Famous Political Leaders a to z

Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in 2005, and became the unofficial president of the State of Palestine in 2008.

Tunku Abdul Rahman was chief minister of the Federation of Malaya (1955–1957), the first prime minister of an independent Malaya (1957–1963), and the prime minister of Malaysia (1963–1970).

Gerry Adams is president of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army.

American Revolutionary Samuel Adams organized the Boston Tea Party and signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence.

Syed Ahmed Khan was an Indian educator, politician and Islamic reformer whose work inspired a new generation of Muslims and pioneered the revival of Indian Islam in the late 19th century.

Akbar the Great, Muslim emperor of India, established a sprawling kingdom through military conquests, but is known for his policy of religious tolerance.

Akihito has been emperor of Japan since 1989 and is, according to tradition, the 125th direct descendant of Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor.

Egyptian Hassan al-Banna was the founder the Muslim Brotherhood, with goals of expelling the British from Egypt and re-establishing the Caliphate.

Albert, first duke of Prussia and last grand master of the Teutonic Knights, is known chiefly for ending the Teutonic Knights' government of East Prussia.

Yasser Arafat was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization from 1969 until his death in 2004, a tumultuous period in which clashes with neighboring Israel were prevalent.

Soldier and revolutionary leader José Gervasio Artigas is regarded as the father of Uruguayan independence, which occurred years after his exile.

William Waldorf Astor was a wealthy descendant of John Jacob Astor who became a New York State senator and a member of the New York State Assembly.

Politician and publisher Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor became a member of Parliament and was the publisher of the London Observer from 1915 to 1945.

As Emperor of Rome from 161-180, Marcus Aurelius kept the empire safe from the Parthians and Germans, but is best known for his intellectual pursuits.

Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan is known for his roles in action movies like Zanjeer, and for hosting the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.

Francis Bacon was an English Renaissance statesman and philosopher, best known for his promotion the scientific method.

Chuck Baldwin is a politician, writer, conservative pastor and radio talk show host. He was the Constitution Party's presidential candidate for the 2008 election.

Stanley Baldwin was a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister three times between 1923 and 1937.

Cesare Beccaria was one of the greatest minds of the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century. His writings on criminology and economics were well ahead of their time.

Gertrude Bell was a British writer, archaeologist and political officer best known for helping to establish modern Iraq after World War I.

Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped by Marxist guerillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) while campaigning for the presidency.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum became prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates in 2006, and is responsible for Dubai’s transformation into a lavish business destination.

Hussein bin Talal served as king of Jordan from 1953 to 1999. He helped guide his country into the modern era.

Jean-Bedel Bokassa was the president of the Central African Republic (1966-1976) and a self-proclaimed emperor of the Central African Empire (1976-1979).

Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military leader who was instrumental in the revolutions against the Spanish empire.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a military general who became the first emperor of France. His drive for military expansion changed the world.

Subhas Chandra Bose was a 20th century organizational and military leader who fought for India’s freedom from British rule.

A leader of the Puritan Separatist movement, William Brewster was one of the pilgrims who traveled aboard the Mayflower to America.

Writer and politician Pat Buchanan is a nationally syndicated columnist and American conservative political commentator who has served under three presidents.

Puerto Rican politician and businesswoman Sila María Calderón is best known for becoming the first female governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 2001, serving until 2005.

Catherine II was empress of Russia, and led her country into the political and cultural life of Europe, carrying on the work begun by Peter the Great.

Neville Chamberlain was the British Prime Minister as England entered World War II. He is known for his policy of "appeasement" towards Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Charlemagne was the founder of the Carolingian Empire, best known for uniting Western Europe for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire.

Physicist Steven Chu was co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997 for his work on cooling atoms, and became the U.S. Secretary of Energy in 2009.

Henry Clay was an American statesman. He promoted several major governmental compromises to balance the rights of free and slave states.

Michael Collins was a hero of the Irish struggle for independence, who directed guerrilla warfare during the intensification of the Anglo-Irish War.

Constantine I was the first Christian Roman Emperor. He ruled at the beginning of the 4th century and began the evolution of the empire into a Christian state.

Robin Cook was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Livingston from 1983 until his death.

Madame de Pompadour became the mistress of French King Louis XV in the mid-1700s. She greatly influenced French culture during this time, including decorative arts, architecture and statecraft.

Cosimo de' Medici was the "Elder" and start of the Medici dynasty that ruled Florence (Italy) from the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance, and after.

John Dickinson, an American statesman often referred to as the "Penman of the Revolution," wrote letters that helped turn opinion against the Townshend Acts created by the Parliament of Great Britain.

U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles made major contributions to U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War.

Anwar el-Sadat was the one-time president of Egypt (1970-1981) who shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize for establishing peace agreements with Israel.

Arab statesman Faisal I was king of Iraq from 1921 to 1933 and a leader in advancing Arab nationalism during and after World War I.

Luis A. Ferré was a Puerto Rican industrialist who formed the New Progressive Party and was governor of Puerto Rico.

Publisher Malcolm Forbes was the son of B.C. Forbes, who founded Forbes magazine. Malcolm Forbes eventually worked his way up to becoming company president.

Benjamin Franklin is best known as one of the Founding Fathers who drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

Henry Highland Garnet was an African-American best known as an abolitionist whose “Call to Rebellion” speech encouraged slaves to rebel against their owners.

Australian singer and political activist Peter Garrett is best known for his considerable contributions to both the environment and the music industry.

Rudy Giuliani is a former major of New York City who served during the September 11th terrorist attacks in 2001.

Joseph Goebbels was minister of propaganda for the German Third Reich under Adolf Hitler. He presented a favorable image of the Nazi regime to the Germans.

Photographer and activist Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore, co-founded the Parents' Music Resource Center, and was Clinton’s mental health advisor.

Hermann Göring was a leader of the Nazi Party. He was condemned to hang as a war criminal in 1946 but took his own life instead.

Antonio Gramsci was an Italian Communist Party leader. He was arrested for speaking out against fascism and wrote his Prison Notebooks before dying in jail.

Journalist Horace Greeley launched the New Yorker and the New York Tribune. He also ran for president under the Liberal Republican Party, which he founded.

Journalist Arthur Griffith was a founder of the Irish nationalist movement (Sinn Féin) and briefly served as President of the Irish Republic in 1922.

Swedish statesman Dag Hammarskjöld served as secretary-general of the United Nations for eight years, from 1953 until his death on September 18, 1961.

Art Hanes was mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, between 1961 and 1963. He actively opposed racial integration.