Greatest leaders?

Question

Why is it that most "great" leaders in history also have a lot of blood on their hands? Caesar, Napoleon, FDR, etc... each of them is hailed for their achievements, but to accomplish them, many lives were lost in the process. So is one of the inherent qualifications for being a great "leader" causing lots of death and destruction in the process?

Answer 1

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk: "Peace at home, peace in the world".

Answer 2

for their ambition and confidence to be rulers and the power they had which makes their empires leading powerful countries today

Answer 3

did they like blood ????

Answer 4

You forgot my ancestor, Frederick the Great.

But seriously, the wars of history all involved at least two sides: aggressor and defender.  Many of the biggest heroes are those who successfully defended against an invasion. Many lives may indeed be lost in the process, but that blood is on the aggressor's hands, not the defender's.

Answer 5

A great leader is easily defined by;"When all about you are panicked and losing their heads, the leader keeps his and insures those who listen to him do too."

Answer 6

THATS RIGHT!!SO GET TO IT JESUS

Answer 7

I think they called them 'Great' because they had 'great' achievements; the term 'great' standing for 'massive' or 'huge'..not necessarily great as in reallyy reaally good... Napoleon was great in getting his people to support him, Alexander had covered a 'Great' (huge) geographical area and so on...

I think an example of a Great Leader would be the late Sheikh Zayed of the United Arab Emirates.. he was not the rich oil-money crazy character many people think of all Arab Leaders.. he was known for his Great Generosity and his Great Heart.. He had continuously donated large fractions of his wealth not only to his people and country but to other coutries: Africa, India, Egypt, Palestine, Yugoslafia, Afghanistan and many others regardless of their race or religion.. he built thousands of homes for divorced/widowed women, orphans and poor families all over the world, in the Lebanon War, in Pakistan, everywhere.. he organized countless Aid organizations all over the world, and mosques and hospitals too such as the Sheikh Zayed Hospital of Egypt..

this is just a lil part of his Great Leadership... every Eid (which is like Christmas for the muslim world) Sheikh Zayed would free all prisoners (with minor crimes, such as check bouncing) from the jails of his land... He would also give all expatriates and locals on his land who are in need, the money and homes and jobs and never denied anyone any request...

Now that is a Great Leader, isnt he :)

Answer 8

The kool aide man - no one else could get as many kids hyped up on sugar and having parties like that when mom and dad are not home. Imagine what mom and dad say when they get home and there is a party in the back with a big hole in the front of the house. Yah right a big fat red man did it.

Answer 9

Ronald Mcdonald!!...c'mon!! da guy stopped hamburglar!!!

Answer 10

I think it's easier to see the affects of those who lead others into war.  It does take a great leader to get others to die for a cause.  It's harder to see leadership in other areas.  Bill Clinton was a great leader by many other measures, but are not visable since there is no body count.

FDR was a great leader who lead this country out of the depression.  And he led this country to defend against the Conservative Facists here and abroad.  He is not lauded for the death and destruction.  God willing, man will never have to face a time like that again.  It took great men such as FDR and Churchill to save the planet.

Answer 11

No. Ghandi is a case in point

Answer 12

Queen Victoria was also a great leader and accomplished that status without bloodshed.

Answer 13

Because its easy to respect those who are not willing to compromise. Lack of compromise escalates to violence.

Answer 14

FDR,  Churchill,  DeGaulle,  Kennedy,MacArthur, Patton.  All of  these  and  many  more  were  great  leaders.  However,  with  a  great  leader  comes ,  among  other  things  a  man with great flaws.  And  we mustn't  forget to err is  to  be  human, in other  words,  leaders  are  just  like the rest  of  us,  they  are fallable,  and will  make  mistakes.

Answer 15

Great leaders are great defenders of common causes determined by those who made then leaders. unfortunately, defending great causes demands great sacrifice.

Today it seems the only  ones that believe in a cause other than the next date are the ones bent on destruction  of United States

Answer 16

you say FDR I was under the impression  it was HITLER WHO STARTED WWII