The Most Important Leaders in World History Politicians
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The Most Important Leaders in World History

original ranker Ranker Community  141,819 views 77 items 84 followers
This is a list of the most important and influential leaders in the history of the world. Who are the most important world leaders? Anyone can vote on this definitive list of the men and women who shaped our civilization - for better or worse - making it a collaborative list of the greatest leaders in human history. Visionaries, pragmatists, conquerors and humanitarians all share this list. Rank them in terms of importance and add anyone you see missing. So, who are the most impacting world leaders in history?

List Criteria: Note: Important doesn't mean the 'best'.

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Rank     Name
  1. 51
    Up 137
    Down 255

    Pericles

    495
  2. 52
    Up 34
    Down 52

    Isabella of Castille I and Ferdinand II of Aragon

  3. 53
    Up 119
    Down 235

    Ashoka the Great

  4. 54
    Up 34
    Down 37
    No image

    Chandragupta Maurya

    added by: Deepak giri
  5. 55
    Up 115
    Down 162

    Queen Victoria

    1819
  6. 56
    Up 74
    Down 139

    Mikhail Gorbachev

    1931
  7. 57
    Up 114
    Down 194

    Catherine the Great

  8. 58
    Up 71
    Down 166

    Vladimir Lenin

    1870
  9. 59
    Up 135
    Down 298

    Charles de Gaulle

    1948
  10. 60
    Up 57
    Down 62

    Otto von Bismarck

    1815
    added by: DaleGribble
    “ Lead to the unification of Germany in 1871, and first chancellor of the German Empire. „
  11. 61
    Up 124
    Down 177

    Hannibal

  12. 62
    Up 71
    Down 145

    Joseph Stalin

    1878
  13. 63
    Up 60
    Down 181

    Woodrow Wilson

    1856
  14. 64
    Up 89
    Down 222

    Justinian I

    483
  15. 65
    Up 58
    Down 134

    Darius The Great

  16. 66
    Up 14
    Down 33

    Benito Mussolini

    1883
    added by: world historian
    “ 1883
    „
  17. 67
    Up 57
    Down 115

    Kubla Khan

    1215
  18. 68
    Up 62
    Down 111

    Crazy Horse

  19. 69
    Up 42
    Down 118

    Xerxes the Great

  20. 70
    Up 35
    Down 89

    Fidel Castro

    1926
  21. 71
    Up 38
    Down 129

    Toyotomi Hideyoshi

    1537
  22. 72
    Up 41
    Down 110

    Sargon the Great

  23. 73
    Up 40
    Down 169

    Alfred the Great

    849
  24. 74
    Up 35
    Down 115

    Moctezuma I

  25. 75
    Up 39
    Down 92

    Boudicca

  26. 76
    Up 33
    Down 93

    Simon Bolivar Buckner, Sr.

    1823
  27. 77
    Up 45
    Down 99

    Pontiac

  28. +Add New Item

items 51 - 77 of 77

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    1. Lashon Schwerdtfeger
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 11/24/2012 5:30 PM
      Thanks for this. Most Important Leaders in World History?
    2. Jeffry Hardey
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 11/16/2012 6:30 PM
      Thank you for this leaders in history list!
    3. Demon_Boy
      Mahatma Gandhi at 5/10/2012 6:04 AM
      Gandhi was an activist, not a leader
    4. mine of history
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 4/02/2012 9:33 PM
      what about qin she huang de that unified china, am not Chinese but that person is important, mehmet the conqueror, king Leonidas of Sparta, Charles the hammer the Frankish king
    5. Just some historian
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 2/09/2012 9:31 AM
      This is the "definitive list of the men and women who shaped our civilization"? A group of the world's greatest historians was asked to make this same list. This list is missing 2 of the top 3 people that experts say were the most influential people in history. Where are Isaac Newton (the historians' #1 because his mathematical and scientific ideas made the modern and post-modern era's possible) and Jesus of Nazareth (the historians' #3). Also, the majority of the people that did make this list, while historically important and influential, were only important and influential in the context of the era and/or region in which they lived. They really had little or no lasting historical impact.
    6. Badamsambuu
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 10/16/2011 4:07 AM
      Khubilai khan was a great leader of East Asia who was influenced on earth in XIII century
    7. Desertrat89
      Louis Napoleon Bonaparte at 7/30/2011 8:49 PM
      I agree.... its a little weird that he's so strongly in the top spot. Would never have guessed it.
    8. Stephen12
      Louis Napoleon Bonaparte at 7/14/2011 7:03 PM
      Bonaparte the most important leader in world history? LOL...
    9. anti jew
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 6/21/2011 3:10 PM
      hi hitler
    10. non nazi guy
      The Most Important Leaders in World History at 6/13/2011 1:32 AM
      where the f**k is hitler??? i aint a nazi or whatever but you cant tell me the man that pretty much started world war 2 isnt important!!
      1. HistoryGuy
        The Most Important Leaders in World History at 6/13/2011 3:40 PM
        add him to the list, then. I'm personally on the fence if he was a "leader" so much as a despot. But you could probably make the same argument about a lot of people on this list.

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