George Washington should be at, or near, the top of any list. He presided over the conflictive Constitutional Convention, established the nature of the Presidency as an institution, the supremacy of the Union (in the Whishy Rebellion) and civilian control of the military - civ president commnads troops.

Charles De Gaulle succeeded in giving France a modern and stable government such as it never had before.

Ataturk brought Turkey into the modern world.

The Meiji Restoration leadership of Japan and Douglas MacArthur as Shogun after WWII.

William of Orange led the Glorious Revolution of 1689 that made modern Britain.

Alvaro Obregon brought stability to Mexico in the 1920s.

Jose Napoleon Duarte and his successor, Alfredo Cristiani, brought the El Sal civil war to a successful close and did a better job on reconciliation than Lincoln's successors did in the US.

Anyway, those are some of my candidates with reasons for those of you who care.

Cheers

JohnT