Ten BEST Political Leaders in the World 1900-Present *

1. Dr. Mossadegh

2. Mahatma Gandhi

3. Franklin D. Roosevelt

4. George Orwell

5. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

6. Olaf Palma

7. Dr. Salvador Allende

8. Aung San Suu Kyi

9. Rosa Luxemburg

10. Dr. Sun Yat-sen

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Ten WORST Political Leaders in the World 1900-Present *

1. Adolf Hitler

2. Josef Stalin

3. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

4. Osama bin Laden

5. Pol Pot

6. Benito Mussolini

7. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

8. Gen. Augusto Pinochet

9. Idi Amin

10. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

* Choosing "best" and "worst" leaders is not purely objective, because there is a huge subjective, even normative, element to what goes into one’s selection. The above are from the standpoint of an IRANIAN liberal democrat. Each leader in the BEST category has done his or her best to advance the cause of civil liberties, democracy, human rights, and social justice considering his/her environment.

Those in the WORST category are those whose people deserved better, but due to their malevolent influence, their people lost in terms of civil liberties, democracy, human rights, and social justice.

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Ten Best Iranian Political Leaders of All Time **

1. Koresh Kabir (Cyrus the Great)

2. Babak Khorramdin

3. Yaaghob Leis Safar

4. Ferdowsi

5. Mossadegh

6. Sattar Khan

7. Karim Khan Zand

8. Dehkhoda

9. Dariush

10. Khayyam

** By political, I also include literary figures who have had enormous political impact on our consciousness.