Late 20th Century
38 leaders
Ronald Reagan
The fortieth President who transformed American politics. Reagan, a former Hollywood actor and California gove...
George H W Bush
The forty first President and the last to have served in World War II. Bush presided over the end of the Cold ...
Bill Clinton
The forty second President and first Baby Boomer to hold the office. Clintons presidency saw unprecedented eco...
Tony Blair
The Labour Prime Minister who won three consecutive elections. Blair modernized the Labour Party, moving it to...
Francois Mitterrand
The first Socialist President of the Fifth Republic, serving two seven year terms from 1981 to 1995. Mitterran...
Helmut Kohl
The Chancellor of German reunification. Kohl seized the opportunity when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 to push ...
Mikhail Gorbachev
The last Soviet leader, who attempted to reform the USSR through glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restruct...
Nelson Mandela
The first Black President of South Africa and global icon of resistance to racism. Mandela spent 27 years in p...
Yasser Arafat
The leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for 35 years. Arafat led the Palestinian national mo...
Ross Perot
The billionaire businessman who ran one of the most successful third party campaigns in American history. Pero...
Robert Mugabe
The Zimbabwean leader who fought for independence but then destroyed his countrys economy. Mugabe was a hero o...
Hosni Mubarak
The Egyptian president who ruled for 30 years. Mubarak took office after Anwar Sadats assassination. He mainta...
Brian Mulroney
The Canadian Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. Mulroney negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement or ...
John Howard
The second longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Menzies, governing from 1996 to 2007. Howard implem...
Silvio Berlusconi
The media tycoon who served as Italian Prime Minister in four governments. Berlusconi owned television network...
Felipe Gonzalez
The Spanish Prime Minister who governed for 14 years from 1982 to 1996. Gonzalez led Spain into the European C...
Lech Walesa
The Polish labor leader who co founded the Solidarity trade union and became President of Poland. Walesa won t...
Vaclav Havel
The Czech dissident and playwright who became President after the Velvet Revolution. Havel was a leading dissi...
Boris Yeltsin
The first President of the Russian Federation. Yeltsin stood on a tank in 1991 to defy the Soviet coup attempt...
Benazir Bhutto
The first woman to head a Muslim majority nation. Bhutto served two non consecutive terms as Prime Minister of...
Thabo Mbeki
The second President of democratic South Africa, serving from 1999 to 2008. Mbeki was a sophisticated intellec...
Benjamin Netanyahu
The longest serving Prime Minister in Israeli history. Netanyahu, known as Bibi, has dominated Israeli politic...
John Major
The Conservative Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997. Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher after being unexpectedly ...
Jacques Chirac
The French President from 1995 to 2007. Chirac opposed the Iraq War in 2003, earning widespread admiration. He...
Rajiv Gandhi
The Indian Prime Minister from 1984 to 1989. Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister after his mother Indira Gandhi...
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
The Indian Prime Minister from the Hindu nationalist BJP party, serving from 1998 to 2004. Vajpayee conducted ...
Desmond Tutu
The South African Anglican Archbishop and anti apartheid activist. Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984...
Kofi Annan
The Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh UN Secretary General from 1997 to 2006. Annan received the Nob...
Kim Dae-jung
The South Korean President from 1998 to 2003 and a pro democracy activist. Kim survived assassination attempts...
Olusegun Obasanjo
The Nigerian President from 1999 to 2007 and a former military ruler. Obasanjo had previously been military he...
Tony Blair Detail
See Blair main entry. Blair won three consecutive elections, the only Labour leader to do so. His New Labour p...
Francois Mitterrand Detail
See Mitterrand main entry. He was the longest serving French president, governing from 1981 to 1995. Mitterran...
Mikhail Gorbachev Detail
See Gorbachev main entry. He was the only Soviet leader born after the Revolution. Gorbachevs glasnost and per...
Helmut Kohl Detail
See Kohl main entry. He was the longest serving German Chancellor of the democratic era, governing from 1982 t...
Corazon Aquino
The first female President of the Philippines and a symbol of democratic resistance. Aquino became the opposit...
Hugo Chavez Detail
See Chavez main entry. He was a career military officer who attempted a coup in 1992, was imprisoned, and then...
Yoweri Museveni
The Ugandan President who has ruled since 1986, one of the longest serving leaders in Africa. Museveni came to...
Yasser Arafat Detail
See Arafat main entry. He was born Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al Qudwa al Husseini. Arafat found...