FDR
Winston Churchill
Ghandi
George Washington
Augustus
Hadrian
Genghis Khan
Abraham Lincoln
Peter the Great
Charles Martel

Of course, this list is limited by my biases and ignorance.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

here is my list.

17 political leaders who had the most significant impact, good or bad, in the age they lived in:

Mao
Stalin
Hitler
Napoleon
Frederick the Great
Peter the Great
Louis XIV
Akbar the Great
Charles V
Tamerlane
Genghis Khan
Charlemagne
Muhammad
Justinian I
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus
Alexander the Great
Ramses II the Great

yes, not one american, but it is hard to pick out of 40 centuries of recorded human history.

I thought about including Tamerlane on my list, but limited myself to 15. And what I could rattle off my head.

Personally, I think Thutmose III was a better Pharoah than Ramses II.

Indeed, he's laughing at you!!

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by Torvald Von Mansee

Personally, I think Thutmose III was a better Pharoah than Ramses II.

its really a coin toss between them if you are going to pick a great Pharaoh.

Charles martel is an interesting choice, but I guess a case can be made that he stopped the muslims from conquering all of western europe.