Early 20th Century
27 leaders
Theodore Roosevelt
The twenty sixth President and the youngest to assume office at age 42. Roosevelt was a dynamic force who bust...
William Howard Taft
The twenty seventh President and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the only person to hold both positi...
Woodrow Wilson
The twenty eighth President who led the country through World War I. Wilson initially kept America neutral but...
Warren G Harding
The twenty ninth President whose administration was one of the most corrupt in history. Harding died suddenly ...
Calvin Coolidge
The thirtieth President known as Silent Cal for his brevity. Coolidge was sworn in by his father by kerosene l...
Herbert Hoover
The thirty first President who was in office when the Great Depression began. Hoover was a brilliant engineer ...
Franklin D Roosevelt
The thirty second President and the only one elected four times. FDR led the nation through the Great Depressi...
Winston Churchill
The iconic British leader who led his country through World War II. Churchills speeches in 1940, including We ...
Vladimir Lenin
The leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and founder of the Soviet Union. Lenin returned from exile in 1917 in a...
Joseph Stalin
The Soviet dictator who transformed Russia into an industrial and military superpower at enormous human cost. ...
Mahatma Gandhi
The leader of Indias independence movement through nonviolent civil disobedience. Gandhi led the Salt March of...
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
The founder of modern Turkey. Ataturk abolished the Ottoman Sultanate and established a secular republic in 19...
Neville Chamberlain
The Prime Minister remembered for appeasing Hitler at Munich in 1938. Chamberlain returned from Munich declari...
Roosevelt Detail
See FDR main entry. Roosevelt was the only president to serve more than two terms. The 22nd Amendment, ratifie...
Getulio Vargas
The Brazilian leader who dominated politics for 24 years. Vargas seized power in 1930 and governed as a populi...
Robert Menzies
The longest serving Prime Minister of Australia, serving a total of 18 years in two periods. Menzies founded t...
Hideki Tojo
The Japanese Prime Minister during most of World War II. Tojo authorized the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, b...
Benito Mussolini
The Italian fascist dictator who ruled from 1922 to 1943. Mussolini created the first fascist state and inspir...
Francisco Franco
The Spanish dictator who ruled from 1939 to 1975. Franco won the Spanish Civil War with help from Hitler and M...
Haile Selassie
The last Emperor of Ethiopia, reigning from 1930 to 1974, with a gap during Italian occupation from 1936 to 19...
Charles de Gaulle Detail
See de Gaulle main entry. His famous call of June 18 1940 from London urged the French to resist the German oc...
Ibn Saud
The founder of modern Saudi Arabia. Ibn Saud conquered the Arabian Peninsula, uniting it under his rule in 193...
Norodom Sihanouk
The Cambodian king who held various titles over 60 years including king, prime minister, and head of state. Si...
Eamon de Valera
The dominant figure of 20th century Irish politics. De Valera was a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising and survi...
Sun Yat-sen
The founding father of the Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen was a medical doctor who became a revolutionary, see...
Chiang Kai-shek
The Chinese Nationalist leader who governed mainland China and later Taiwan. Chiang led China through World Wa...
Lazaro Cardenas
The Mexican President from 1934 to 1940, considered the most leftwing president in Mexican history. Cardenas n...