Best Leaders of World War II

It's both political and military leaders. It's based on their leadership, not by their humanity.
The Top Ten
1 Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, and a writer.

One of the best leaders of the 20th century, took a stand against the Nazis, unlike coward Neville Chamberlain. FDR was a terrible authoritarian socialist sent people on prison camps based on their ethnicity.

I wrote about him. Along with other people and battles. If any of you are interested the book is called "The Attack of the Nazis". No one? Ok, then try to prove me wrong.

FDR, fearing a nonexistent Fifth Column, refused to let in the Jews during the Holocaust. Churchill made some mistakes, but in general he was the superior leader during WWII.

2 Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 to 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and dominated his party for many years as a central figure in world events... read more

Yeah. Sure. Just gave away half of Europe to communist tyranny at Yalta and Potsdam. Great guy.

He helped America get through the depression(even though that was before World War 2).

3 General George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. was a General of the United States Army who commanded the U.S. Seventh Army in the Mediterranean theater of World War II, and the U.S. Third Army in France and Germany following the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.

George S. Patton was in charge of the first motorized American attack, he also led the first American tank attack which led to the Allied victory in World War I, and in World War II he led America and the Allies to victory in Africa and Europe.So he should be at number 1.

Some call him the greatest General of all time. I heard he was quite tough.

4 General Dwight D. Eisenhower
5 Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was a Georgian dictator, and was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Holding the post of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he was effectively the dictator of the state.

If it wasn't for his Five-Year-Plans, the United Soviet Socialist Republics would be in no condition to fight against the third reich.

Yeah he was a bad guy but he was the guy who occupied Berlin and separate it into west Berlin and east Berlin.Ww2 ended cause of him.

He wasn't a good guy. I know, but he was able to push back Nazis and Hitler. Which was important in that time. And like I said in the description, its based on their leadership. Not humanity.

6 Erwin Rommel Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel, popularly known as the Desert Fox, was a German field marshal of World War II. He worked under Adolf Hitler's Third Reich as a leading general and gained fame from his battles in North Africa.

One of my favourite German Commanders during the Second World War. His Tactics were genius! He had not commit any war crimes and rumored to have buried dead officers of opponents with military honors.

Not only was he a great general but also one with morals as even though he was close with Hitler, he disobeyed many Nazi orders(E.G: Killing POWS).

He was a Field Marshal in world war II. And he did lead a very large division in the North Africa

7 General Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (January 26, 1880 – April 5, 1964) was an American Field Marshall and Five-Star General. He was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930's and played a significant role in the World War II Pacific Theatre. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines... read more
8 Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (1 December 1896 – 18 June 1974) was a Soviet general and Marshal of the Soviet Union. He also served as Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defence, and was a member of the Presidium of the Communist Party (later Politburo). During the Second World War, Zhukov oversaw... read more

The man who led the counterattack against the German forces at the Battle Of Stalingrad and made Kursk a "fortress city".
He was also the only one who could stand up to Stalin without getting killed and also helped get rid off Lavrentiy Beria, the head of the NKVD and one of Stalin's cronies.

Defended the city of Stalingrad until the counterattack began which saw the Wehrmacht(German army), Romanian army and Hungarian army encircled and brought to their knees.

9 Chiang Kai-shek
10 Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States, an American politician of the Democratic Party.

The atom bombs were necessary. A full scale invasion of the Japanese mainland would not result in the deaths of soldiers but also even more civilians.
Also we can't forget that Japan committed war crimes that even the Nazis(Their own ally) were disgusted by.

I don't see what's wrong with him.

The Contenders
11 Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 - April 30, 1945) was a German politician of Austrian descent who served as the leader of the Nazi Party since 1921, Chancellor of Germany since 1933, and Führer of Nazi Germany since 1934. As dictator of Nazi Germany, he reversed the Treaty of Versailles, initiated World... read more

@Billyv, I know his leadership didn't turn very good. But he united many people of his country and was able to conquer many countries of Europe in less than 5-6 years. And that was a tough think to do. And for this reason I put him on number 1. His work before World War II is connected to World War II.

How did his "best" leadership work out? It was easy when he caught countries by surprise and completely unprepared. A different story once his opponents recognized the circumstances and organized to hit back. Led Germany to what end?

12 Erich von Manstein Fritz Erich Georg Eduard von Manstein (24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a German commander of the Wehrmacht, Nazi Germany's armed forces during the Second World War. He attained the rank of field marshal.

Why isn't he in the top? Manstein is the best damn Field Marshal in all of the World War II. Not one general can ever match him with his master strategies and tactics. Even Zhukov himself feared him.

13 Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French general and statesman. He was the leader of Free France (1940–44) and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–46). In 1958, he founded the Fifth Republic and was elected as the 18th... read more
14 Haakon VII of Norway
15 Bernard Montgomery
16 George Marshall
17 Christian X of Denmark
18 William Lyon Mackenzie King
19 Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz (7 May 1892, Kumrovec – 4 May 1980, Ljubljana), commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various roles until his death in 1980. During World War II he was the leader of the Partisans, often regarded as the most effective resistance movement... read more

The leader of the Yugoslav partisans, despite starting out small at first and not only having to fight the Axis forces in the Balkans(German, Italian, Bulgarian and Hungarian soldiers) but also had to fight against Chetniks who were Monarchists. Nonetheless Tito managed to win and create one of the few places were Socialism could work and a country that unified the people groups(Until the 80's after he died).

Tito led what was arguably the most effective and successful partisan movement in occupied Europe. By the time the Soviets arrived in 1944 Tito's forces by themselves had already liberated about half of Yugoslavia.

20 John Curtin
21 Mao Zedong Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary and founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949, until his death in 1976... read more
22 Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until he was ousted in 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy and set up a legal dictatorship... read more
23 Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim

Respected by Stalin and Hitler.

24 Risto Ryti

Ryti was president of Finland from 1940 to 1944 and led Finland through a dangerous period when it risked invasion from the Soviet Union. He succesfully united the parties of Finland behind him and walked the tightrope that allowed Finland to accept an element of German military protection without being turned into a Nazi-controlled state.

25 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
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