Leaders & Statesmen

Rulers, presidents, and reformers who steered nations.

records written

Early Modern era

Thomas Jefferson

April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826

Founding Father, U.S. president from 1801 to 1809 (1743–1826)

Early Modern era

Benjamin Franklin

January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790

American polymath and statesman (1706–1790)

Early Modern era

John Adams

October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826

Founding Father, U.S. president from 1797 to 1801 (1735–1826)

Early Modern era

Alexander Hamilton

January 11, 1757 – July 12, 1804

American Founding Father and statesman (1755/1757–1804)

Early Modern era

James Madison

March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836

President of the United States from 1809 to 1817 (1751–1836)

Early Modern era

Marquis de Lafayette

September 6, 1757 – May 20, 1834

French general and politician (1757–1834)

Modern era

Napoleon Bonaparte

August 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821

French emperor and general whose campaigns redrew the map of Europe

Early Modern era

Duke of Wellington

May 1, 1769 – September 14, 1852

British Field Marshal, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1828–1830, 1834 (1769-1852)

Early Modern era

Horatio Nelson

September 29, 1758 – October 21, 1805

British admiral (1758–1805)

Early Modern era

Maximilien Robespierre

May 6, 1758 – July 28, 1794

French revolutionary lawyer and politician (1758–1794)

Early Modern era

Toussaint Louverture

May 20, 1743 – April 7, 1803

Haitian national hero (1743–1803)

Early Modern era

Simon Bolivar

July 24, 1783 – December 17, 1830

Venezuelan statesman and military officer (1783–1830)

Early Modern era

Jose de San Martin

February 25, 1778 – August 17, 1850

Argentine general and independence leader (1778–1850)

Modern era

Benito Juarez

March 21, 1806 – July 18, 1872

President of Mexico from 1858 to 1872

Early Modern era

Miguel Hidalgo

May 8, 1753 – July 30, 1811

Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican War of Independence

Modern era

Emiliano Zapata

August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919

Mexican revolutionary (1879–1919)

Modern era

Pancho Villa

June 5, 1878 – July 20, 1923

Mexican revolutionary (1878-1923)

Modern era

Abraham Lincoln

February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865

US President who preserved the Union and ended slavery in America

Early Modern era

Andrew Jackson

March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845

President of the United States from 1829 to 1837

Modern era

Woodrow Wilson

December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924

28th President of the United States (1913–1921)

Modern era

Franklin D. Roosevelt

January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945

President of the United States from 1933 to 1945 (1882–1945)

Modern era

Eleanor Roosevelt

October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962

American diplomat and activist, First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945 (1884–1962)

Modern era

Harry S. Truman

May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972

President of the United States from 1945 to 1953; politician (1884–1972)

Modern era

Dwight D. Eisenhower

October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969

President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 (1890–1969)

Modern era

John F. Kennedy

May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963

President of the United States from 1961 to 1963 (1917–1963)

Modern era

Lyndon B. Johnson

August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973

President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 (1908–1973)

Modern era

Richard Nixon

January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994

President of the United States from 1969 to 1974 (1913–1994)

Modern era

Jimmy Carter

October 1, 1924 – December 29, 2024

President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 (1924–2024)

Modern era

Ronald Reagan

February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004

President of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and actor (1911–2004)

Contemporary era

Bill Clinton

b. August 19, 1946

42nd President of the United States (1993–2001)

Contemporary era

George W. Bush

b. July 6, 1946

43rd President of the United States (2001–2009)

Contemporary era

Barack Obama

b. August 4, 1961

44th President of the United States (2009–2017)

Contemporary era

Donald Trump

b. June 14, 1946

45th & 47th President of the United States (2017–2021; 2025–)

Modern era

Joe Biden

b. November 20, 1942

46th President of the United States (2021–2025)

Modern era

Queen Victoria

May 24, 1819 – January 22, 1901

Queen of the United Kingdom from 1837 to 1901 (1819-1901)

Modern era

Benjamin Disraeli

December 21, 1804 – April 19, 1881

British statesman (1804–1881)

Modern era

William Gladstone

December 29, 1809 – May 19, 1898

British Liberal prime minister (1809–1898)

Modern era

David Lloyd George

January 17, 1863 – March 26, 1945

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922

Modern era

Winston Churchill

November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965

British Prime Minister who led the defiance of Nazi Germany

Modern era

Clement Attlee

January 3, 1883 – October 8, 1967

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 (1883–1967)

Modern era

Margaret Thatcher

October 13, 1925 – April 8, 2013

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990

Contemporary era

Tony Blair

b. May 6, 1953

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007

Modern era

Otto von Bismarck

April 1, 1815 – July 30, 1898

German statesman and Chancellor (1815-1898)

Modern era

Konrad Adenauer

January 5, 1876 – April 19, 1967

German politician, Chancellor of West Germany (1949–1963), Zentrum and CDU

Modern era

Willy Brandt

December 18, 1913 – October 8, 1992

German politician (SPD), chancellor of West Germany (1969–1974) and Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Contemporary era

Angela Merkel

b. July 17, 1954

Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021 (born 1954)

Modern era

Francois Mitterrand

October 26, 1916 – January 8, 1996

21st President of the French Republic from 1981 to 1995 (1916–1996)

Modern era

Giuseppe Garibaldi

July 4, 1807 – June 2, 1882

Italian general, patriot and republican (1807–1882)

Modern era

Vladimir Lenin

April 10, 1870 – January 21, 1924

Founding leader of the Soviet Union (1870–1924)

Modern era

Leon Trotsky

October 26, 1879 – August 21, 1940

Russian Marxist revolutionary (1879–1940)

Modern era

Nikita Khrushchev

April 3, 1894 – September 11, 1971

Leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964

Modern era

Mikhail Gorbachev

March 2, 1931 – August 30, 2022

Leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991 (1931–2022)

Modern era

Boris Yeltsin

February 1, 1931 – April 23, 2007

Soviet and Russian politician, 1st President of Russia (1931–2007)

Modern era

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

1881 – November 10, 1938

Founding father of the Republic of Turkey (c. 1881–1938)

Modern era

Gamal Abdel Nasser

January 15, 1918 – September 28, 1970

President of Egypt from 1956 to 1970

Modern era

Anwar Sadat

December 25, 1918 – October 6, 1981

President of Egypt from 1970 to 1981

Modern era

Golda Meir

April 21, 1898 – December 8, 1978

Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974

Modern era

David Ben-Gurion

October 16, 1886 – December 1, 1973

Israeli politician, Zionist leader, prime minister of Israel (1948–1953, 1955–1963) - (born1886–1973)

Modern era

Yitzhak Rabin

March 1, 1922 – November 4, 1995

Israeli politician, statesman and general (1922–1995)

Modern era

Mahatma Gandhi

October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948

Leader of India's independence movement through nonviolent resistance