DIVUS IVLIVS

Numerous threads recently have been dominated by the discussion of military commanders. We have had threads for the top 100 generals of all time, the worst military commanders of all time, three-way comparisons between Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan, Hannibal, and Khalid Ibn Al-Walid . This has produced a lot of fun discussion and lively debate, but I would now like to propose a new topic for discussion - that of political leaders who in times of war assumed position as Commander in Chief, or something close to that position. In some circles they are derided as "amateur strategists", a common insulting term being "Sawdust Caesars". But personally I hold to the view that good political leadership is critical, and there are numerous great political leaders of history who had a decisive impact on wars in ways that demonstrate them as military geniuses every bit the equal of the commanders under them who get the credit for much of said "military genius". Napoleon Bonaparte's quote: "Soldiers win battles. Generals get the credit for them" in this case can applied altered slightly: "Political Leaders win wars. Generals get the credit for them".

Although political leadership has always been a factor in war the candidates for this thread will I think come almost exclusively from more modern eras of history, when it becomes possible for them to have a real influence on military affairs beyond merely controlling the purse-strings.

Fire away!

DIVUS IVLIVS

My own choice as the greatest political leader in military matters is by a long, long shot Sir Winston Churchill. It is a choice at once controversial and not so, as it is generally acknowledged that Churchill had a huge impact on winning WWII, but at the same time he is in many circles criticized for his military judgement. I number amongst those who defend him in this. Churchill was arguably one of the most strategic-thinking men of all time - a towering intellectual of astonishing foresight years ahead of his contemporaries who was capable of juggling multiple ideas in his mind. As Britain's effective Warlord during WWII he put these qualities to good use - doing more than any other individual to devise the strategy that won the war in the west. And even without his strategic genius there is ample reason to praise his conduct. Having devised his strategies he then had to fight heroically in order to have them accepted - he had to deal with his war cabinet, parliament, maintain public opinion, deal with such allies as FDR, Stalin, and de Gaulle (*scream*), deal with his generals in the field and the generals of his allies. In the technical side of war Churchill was a military visionary, ideas flowing out of his fertile mind on a regular basis. His handling of his military and his adjustments made to it, along with things ranging from concieving the idea of "mulberry" to devising commando tactics establish his as one of the great soldiers of all time. This coupled with his far-seeing statesmanship and the ways that he applied it to the war, his heroic leadership, and more all add up to my consideration of him as the greatest generalissimo of modern history.

After Churchill, Abraham Lincoln comes in a fairly close second for me. Lincoln, like Churchill, demonstrated a mix of marvellous leadership and brilliance in military strategy, but for all that Lincoln for me simply does not quite show the sort of flair that Churchill had for war (plus I admire Churchill massively for many other things, so that contributes, I'll admit).

Labienus

I have always been fond of Themistocles. He basicly saved Athens and the city-states from invasion because of the fleet he managed to construct by lying to the athenian government. His campaign agaisnt the persians was decisive. He may not be the greatest political leader to act as a military leader but I think he deserves a mention.

DIVUS IVLIVS

Themistocles certainly was a military genius, but I am not necessarily sure if he quite fits into this thread, as he was more of a political contributor to the process of building up a navy and then an excellent commander in using it.

This is why I think that the best examples are all to come from Modern History, likely after the 1700s. Above and beyond the excellent commanders like Themistocles, Yi Sun Sin, Nelson, Caesar, Marius, Hannibal, we are looking for the political leaders who stood back (usually in the capital city) and directed a large-scale war as a whole, coordinating the various theatres as well as what happened in them.

That is not to say that the Ancient World cannot toss out examples. The only figure of history whom I admire more than Churchill, Julius Caesar, can possibly be used as an example. On numerous occaisons in both the Gallic War and the Civil War he coordinated campaigns commanded by his subordinates in multiple locations at once. On the other side of the world Shi Huang Di could quite arguably be considered, and Genghis Khan certainly could.

For all that however, I would maintain that these titanic individuals were precursors rather than the best of examples, and so I would stick with more recent history.

Lucius

Gustavus Adolphus. If I remember correctly, he ordered the first census ever held in Sweden. Before departing for the war, he handed the government over to Oxenstierna, which was an astute choice.

His generalship in the field was hailed by both contemporaries and latter-day generals as inspired genius. If he could have handled better his foreign affairs with the myriad of duchies, kingdoms, etc, of the HRE during his campaigns, I think he played the game as well as anyone else notwithstanding.

Labienus

ah well I understand what you mean divus, then, Gustavus Adolphus isn't really in that category because he often was in battle, like at the battle of lutzen where he was killed in a cavalry charge.

So, I would like to propose Fabius Maximus for his actions in the Second Punic Wars, even tho you said 1700s onwards, I can`t think of anyone else them Fabius Maximus. He is still the guy who popularized the scorched earth policy :P