10 Most Inspirational Political Leaders

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10 Most Inspirational Political Leaders

Winston Churchill

Who are today’s most inspiring political leaders? What if you were asked to make a list of the

ten who have inspired you most? Ask any two people and you’ll get a wildly varied list.

So, who belongs on the list? Alas, it’s really tough to make a case for anybody currently in

 politics. Even going back a decade, we find ourselves scratching our heads. Even etending

the search across the globe, we find ourselves looking nostalgically back almost a

 generation.

Winston Churchill

Humiliated early in his political life, given to stuttering as a boy, ignored as a cabinet member when he warned the world in the strongest terms against Hitler, it is a wonder that Winston

 Leonard Spencer Churchill , (Nov. 30, 18!"#an. $!, 1%&' had any interest at all in politics.

However, as )ritain*s +orld +ar leader, -rime inister /hurchill led the )ritish mpire toits greatest victory against impossible odds daring to defy the Na2is when the )ritish alonein urope had not surrendered to the hird 4eich.

+ith wave after wave of 5uftwaffe bombers leveling ngland*s cities and industries, he proclaimed to the )ritish public cowering in bomb shelters6 7+e shall defend our island,whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight in the fields and in the

streets, we shall fight in the hills we shall never surrender.9 :nd they did not, ga2ingadmiringly into the s;y at the wasp"li;e <pitfire fighters rising to meet the =erman air force,

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as /hurchill proclaimed of the pilots, 7Never in the field of human conflict was so muchowed by so many to so few.> ven when things loo;ed dar;est during the war, he thunderedover the radio waves6 75et us so bear ourselves, that if the )ritish mpire and its/ommonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ?his was their finest hour.*9

>4hetorical power,> he wrote in his memoirs, >is neither wholly bestowed, nor whollyac@uired, but cultivated.> He also possessed incredible wit. Ance a female detractor insultedhim publicly, saying, 7f were your wife, would put poison in your tea.9 /almly, heanswered6 7adam, if you were my wife, would drin; it.9

John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

f +inston /hurchill won +orld +ar , then a case can be made that a -olish priest named  

 Karol Józef Wojtyła (ay 18, 1%$0":pril $, $00' won the /old +ar. Bor decades, the <ovietCnion had held astern urope in captivity. n 1%'&, Hungary had attempted to revoltD in

1%&8, the /2echs. ach time, 4ussian tan;s rolled in and crushed all resistance. <o, in 1%80when a shipyard electrician named 5ech +alesa dared -oland to stand up to their occupiers,the whole world ;new it was only a matter of time until they, too, would be crushed. )ut asthe tan;s readied to roll, oscow received a message from the Eatican. #ohn -aul warned theFremlin that if the tan;s crossed the -olish border, he would fly to +arsaw and armed onlywith his papal wal;ing staff would personally march out to meet them. +as it Gust a bluff fso, the 4ussians blin;ed. he tan;s did not roll. +ithin months, too, Hungary defied the4ussians. he /2echs followed, then 5atvia, 5ithuania, stonia, )ulgaria and 4omania, even:lbania. he <oviet Cnion itself began to crumble with C;raine, )elorus, Fa2a;stan,C2be;istan and all of the other non"4ussian 7<oviet republics9 defying oscow. he4ussians ;new eIactly who to blame and attempted to ta;e their revenge, sending in an

assassin who failed. :fter recuperating from the gunshot wounds, #ohn -aul visited his

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attac;er in prison and forgave him. his pope was unli;e any other before him "" and trulyone of the most inspirational political leaders of our time.

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan 

: movie actor in the +hite House t can be said the !0th -resident of the Cnited <tates, Ronald Wilson Reagan (Beb. &, 1%11"#une ', $00!, also won the /old +ar. :s president, heinstituted sweeping political and economic initiatives that resulted in a decade of prosperity.His supply"side economic policies, dubbed >4eaganomics,> reduced taI rates to spureconomic growth, controlled the money supply to reduce inflation, deregulated ;ey sectors of the economy and dramatically reduced government spending. He was re"elected in alandslide in 1%8!, proclaiming that contrary to those certain that :merica was in decline thatit was >morning in :mericaJ> He proven wrong foreign relations advisers who had advocatedcoeIistence with the <oviets by launching one of the largest military build"ups in history matching the might of capitalism against the impotence of socialism. +ith such programs as

the <trategic Kefense nitiative dubbed 7<tar+ars,9 he ban;rupted the <oviet 7vilmpire.9 <eldom given his due during his lifetime, 4eagan was portrayed in the media as atottering old ideologue who napped through /abinet meetings and masterfully memori2edlines written by others. Anly after his death were volumes of his speeches and radio tal;s allin his handwriting made public, showing him to be not only a great orator, but perhaps oneof the wisest and most principled men ever to occupy the Aval Affice.

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Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

 Margaret Hilda Roerts !hatcher  (Act. 13, 1%$'" was -rime inister of the CnitedFingdom from 1%% to 1%%0. Her strict conservative policies, her hard line against tradeunions and her tough rhetoric in opposition to the <oviet Cnion earned her the nic;name, the>ron 5ady.> rained as a research chemist, she returned to college to study law and waselected to -arliament in 1%'%. n 1%' she became the first woman to head a maGor )ritish

 political party and the CFLs first (and thus far, only female -rime inister. n office she setout to reverse )ritain*s national decline by loosening government regulations, removing theunions* grip on industry, denationali2ing maGor industries and withdrawing subsidies to thosethat could not stand on their own. Baced with an attac; on )ritish citi2ens in the distant

Bal;land slands off of the coast of :rgentina, she mobili2ed )ritish forces destroying the:rgentine navy and air forces and defeating its army as she won bac; the tiny islands andoffered the citi2ens there a choice of whether to be )ritish or :rgentina. 4ecently -rimeinister Kavid /ameron shared his eIperience of having dinner with her in Bebruary $00%,saying she advised him6 >Mou have got to do the right thing even if it is painful. KonLt trim ortrac; all over the place. <et your course and ta;e the difficult decisions because that is whatneeds to be done.9

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Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King

he youngest person ever to receive the Nobel -eace -ri2e, "r#  Martin Luther King Jr# (#anuary 1', 1%$%":pril !, 1%&8, led non"violent resistance against the ine@uities of a7separate"but"e@ual9 society that denied :frican":mericans voting, housing, education andemployment rights a full century after their freedom had been won in the C.<. /ivil +ar. :)aptist preacher, he became the symbol of the civil rights movement responding to violentresistance with @uiet civil disobedience. He too; the ideals for his movement from #esus/hrist, but its tactics from =andhi. <ee;ing civil rights, he traveled over siI million miles andspo;e over $,'00 times against inGustice. He wrote five boo;s. He led a massive protest in)irmingham, :labama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called

a 7coalition of conscience9 and inspiring his classic >5etter from a )irmingham #ail.> Heorgani2ed voting drives in :labama and directed a march on +ashington, K./., where hedelivered his memorable address, >l Have a Kream> on the steps of the 5incoln emorial. Hewas arrested at least $0 times and beaten by police at least four. He was named an of theMear by !ime maga2ine in 1%&3. An the evening of :pril !, 1%&8, while standing on the

 balcony of a motel room in emphis, ennessee, he was struc; down by an assassin*s bullet.oday, his bust is on permanent display in the rotunda of the C.<. /apitol and he is honored

 by a memorial near 5incoln*s in the shadow of +ashington onument.

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Mohandas Gandhi

Gandhi

 Mohandas Kara$chand %andhi  (Act. $, 18&%"#an. 30, 1%!8 used non"violent civildisobedience to lead the second most populous nation in the world, ndia, to independencefrom the occupying )ritish. =iving up any personal gain or appearance of wealth, theAIford"educated lawyer began wearing the loincloth of ndia*s least"respected7Cntouchables9 and challenged ndians to refuse to purchase anything from their )ritishoccupiers, indeed to spin their own thread and weave their own cloth rather than wearanything made by the )ritish. >here are many causes that am prepared to die for,9 hedeclared in the middle of the struggle, 7but no causes that am prepared to ;ill for.> Ananother occasion, after hundreds of unarmed followers had been slain by )ritish gunfire, he

wrote6 >+hen despair, remember that all through history the way of truth and love hasalways won. here have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, butin the end, they always fall.> +hen his own followers rioted in the streets among themselves,he went on long fasts refusing to eat until they reconciled. /ontroversial until the end, hedid not live to see a free ndia, but was cut down by an assassin*s bullet. Aver two million

 people lined the route of his funeral procession. :merican Gournalist dward 4. urrowobserved6 7he obGect of this massive tribute died as he had always lived " a private manwithout wealth, without property, without official title or office. ahatma =andhi was not acommander of great armies nor ruler of vast lands. He could boast no scientific achievementsor artistic gift. Met men, governments and dignitaries from all over the world have Goinedhands today to pay homage to this little brown man in the loincloth who led his country to

freedom. -ope -ius, the :rchbishop of /anterbury, -resident ruman, /hiang Fai"she;, heBoreign inister of 4ussia, the -resident of Brance are among the millions here and abroad

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who have lamented his passing. n the words of =eneral =eorge /. arshall, the :merican<ecretary of <tate, >ahatma =andhi had become the spo;esman for the conscience ofman;ind, a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires.> :nd:lbert instein added, >=enerations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever inflesh and blood wal;ed upon this earth.>

Anwar adat

Anwar adat 

 Muha$$ad &n'ar al(Sadat  (Kec. $', 1%18 Act. &, 1%81 was the third -resident of gypt,serving from Act. 1', 1%0 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers. n hiseleven years as president, he led gypt in the Actober +ar of 1%3 to re"ac@uire gyptianterritory lost to srael in the 1%& <iI"Kay +ar. :fterwards he was the first :rab leader whodared to sign a treat with srael, which won him the Nobel -eace -ri2e but also made himunpopular among some :rab eItremists. His childhood hero was Femal :tatur;, the leader of contemporary ur;ey. <adat admired his ability to overthrow the foreign influence andestablish a secular slamic government. An & Actober 1%81, <adat was assassinated during

the annual victory parade held in /airo to celebrate gyptLs crossing of the <ue2 /anal.However, he set a precedent demonstrating that a uslim leader could engage srael in peace, then put his nation on a course of prosperity without constant war with its #ewishneighbor.

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tand Watie

tand Watie 

 Stand Watie (Kecember 1$, 180& <eptember %, 181, was born Kegataga, /hero;ee for7<tand Birm,9 the son of a successful =eorgia plantation and /hero;ee, Cwatie. +hen thefamily converted to /hristianity, the boy too; the name saac <tandhope +atie. He became awriter for his brother*s /hero;ee -hoeniI newspaper and together they fought against=eorgia*s discriminatory laws against Native :mericans, but in 1838 saw their family*sholdings in and around /alhoun, =eorgia, confiscated when the entire /hero;ee Nation wasdeported to A;lahoma erritory from =eorgia on the notorious rail of ears on which!,000 died. :t the outbrea; of the +ar )etween the <tates, bitter against the C.<.

government, +atie who was serving as -rincipal /hief after /hero;ee leader #ohn 4osswas captured by Cnion troops "" was given the ran; of brigadier general in the /onfederate:rmy. His /hero;ee riflemen fought in more battles west of the ississippi 4iver than anyother force and distinguished themselves at the )attle of -ea 4idge, :r;ansas, as well as themaGor /onfederate victory at /abin /ree; in 18&!, capturing a Bederal wagon train and 1million worth of wagons, mules, commissary supplies and ammunition. An #une $3, 18&',following the )attle of Koa;sville, the undefeated +atie signed a cease"fire agreement,ma;ing him the last /onfederate general to lay down his arms. He returned home, tried tostay out of politics and died siI years later in 181 but is remembered as one of the greatest/hero;ees ever.

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Ale!ander "u#$e%

Ale!ander "u#$e%  

 &le)ander "u*e+  (Nov. $, 1%$1 Nov. , 1%%$ was briefly leader of /2echoslova;ia(1%&8"1%&%. He is famous for his attempt to reform the /ommunist regime during what is;nown as the 7-rague <pring of 1%&8.9 He was deposed when the <oviet Cnion sent in tan;sto ensure there would be no deviation from party line and no independent actions on the

 part of the /2ech puppet government. KubOe; was born in /2echoslova;ia, months after hisfamily returned from living in /hicago, llinois. Kuring +orld +ar , he was a leader in theanti"Na2i underground resistance then after the war rose through the ran;s in <oviet"occupied/2echoslova;ia. He became the Birst <ecretary of the /ommunist -arty of /2echoslova;iaon #an. ', 1%&8, but sought to create >socialism with a human face,> loosening the partyLs grip

and trying to eliminate its most repressive features. He mista;enly thought the Fremlin wouldallow him a free hand as long as /2echoslova;ia remained a faithful <oviet ally. However, on:ugust 1%&8, <oviet tan;s sei2ed control and KubOe; was ta;en into <oviet custody. He wasforced to resign and was eIpelled from the /ommunist party. n 1%8% when the <oviets werefinally eIpelled, KubOe; appeared with -resident EPclav Havel on a balcony overloo;ing-rague*s +enceslas <@uare and was greeted with uproarious applause. He may have failed in1%&8, but he ignited a desire for freedom that the /2echoslova;ian people never surrenderedto the <oviet occupiers.

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Aung an uu K&i

Aung an uu K&i 

 &ung San Suu Kyi , (#une 1%, 1%!'" is a )urmese opposition politician, the 1%%1 winner ofthe Nobel -eace -ri2e and the daughter of :ung <an, considered to be the father of modern"day )urma. He negotiated the nationLs independence from the )ritish mpire in 1%!. <incethe 1%80s, she has led a non"violent resistance against )urma*s repressive military regime and as a result has spent years under house arrest. n the 1%%0 general election, her National5eague for Kemocracy party won '% percent of the national vote and 81 percent of the seatsin -arliament but )urma*s military dictators chose to ignore the elections. :lthough she hasremained out of public sight for years, she has led a @uiet democratic resistance. <he receivedthe :ndre <a;harov -ri2e for Breedom of hought in 1%%0 and the #awaharlal Nehru :wardfor nternational Cnderstanding by the government of ndia in 1%%$. Ane of her most famousspeeches is the >Breedom Brom Bear> speech, which begins6 >t is not power that corrupts butfear. Bear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of powercorrupts those who are subGect to it.> <he also believes fear spurs many world leaders to losesight of their purpose. >=overnment leaders are ama2ing>, she once said. ><o often it seemsthey are the last to ;now what the people want.>