Who is the best leader your country never had?

[Berkut]

It's not a straight election, but in the 1830s and 40s Count Szechenyi, a super-wealthy aristocrat managed to build a westernising/industrialising movement around himself. Financing the Science Academy, building the first permanent bridge over the Danube at Budapest (the Lanchid, or "chain bridge, it's still there), supporting the building of railroads, he was indispensable in kickstarting whatever little modernisation the country saw.

In politics he had the agenda of slow and steady progress and gaining strength, slowly winning concessions from the Habsburgs. It was a plan that had the country's interest in mind while not forgetting there is an actual world outside its borders.

It was the second to last chance to modernise Hungary and avoid the collapse and disintegration of the country that happened in 1920.

But a more radical wing of politics appeared, headed by Kossuth, who was a lawyer with a dubious background, and a vile nationalist populist.

The nation flocked behind Kossuth, Szechenyi grew insane in desperation of seeing his 20 years of effort being drowned and ruined in Trump-like yelling and sword-rattling, then committed suicide.

Humanity sucks.

The answer to the Drake equation? Intelligence destroys itself. Evolution drives intelligence, but it also drives selfishness and intolerance, and the combination results in inevitable self immolation, of the hard or soft variety.

[Valmy]

The good thing about being Ukrainian is that there are no what-ifs to answer about the old country.  In that particular case, it really is the case that all the leaders and all the potential leaders are total shit.

Should have sided with Poland instead of the Russians.

[Valmy]

It's not a straight election, but in the 1830s and 40s Count Szechenyi, a super-wealthy aristocrat managed to build a westernising/industrialising movement around himself. Financing the Science Academy, building the first permanent bridge over the Danube at Budapest (the Lanchid, or "chain bridge, it's still there), supporting the building of railroads, he was indispensable in kickstarting whatever little modernisation the country saw.

In politics he had the agenda of slow and steady progress and gaining strength, slowly winning concessions from the Habsburgs. It was a plan that had the country's interest in mind while not forgetting there is an actual world outside its borders.

It was the second to last chance to modernise Hungary and avoid the collapse and disintegration of the country that happened in 1920.

But a more radical wing of politics appeared, headed by Kossuth, who was a lawyer with a dubious background, and a vile nationalist populist.

The nation flocked behind Kossuth, Szechenyi grew insane in desperation of seeing his 20 years of effort being drowned and ruined in Trump-like yelling and sword-rattling, then committed suicide.

How refreshing to hear a Hungarian refer to that guy as anything but a heroic hero.

[Grey Fox]

Somewhat inspired by Raz's thread (Your ideal politician), but more grounded in reality.

What's the one election you really think your country got wrong?  Who, with hindsight, would have been a far better national leader than the person who was elected?

Harper should have won once more

Seriously, one who has never been elected to the office before? hmm.  Hard to tell.  Most Canadian Prime Ministers were horribly bad for Quebec, but most of the opposition leaders were just as bad.  So I don't know.
I think Joe Clark would have been a very fine Prime Minister if he had been in office for longer.

Well the couple of names that came to my mind were, of course, Preston Manning but also Robert Stanfield.  Far too red toryish for my liking (he campaigned on wage and price controls in '72 for pete's sake), but he would have saved us from Trudeau Sr.

If we were talking about Quebec specifically though... René Lévesque or Lucien Bouchard as PM of an independant Quebec.  Despite being social-democrats, they had their heads on their shoulders and would have reduced govt spending in time.

For Quebec-province, my vote goes to Mario Dumont, 2008.  He would have made a fin PM after a couple of years.

Their are far better candidate than Dumont in '08.

A Arthur Sauvé victory in 1919, 1923 or 1927 would have saved Quebec of 40 years of noirceur.

[Valmy]

Gary Hart.  My family would have gotten  jobs in Washinton if he had won.

You could be posting from a house in Georgetown or Bethesda. Pity.

[crazy canuck]

In Canada the greatest leaders we never had undoubtedly are in the NDP since the capable leaders in the other two parties did win elections. 

[Gups]

Gary Hart.  My family would have gotten  jobs in Washinton if he had won.

You could be posting from a house basement in Georgetown or Bethesda. Pity.

[Barrister]

The good thing about being Ukrainian is that there are no what-ifs to answer about the old country.  In that particular case, it really is the case that all the leaders and all the potential leaders are total shit.

I dunno about that.  I seem to recall that right when independence was declared that if someone other than communist apparatchik Leonid Kravchuk was elected maybe Ukraine could have gone along a more western-oriented path...

(more googling)

Here we go.  1991 election Kravchuk ran against Viacheslav Chornovil, a dissident during communist times.  Looking at his wiki he seems like a decent bloke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viacheslav_Chornovil

[Razgovory]

Gary Hart.  My family would have gotten  jobs in Washinton if he had won.

You could be posting from a house basement in Georgetown or Bethesda. Pity.

I'm not in a basement now.

[Tamas]

How refreshing to hear a Hungarian refer to that guy as anything but a heroic hero.

I consider him one of the biggest villains of our history. That he is one of our most cherished national heroes is just shameful. He recklessly pushed the country into war and ethnic strife, and when against all odds his gamble paid off and we chased the Austrian armies from our country, instead of succumbing to political realities and making a favourable deal with the Habsburgs, he doubled down and grabbed power for himself, booting the Habsburgs out. Of course, the Russians could not stomach that and roflstomped us.

Then Kossuth did not take the blame (unlike most of the leadership who did not flee, and a lot of them ended up executed), but started to push it on General Gorgei, who were leading the armies at the time, and seeing the realities of standing up against both Austria and Russia in a two front war decided to surrender after already being on the run with nothing but remnants of the armed forces (to Russia, on principle, BTW).

Everyone jumped on the version of blaming him for the defeat which in turn ruined his (quite long) life, while Kossuth fled to the Ottomans and kept stirring  up trouble back home with his grand ideas.

He was the epitome of what is wrong with opportunistic political adventurers embracing demagog nationalism.

[CountDeMoney]

The good thing about being Ukrainian is that there are no what-ifs to answer about the old country.  In that particular case, it really is the case that all the leaders and all the potential leaders are total shit.

Should have sided with Poland instead of the Russians.

They would've suffered the same fate, if not worse.

[Berkut]

The good thing about being Ukrainian is that there are no what-ifs to answer about the old country.  In that particular case, it really is the case that all the leaders and all the potential leaders are total shit.

Should have sided with Poland instead of the Russians.

They would've suffered the same fate, if not worse.

What an epically shitty choice of options. Poles or Russians!

[Jacob]

In Canada the greatest leaders we never had undoubtedly are in the NDP since the capable leaders in the other two parties did win elections.

I wouldn't mind having seen a Jack Layton government, but I'm okay with what we got - Harper and Trudeau.

[DGuller]

Here we go.  1991 election Kravchuk ran against Viacheslav Chornovil, a dissident during communist times.  Looking at his wiki he seems like a decent bloke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viacheslav_Chornovil

I remember him well, he was from my city.  From what I recall, which may well be colored in bias I wasn't able to comprehend due to age, no, he wasn't.  Ukrainian ultra-nationalists were a different kind of shit, but still very shit.

[Sheilbh]

Roy Jenkins