15 Great Leaders Through History

[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.

[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]

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.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

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.

And Ferdinand and Isabella kicked them out of Spain. That counts for at least an Honorable Mention.

[Bilge_Rat]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

And Ferdinand and Isabella kicked them out of Spain. That counts for at least an Honorable Mention.

true and they sent Columbus on his way as well.

[frau kaleun]

Napoleon, in an epic win FTW.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Originally Posted by Bilge_Rat

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.

And that's why I chose him!!! Right guy at the right time made all the difference.

[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.

[Raptor1]

Hmm, great leaders through history, let's see.

1. Alexander the Great
2. Gaius Marius
3. Augustus
4. Charles Martel
5. Charlemagne
6. Genghis Khan
7. Jogaila, I think
8. Charles V
9. Maurice of Orange
10. Gustav Adolphus
11. Oliver Cromwell
12. Louis XIV (Maybe, a lot of what happened during his reign is directly or indirectly responsible for the French Revolution)
13. Frederick the Great
14. Napoleon
15. Bismarck

These are the ones I can think of, I'm probably forgetting quite a few important ones. Also disregarded military-only leaders, though I would consider quite a few of those as great leaders.

By the end of the 19th century it becomes hard to find leaders who would go into this list; though there were good leaders, things became way more decentralized.

[Bilge_Rat]

Louis XIV is also important since he established the french language as the working language of europe for the next 250 years until it was replaced by english.

I was reading a book recently about the Austrian army during the Seven Years War. Austria-Hungary was a very multi lingual state at that time, but most of the officers were german speaking Austrians. However, in almost every military conference, french was used as the working language since every officer had at least a working knowledge of french.

[Jimbuna]

What was James T Kirk doing on the list?



Oh I see

[nikimcbee]

At Jim.
I vote Peter the Great. I'll add maybe Robert E Lee (except for Gettysburg).