Modern
41 leaders
George W Bush
The forty third President whose presidency was transformed by the September 11 attacks. Bush launched the War ...
Barack Obama
The forty fourth President and the first African American to hold the office. Obamas election in 2008 was a wa...
Donald Trump
The forty fifth President and the first without prior government or military experience. Trump, a real estate ...
Joe Biden
The forty sixth President and the oldest person to assume the presidency at age 78. Biden had served as a sena...
Emmanuel Macron
The youngest French President in history, elected at age 39. Macron had been an investment banker and economy ...
Angela Merkel
The first female Chancellor of Germany, serving from 2005 to 2021. Merkel, a physicist from East Germany, was ...
Vladimir Putin
The Russian President who has governed Russia since 2000, alternating between president and prime minister. Pu...
Xi Jinping
The most powerful Chinese leader since Mao. Xi has consolidated power more than any leader since the Cultural ...
Theresa May
The second female Prime Minister, who took office after the Brexit referendum. Mays premiership was consumed b...
Boris Johnson
The flamboyant Prime Minister who delivered Brexit. Johnson, a former journalist and London mayor, was known f...
Aung San Suu Kyi
The Burmese leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent struggle for democracy. Aung San S...
Stephen Harper
The Prime Minister who governed Canada for nearly a decade from 2006 to 2015. Harper was the longest serving C...
Justin Trudeau
The 23rd Prime Minister of Canada and son of Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau initially generated enormous excitement, ...
Shinzo Abe
The longest serving Prime Minister in Japanese history. Abe served from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20...
Kim Jong-un
The current leader of North Korea, the third generation of the Kim dynasty. Kim Jong-un took power at age 27 a...
Nicolas Sarkozy
The French President from 2007 to 2012. Sarkozy was known as the hyper president for his energetic style. He m...
Francois Hollande
The French President from 2012 to 2017. Hollande was an unremarkable president who campaigned as a normal cand...
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
The Turkish leader who transformed the country from a secular democracy into a more conservative and authorita...
Viktor Orban
The Hungarian Prime Minister who has governed since 2010 and earlier from 1998 to 2002. Orban has been describ...
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
The Brazilian President who served from 2003 to 2010 and returned to office in 2023. Lula, a former metalworke...
Jair Bolsonaro
The Brazilian President from 2019 to 2022, often called the Trump of the Tropics. Bolsonaro was a military off...
Volodymyr Zelensky
The Ukrainian President who became a global icon during the Russian invasion of 2022. Zelensky was a comedian ...
Lee Hsien Loong
The Prime Minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024. Son of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Hsien Loon...
Liz Truss
The Prime Minister with the shortest tenure in British history, lasting just 49 days in office. Truss replaced...
Rishi Sunak
The first British Asian and Hindu Prime Minister. Sunak, a former hedge fund manager and Chancellor of the Exc...
Jacob Zuma
The South African President from 2009 to 2018. Zuma faced numerous corruption allegations, resulting in 783 ch...
Emmanuel Macron Detail
See Macron main entry. Macron was the youngest French president ever at 39. He had never held elected office b...
Gordon Brown
The Labour Prime Minister who succeeded Tony Blair in 2007. Brown, a former Chancellor, was a brilliant econom...
David Cameron
The Conservative Prime Minister from 2010 to 2016. Cameron modernized the Conservative Party and formed a coal...
Yukio Hatoyama
The Japanese Prime Minister for just 9 months in 2009 to 2010. Hatoyama led the Democratic Party of Japan to a...
Narendra Modi
The Indian Prime Minister since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat during the 2002 anti Muslim riots...
Alvaro Uribe
The Colombian President from 2002 to 2010. Uribe took a hard line against the FARC guerrillas, using US milita...
Raul Castro
The second leader of communist Cuba and brother of Fidel. Raul Castro succeeded his brother in 2008 and gradua...
Hamid Karzai
The President of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. Karzai was chosen as interim leader after the US invasion remo...
Jacinda Ardern
The New Zealand Prime Minister from 2017 to 2023. Ardern became the worlds youngest female head of government ...
Keir Starmer
The Labour Prime Minister who ended 14 years of Conservative rule. Starmer, a former Director of Public Prosec...
Rodrigo Duterte
The Philippine President from 2016 to 2022. Duterte was Mayor of Davao for 22 years before running for preside...
Evo Morales
The first indigenous President of Bolivia. Morales, a former coca farmer and union leader, was elected in 2005...
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
The first elected female head of state in Africa. Johnson Sirleaf became President of Liberia in 2006, rebuild...
Paul Kagame
The Rwandan President who ended the 1994 genocide and rebuilt the country. Kagame led the Rwandan Patriotic Fr...
Mette Frederiksen
The Danish Prime Minister since 2019. Frederiksen is the youngest Danish Prime Minister in history. She led he...