Has Russia ever had a decent leader?

Question

I'm not bashing Russia, I'd just like to know. It just seems to me like the Russians have always had dictator-like leaders or power hungry pro-war politicians. Can someone name a leader of Russia that has done some good? I thought Lenin, but I don't know....I have family from there and I rarely see them. It's hard for me to defend Russia when other people I know start bashing it :(

Answer 1

Shuggoth is a star: that's what my answer was gonna be.

Peter the Great was a pretty good leader, and changed the face of Russia in the 1600s.  You might also think of Catherine the Great, although she was German.  (She was Empress of Russia though).

Not much joy out of the USSR I grant you, and Yeltsin and Putin are both a bit of a downpoint in the nation's history...but quite a few of the Tsars of old were pretty good.  Peter was the best.

(And actually Lenin did some good, but Trotsky would have been better.)

Answer 2

Well, US has had (still got?) Bush. UK had Blair now we have Brown, you can't get any worse than that (except Maggie T!).  

Answer 3

Look up Peter the Great.