There's an "other" choice. And if you have someone else in mind, say who it is and why Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
It's obviously Adolf Hitler. It's not that what he did was good, but it was amazing. How do you mindfuck an entire country to believe something that you're not? He convinced an entire country that a religion is bad and that they ought to be killed off. He convinced people that gypsies had magical power that would be used against the Germs and that they ought to be killed too. He had a political machine that couldn't be touched. He hypnotized with his words, insulted with brilliance, and killed with no passion. And, after appearing to be the worst human in the history of the world, still managed to land some chick that was willing to die for this guy. Whoa.
Hitler was certainly near the top for me - he was an amazing politician - but I think Cavour was better. Cavour was able to extract an alliance from Napoleon III and then manouvre Austria into war with Italy and France. He eventually united Italy by undermining Garibaldi. Bismarck was one of my top choices too.
None of the Above, included the Other choice. P.S. I'm sure if you look in the dictionary, you'll find the opposite to the word great, is politician.
To me there were many great political leaders at different times sometimes as well as at the same time. To try and pick only one of the many would be foolish to do in my opinion because it would only show my disrespect for all of the others who contributed much to either the world or to their own countries they represented. Todays leaders are not nearly as good as those from the past and seem to only have their own well being when governing their citizens. I feel very sorry for most citizens today for I don't think their leaders are helping them much at all. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Not necessarily the most admirable or selfless leader, just the most brilliant and the best at accomplishing his own ends. Note that Adolf Hitler has been voted for. He wasn't a nice guy. But he was a brilliant politician and orator. And Bismarck's realpolitik style certainly didn't work for the best interests of everyone. But he was good at accomplishing what we wanted / needed. That's what the poll is about.
You forget that the public didn't take much convincing. His theories and anti-semitic beliefs were very much the tone of the day. In fact, he didn't convince anyone... he just pulled like-minded people together with stirring speeches.
I have a lot of respect for Bismark. He did everything in his power to prevent [an inevitable] war, and make sure the victory in the Franco-Prussian wasn't in vain by keeping France isolated. He was a brilliant man. But I sense you disagree?
No, actually I have a deep respect for Bismarck. I'm just saying that many people don't agree with his methods (lying, bribery, etc.) But no, I do think he was a great man. Certainly one of, if not the, most important person in European history. I almost voted for him.
Another example of a politician that used perhaps not the most agreeable methods is Abraham Lincoln: limited freedom of speech, suspended the right of habeus corpus, but it was necessary to preserve America. Great president!