Well, it shouldn't surprise anyone who's visited my website that for me it would be Churchill.

The obvious points relate to war leadership and statesmanship. I think my main admiration* of Churchill comes from the fact that he believed he was right and he stuck to his guns. He had a full experience; you couldn't pigeon-hole him. He had no press handlers or speech writers. He didn't water anything down or sweeten anything up; he told it like it was. (I do think, though, that he was the leader for that moment and wouldn't necessarily do so well today. Still, he might just surprise us.)

Sir Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer, was on Mansbridge One-on-One recently discussing this topic of leadership. Much of the war leadership was discussed, but Gilbert also believes that Churchill's 'finest hour' also came in the days prior to the First World War when he was working with Lloyd George to establish many of the social programs that are still in place today in Britain and elsewhere (and upon which, of course, we've expanded). Churchill was someone who aggressively tackled whatever task was at hand.

Gilbert believes that in a time of crisis, the leader must delegate and trust his officials/ministers, whereas the leader can afford to be more proactive during more settled times.

* more comes via his writing as an historian and his painting

Harper is appearing to be a good leader by responding to the complaints about the politics of our times. He is appearing to live up to his commitments, adhere to his stated principles and follow-through on things. Apparently, this is all we hope to expect from politicians anymore. Dion rose to his position on a similar basis i.e. that he was sincere and stcuk to his stated beliefs especially vis-a-vis Quebec. He may yet develop more leadership qualities. Aside from the above, I think such qualities include: Command of the Issues, Experience, Vision, Likeability, Sympathy, the Ability to Delegate, and the pollsters favorite Trust. As examples of leaders, I like Clinton, Reagan, Trudeau, Gorbachev, Tony Blair, Castro, Chavez, JFK, FDR, Mandela. I've also always liked Jefferson but have to agree with Mike that Churchill stands out.

If we're allowed to select non-democrats then I'm rooting for Henry V, King of England, Heir and Regent of France, Lord of Ireland etc.

If it's democrats only, then my pick would be 1^st Earl Chatham, William Pitt the Elder. No less a Hammer of the French than Henry before him, and able to win cooperation and admiration from Whigs and Tories alike.

Although I am generally inclined to view the Rt. Hon. Mr. Harper favourably, it ought to be said that after the lacklustre tenures of the Rt. Hon. Messrs. Chrétien and Martin, it would be hard for any following act to look bad.

I would vote for any semi-hard handed dictator as leader because I for one am quite happy to throw away the rights of others so long as I keep my job, am left alone and when times get tough I get to holeup on my piece of forest and keep the serfs away with hired hands and dogs.. but thats just me. I have changed in recent times..

I am biased with regard to Dion because I was a Kennedy Supporter. Dion is to me a wishy washy bland boardroom yes man and this is coming from a guy that has been a liberal officially since 1984 and an unofficial Trudeauist since birth. Dion is the man that has made me apathetic to canadian politics. Harper is doing well right now, and is the evidence some could use that a minority Govt. works in some cases. He is constantly on the election bandwagon and cannot pass his right-wing supporter's weird agenda legislations (banning gay marriage, introducing property rights into the constitution, banning all forms of firearm control, banning abortion).. so we all win so long as he has to be watered down by begging the opposition for support. he is not so scary when he is kept in cheque.

From The Simpsons "Homer At The Bat" episode...

Barney: [in Moe's Tavern] And I say, that England's greatest Prime Minister was Lord Palmerston!
Wade Boggs: Pitt the Elder!
Barney: Lord Palmerston!
Wade Boggs: Pitt the Elder!
Barney: Okay, you asked for it, Boggs!
[punches him out]
Moe: Yeah, that's showing him, Barn'!
[disbelieving]
Moe: Pitt the Elder..
Barney: Lord Palmerston!
[punches him out]

Wade Boggs is a wise man -- his career with the Red Sox notwithstanding.

Generally, I do not like being led. I find leaders sort of sad in that they require followers. I like people who do things and lead by example. I also like people who have productive standards and live by them - which by definition rules out libertarians.<p>Is there someone I can say I would line up behind. I think the late NS Premier Dr. John Savage was close. He tried to clean up a dirty province and a dirty party but got the boot by the party for taking them on. No Federal leaders - other than maybe Ed Broadbent - have been so inspiring to me. Harper may actually have the makings of a principled leader in him but he flops around so much, including towards power-hungery authoritarian as well. Plus he has yet to make clear what he stands for. That is itself is enough. He is a weird cat who may or may not ever make the bridge between ideological daydreams and practical action.

What about the REAL Doc Savage.. He was my hero for many years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_savage

[begin snark]

Well, obviously the best leader cannot include the present heads of Liblogs or the Blogging Dippers.

[/end snark]

Right now, I'm something of a fan of Pitt the Younger:

"I return you many thanks for the honour you have done me; but Europe is not be saved by any single man. England has saved herself by her exertions, and will, I trust, save Europe by her example."

"Roll up that map; it will not be wanted these ten years."

"Pie is the fuel of Britain."

There's got to be something about a man who becomes PM at 24...

One further thing about Pitt the Younger -- he had that little pinch of hypocrisy that all great leaders need, too -- see his campaign against rotten bouroughs...

Oh yeah?

"... let us remember our code. Let us strive every moment of our lives to make ourselves better and better to the best of our abilities so that all may profit by it. Let us think of the right and lend our assistance to all who may need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let us take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let us be considerate of our country, our fellow citizens, and our associates in everything we say and do. Let us do right to all - and wrong no man."

Doc Savage (The Man Of Bronze, 1975)

All I know is that Doc Savage the movie played on the flight from Toronto to Warsaw in 1991 and it played on the flight from Warsaw to Toronto in 1992.

Note to file: remind me again what kind of conservative Harper is?

See above comment about need for pinch of hypocrisy.

First and foremost, Harper's a politician. We forget this about our leaders at our peril.

He may be turning into one, I will grant you that. The trouble is will conservatives actually stand for a politician as leader?

There's already a perfectly good anti-gridlock measure called "ice sheets falling off the Tower and smashing random vehicles on the Gardiner" but they seem to have stalled it out before it could really get underway.

That ice thing was an initiative of the "ABANDON YE THE DOWNTOWN" committee of guys who shout on street corners and pray a lot, wasn't it?

Well those guys and the architects / engineers who thought it would be a grand idea to slap up a 1815ft structure -- without any ice-prevention or remediation measures -- next to a heavily traveled expressway in an area known since colonisation to be subject to winter precipitation.

I understand those two groups go for beers on Tuesdays after they are done work / street corner shouting.

Best leader is the one who shows up at the Brier:
http://stevejanke.com/archives/217964.php

Pretty neat.

I liked Richard Gwyn's take on our current political situation:

<i>So what Harper will have to do is lie. Or to fake it, to use a gentler verb.

Here the dynamics get really interesting. Voters will know Harper will be faking it. But provided he fakes well, he'll both save our sense of self-esteem and demonstrate he possesses the faking skills that are so essential to any successful prime minister.</i>

Hypocrisy/faking necessary. The question is whether one does it well. If so, well and good. If not, we dub them "Mr. Dithers" or some such thing. Believe a streak of meanness is required -- "Let them bleed", "Shawinigan handshake", etc.