Who Was the Greatest Leader in the 1940s?

Of all the important men surrounding the Allied Forces in the 1940s, who was the most important leader of them all?

Burning Giraffe said:

Of all the important men surrounding the Allied Forces in the 1940s, who was the most important leader of them all?

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As in "Leader of men": G.S. Patton, jr.

Goobieman said:

As in "Leader of men": G.S. Patton, jr.

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Leader of men, leader of nations. G.S. Patton was a brilliant leader and his leadership was extremely important.

Voted Roosevelt.

But why were the options limited to Allied leaders?

Korimyr the Rat said:

Voted Roosevelt.

But why were the options limited to Allied leaders?

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Because, as I research the Axis leaders, I'm preparing a poll for them as well. I think it would be pointless to include them together.

Burning Giraffe said:

Leader of men, leader of nations. G.S. Patton was a brilliant leader and his leadership was extremely important.

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The term "leader" is, of course, open to interpretation.
FDR could not do what GSP did, and vice versa.

Patton, hands down.

He was the only one of the Allied generals to suffer fewer casualties than he inflicted. He also was the only general the Nazi's feared.

He turned the American troops in North Africa from a disorganized and dispirited force after Kasserine Pass into a disciplined fighting force, without which Rommel would never have been forced out of North Africa.

Without Patton, the Allies would never have broken out of Normandy, and would have been ground to pieces in the hedgerows.

Without Patton, the Allies would not have been able to stop the last German offensive during the Battle of the Bulge, by driving through to Bastogne. Even the Germans did not believe he would be able to turn his forces 90 degrees and race north as he did.

Without Patton, the war in Europe would have lasted longer, and potentially would have been lost by the Allies.

lol Who voted for Dirk Jan de Geer?

How can one truly measure importance or greatness?

Stalin's was certainly the most important, as he had dictatorial power and his personal choices could not be challenged. Democratic leaders never the kind of power he did. Stalin's failures are what let the Germans easily invade in 41, and his ruthless tenacity sacrificed enough men and land to stop the advance. However, nothing Stalin did was particularly skilled or inventive, not really making him a great leader


Zhukov won the most decisive battles (on the allied side) during the war, but how much was do to his personal input? Kursk would probably have happened even with another commander.

Churchill made a crucial choice to say in the war, but how many others would have made the same choice? Sure Halifax wanted peace, but Churchill was hardly alone in his desire to continue fighting.

I think that Hitler can be considered the single driving figure behind WW2, the allies mostly just figured out how to combine their incredible industrial power to eventually stop him.

Burning Giraffe said:

Of all the important men surrounding the Allied Forces in the 1940s, who was the most important leader of them all?

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George Marshall.

Burning Giraffe said:

Of all the important men surrounding the Allied Forces in the 1940s, who was the most important leader of them all?

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I don't see Adolf Hitler on that list.

Burning Giraffe said:

Of all the important men surrounding the Allied Forces in the 1940s, who was the most important leader of them all?

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Oh now I see...it's just Allies.

Well that's easy. Patton.

Burning Giraffe said:

Of all the important men surrounding the Allied Forces in the 1940s, who was the most important leader of them all?

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I say Harry Truman, for he dropped the bomb and officially started the nuclear age. That one move created the basis for most of all conflicts that followed WWII, as all sought the bomb after they saw the results.

This list is pretty Eurocentric. As an example, where is MacArthur?

Of the ones listed, I tend to go with Churchill, who kept the British in the fight until we could bring thousands of fresh troops. I admit my knowledge of the era is incomplete though.

Churchill, the only true leader of the bunch that I can see on the national level.

FDR wrote a letter to Hitler that revealed his ignorance of the principles of statesmanship, Letter to Adolf Hitler, April 14, 1939

France didn't have any leaders, hasn't in fact, had any respectable leaders since Charlemagne.

Britain managed to estrange Stalin, who actually was interested in a deal with Britain until he found out that Britain didn't have any troops to actually do anything with.

So who's left? Churchill managed to both drag the US into an undeclared shooting war with Germany in 1941, and hold off the Luftwaffe until help arrived. He also finagled the British Tube Alloys project to be fed all the data from the US Manhattan Project at little cost, too.