National Geographic's 50 Most Important Political Leaders in History
source: National Geographic Almanac of World History (2004)
In historical order:
| Century | Name | Position / reign | Lifetime |
| 30th Century BC | Fu Hsi | Emperor of China | c. 2900 BC |
| 13th Century BC | Ramses II | Pharoh of Egypt (1304 - 1237 BC) | ? |
| 10th Century BC | Bilqis | Queen of Sheba | c. 900 BC |
| 8th Century BC | Romulus | King of Rome | c. 700 BC |
| 5th Century BC | Pericles | Leader of Athens | c 495 - 429 BC |
| 4th Century BC | Alexander the Great | King of Macedon (336 - 323 BC) | c. 356 - 323 BC |
| 2nd Century BC | Hannibal | Carthagian general | c. 247 - 182 BC |
| Shanakdakhete | Queen of Napata (177 - 155 BC) | ? | |
| 1st Century BC | Julius Caesar | Dictator of Rome (49-44 BC) | c. 100 - 44 BC |
| Cleopatra VII | Queen of Egypt (51 - 30 BC) | c. 70 - 30 BC | |
| 1st Century AD | Nero | Emperor of Rome (54 - 68 AD) | c. 37 - 68 AD |
| 3rd Century | Jingo | Empress of Japan | c. 169 - 269 AD |
| 5th Century | Attila the Hun | King of the Huns (434 -453 AD) | c. 406 - 453 AD |
| 8th-9th Century | Charlemange | King of the Franks (771 - 814 AD) | c. 742 - 814 AD |
| 11th Century | William the Conquorer | King of England (1066 - 1087) | c. 1028 - 1087 AD |
| 13th Century | Ghengis Khan | Emperor of the Mongols | c.1160 - 1227 AD |
| 15th Century | Moctezuma I | Emperor of the Aztecs (1440 - 1469) | ? |
| Isabella | Queen of Castile (1474 - 1504) | 1451 - 1504 | |
| 16th Century | Suleyman I | Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1520 - 1566) | 1494 - 1566 |
| Catherine de' Medici | Queen of France (1547 - 1559) | 1519 - 1589 | |
| Elizabeth I | Queen of England (1558 - 1603) | 1533 - 1603 | |
| 18th Century | Pontiac | Chief of the Ottawa (1755 - 1769) | c. 1720 - 1769 |
| Catherine the Great | Tsar of Russia (1762 - 1799) | 1729 - 1796 | |
| George Washington | President of the United States (1789 - 1797) | 1732 - 1799 | |
| Simon Bolivar | President of Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezula (c. 1819- 1827) | 1783 - 1830 | |
| 19th Century | Napoleon Bonaparte | Dictator of France (1799 - 1814) | 1769 - 1821 |
| Victoria | Queen Empress of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901) | 1819 - 1901 | |
| Abraham Lincoln | President of the United States (1861 - 1865) | 1809 - 1865 | |
| John A. MacDonald | Prime Minister of Canada (1867 - 1873, 1878 - 1891) | 1815 - 1891 | |
| 20th Century | Vladimir Lenin | Leader of the Soviet Union (1917 - 1924) | 1870 - 1924 |
| W.L. Mackenzie King | Prime Minister of Canada (1921-1926, 1926-1930, 1935-1948) | 1874 - 1950 | |
| Benito Mussolini | Prime Minister of Italy (1922 - 1943) | 1883 - 1943 | |
| Joseph Stalin | Leader of the Soviet Union (1924 - 1953) | 1879 - 1953 | |
| Hirohito | Emperor of Japan (1926 - 1989) | 1901 - 1989 | |
| Getúlio Vargas | President of Brazil (1930-1945, 1950-1954) | 1883 - 1954 | |
| Adolph Hitler | Dictator of Germany (1933 - 1945) | 1889 - 1945 | |
| Franklin Roosevelt | President of the United States (1933-1945) | 1882 - 1945 | |
| Winston Churchill | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1940-1945, 1951-1955) | 1874 - 1965 | |
| Eva Peron | First Lady of Argentina (1944 - 1952) | 1919 - 1952 | |
| Charles de Gaulle | President of France (1944-1946, 1950-1969) | 1890 - 1970 | |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | Prime Minister of India (1947 - 1964) | 1889 - 1965 | |
| Chiang Kai-shek | President of the Republic of China (1948 - 1975) | 1887 - 1975 | |
| Mao Tse-tung | Chairman of the People's Republic of China (1949 - 1976) | 1893 - 1976 | |
| John F. Kennedy | President of the United States (1961 - 1963) | 1917 - 1963 | |
| Indira Gandhi | Prime Minister of India (1966-1977, 1980-1984) | 1917 - 1984 | |
| Suharto | President of Indonesia (1967 - 1998) | 1921 - | |
| Margaret Thatcher | Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1979 - 1990) | 1925 - | |
| Benazir Bhutto | Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988-1990, 1993-1996) | 1953 - | |
| Kim Campbell | Prime Minister of Canada (1993) | 1947 - | |
| Nelson Mandela | President of South Africa (1994 - 1999) | 1918 - |