by Jonathan Hobratsch (with suggestions by Pauly Deathwish)

In my last blog, I was able to narrow down the list for my ultimate Top 100 Influential People in History list by stacking up some of the candidates with the inventor of photography, a sort of ideal fence-sitting candidate for this list.

I now need to reduce the candidate further. The following candidates are my suggested candidates still in play: Cicero, Pizarro, Jenner, Hamilton, Dalton, James Clerk Maxwell, Pankhurst, Sykes and Picot, Farnsworth, Korolev and Gagarin, Perotto

Here is a list of the remaining candidates suggested by Pauly Deathwish: Ashoka, Niepce, Suleiman, Giotto, Saladin, Archimedes, Sargon, the Beatles, MLK, Gandhi, Dickens, Robespierre, Calvin, Palladio, Hammurabi, Mao, Keynes, FDR, Picasso, Ataturk, Stalin, Lenin, Le Prince, Whitman, Marx, Lincoln, Bolivar, Napoleon, Washington, Adam Smith, Bach, Leibniz, Shakespeare, Elizabeth I, Machiavelli, Petrarch, Charlemagne, Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, Buddha, Socrates, Homer.

I’ve determined to reduce this list further by select Deathwish’s political candidates with my entire suggested list. Doing so might help in figuring out who should be demoted to the honorable mention list.

The political leaders in question are these: Ashoka, Suleiman, Saladin, Sargon, Robespierre, Hammurabi, Mao, FDR, Ataturk, Stalin, Lenin, Lincoln, Bolivar, Napoleon, Washington, Elizabeth I, Charlemagne, Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar.

And here is the ranking of the political leaders with my assorted suggestions. I have them broken down into three tiers of influence:

TIER 1

Sargon of Akkad (????bc-2215bc) created the first multiethnic, centrally-ruled empire.

George Washington (1732-1799) first president of the United States, setting the precedents for the most powerful influential position in history. Presided over the Constitutional Convention, which created the oldest active constitution.

Elizabeth I (1533-1603) inspired the flowering of English literature and language, especially drama. Set the foundation for English colonialism, and the concept of the British Empire. Reestablished England as a protestant state.

Augustus Caesar (63bc-14ad) founder of the Roman Empire.

Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475-1541) for the conquest of the Inca Empire and for spreading Spanish culture, including the Roman Catholic religion, to Peru and South America.

Edward Jenner (1749-1823) is the “Father of Immunology” for his creation of the smallpox vaccine, the world’ first vaccine.

Sergei Korolev (1907-1966) and Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968); Korolev is the “Father of Practical Astronautics” for his development of Sputnik and Gagarin is the first human in space. Together they represent the Soviet Space Program, which lifted human civilization to a new era and inspired NASA to surpass the ability of the Soviet Space Program

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) formulated the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which brought together electricity, magnetism and light as part of the same phenomena.

John Dalton (1766-1844) developed modern atomic theory.

The above struck me as much stronger than those below. So much so, that I will include them in the Top 100. 

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TIER 2

Julius Caesar (100bc-44bc) brought an end to the Roman Republic, allowing for the rise of the Roman Empire. Also, Julian calendar and the terms Caesar,  Czar and Kaiser.

Hammurabi (c.1810bc-1750bc) for the earliest code of laws.

Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566) inspired the growth of Ottoman culture and law, including Islam, which expanded into the areas that he conquered. He helped establish Islam as the second major religion in Europe and fixed Ottoman Turkish presence as the pivot between Europe and Asia cultures.

Simon Bolivar (1783-1840) established several South American countries as independent of Spanish rule. This inspired the rest of the Spanish-speaking New World to seek their own countries.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) Ended the French Revolution and initiated the Napoleonic Wars, which culminated in the European balance of powers. Also, sold the Louisiana territory to the United States, was the inspiration of two of the most important military strategy books (one by Clausewitz and the other by Jomini), initiated modern Egyptology (resulting in the founding of the Rosetta Stone), indirectly sparked the Age of Nationalism, inspired the “Great Man Theory” of German philosophers.

Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1925) arguably the lead activist in fighting for women’s suffrage. Her efforts helped achieve suffrage in her own country of Great Britain, and inspired similar efforts in other countries, including in the United States.

Pier Giorgio Perotto (1930-2002) invented the first personal computer.

Philo Farnsworth (1906-1971) invented the first fully functioning television.

Maximilian Robespierre (1758-1794) was the primary advocate for the successful abolition of slavery, making France the first major country to end slavery. He pushed for the equality of rights and universal male suffrage, but was defeated and executed when the violence of the French Revolution spun out of control.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) prevented the breakup of the United States. Laid the foundation for the abolition of slavery in the most powerful republic. Centralized the United States, which made America’s dominance in the 20th century possible.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) facilitated America’s transition from world power to one of two superpowers, authorized the creation of the atomic bomb, and helped defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

Mao Zedong (1893-1976) founding father of the People’s Republic of China, the most populated Communist government in history. He laid the foundations for China as a world power through modernization policies. His form of communism, known as Maoism, is often an example to misrepresent Socialism.

Charlemagne (c.742-814) laid the foundation for modern France and Germany.

Cicero (106bc-43bc) influenced European prose literature and ideas with his humanism and political oratory. The Renaissance and the Enlightenment were a return to his ideas. He was an influence on both the American and French Revolutions and the governments they created.

Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755-1804) for founding the current dominant nation’s financial system and for founding the world’s first voter-based political party.

Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) rapidly industrialized Russia into a superpower that both helped end World War II and became one of two major powers during the Cold War. Stalinism has often been used as an example to misrepresent Socialism. Russia’s relative strength today is due in part to Stalin’s regime.

Tier 2 seems to me to be on the fence on inclusion or not. As such, they will continue to battle Pauly Deathwish’s suggested inductees in the next round. 

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TIER 3

Ashoka (304bc-232bc) conquered nearly all of the Indian subcontinent and converted to Buddhism, which inspired others to do the same, and led to the spread of Buddhism outside of India.

Mark Sykes (1879-1919) and Francois Georges-Picot (1870-1951) for creating the agreement, which redrew the map of the Middle East that is generally considered the catalyst for the conflicts in the region today.

Saladin (1137-1193) blocked a European Christian invasion of the Middle East, created a comparatively unified Arab World. Inspires Arab Leaders wishing to rest free from overt Western Influence.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938) founded the Republic of Turkey, which replaced the long-lasting Ottoman Empire. Created a modern, secular government, that was free and independent from the European colonial powers.

Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) converted Russia from an absolute monarchy to a totalitarian Communist country very loosely based on Marxism, which is known as Leninism. While the Soviet Union no longer exists, Russia and Russia’s sphere of influence is still greatly impacted by Lenin. Leninism is often used as an example to misrepresent Socialism.

Tier 3, while impressive, fall short when compared to those listed above them. As such, I’ve removed them from consideration and moved them to the honorable mention list.

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Results

Updated inductees into the top 100. 70

Updated remaining slots: 30

Remaining candidates for inclusion: 39

Number of candidates to be demoted to the honorable mentions list: 9