What controversial political leader do you see in a positive light that most don't and why?

[jaymichaud]

As the title suggests. Modern eras only, please.

[RI]

Modern eras only, please.

Shoot, I was going to say Herbert Hoover.

[lfromnj]

Betsy Devos tbh, a bit sneaky but her actions on Title IX are really good and Charter schools are mixed.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Ron DeSantis

[Dipper Josh]

Keith Ellison

His allegations were overwhelmingly discredited and he's been a strong voice in the Progressive community. Also, I'm ecstatic that he immediately increased the charges on the Chauvin case when it was given to him.

Massive FF.

[S019]

Nancy Pelosi, she's quite unpopular, partly due to Republicans making her a bogeyman, but I see her as someone who keeps her caucus together and gets things done. Which stands in stark contrast to the coups faced by Boehner and Ryan struggling to placate both moderates and conservatives in his caucus

[John Dule]

I relate to Nigel Farage on a personal level. He seems like a fellow troll.

[Skunk]

Might be a stretch to call her a "leader" but Katie Hill. The scrutiny and harassment that she faced for an affair while politicians like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump continue to be idolized and admired shows such a double standard when it comes to women in political office and I commend her bravery with coming forward about her abusive ex-husband as well as being completely open on how her scandal affected her mental health.

[HillGoose]

Dick Cheney, because he was a true f!ckin player who kicked terrorist ass and got his mf bankroll up doing it.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Might be a stretch to call her a "leader" but Katie Hill. The scrutiny and harassment that she faced for an affair while politicians like Bill Clinton and Donald Trump continue to be idolized and admired shows such a double standard when it comes to women in political office and I commend her bravery with coming forward about her abusive ex-husband as well as being completely open on how her scandal affected her mental health.

Yeah, Katie Hill is a hero and Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for cutting her loose. The deserved to lose that seat honestly (though of course I still wish they hadn't).

[progressive85]

Nancy Pelosi.  I like her, I don't care what others think.  I'd vote for her as President today if I could.

[DC Al Fine]

Stockwell Day because he was a fundamentally decent man who got railroaded in part by bigoted attacks on his religion that the media suddenly decided were ok.

Rob Ford because I have a soft spot for any politician without a university degree, especially in Canada's overly credentialized politics.

[Sumner 1868]

Using a generous definition of "modern" I'll say Henry Wallace, namely because I don't believe the Cold War ever should have happened.

[West_Midlander]

Trump and Brian Kemp. I greatly value the good things they have done and the issues where I agree with them and I am not too fazed by the things they have done which I disagree with.

My support of each is derived especially from my opposition to their opponents who I view, in each case (2018/20), as disingenuous with regard to the positions that s/he actually holds.

[West_Midlander]

Nowadays she's too my right ideologically

Speaking of which: It's sad, imo, that most of the elected officials in the GOP have moved rightward on immigration/climate policy bc if that was not the case I would probably vote for that party a lot more.

[PSOL]

All these are weak tbh. For me, it deserves a shoutout to one of the two most successful leaders in the 20th century that liberated their people and beyond in an effort to create a more just world without unnecessary hierarchy. Of course I’m talking about Vladimir Lenin and Fidel Castro.

[buritobr]

Happy to see that nobody mentioned Jair Bolsonaro

[LAKISYLVANIA]

On the right, Boris Johnson and Sebastian Kurz
On the left, Evo Morales and PVDA members

[darklordoftech]

Hubert Humphrey for his role in civil rights, labor, and Medicare.

[Alben Barkley]

Hillary! One of the most experienced and qualified candidates ever, unfairly demonized by decades of Republican propaganda and conspiracy Kool-Aid, and horribly misunderstood by the public -- most everyone who meets her personally has a positive impression of her. I really just think she's an introvert who doesn't have the natural personality to be comfortable in the politics of today, but she certainly has the brains, the ambition, and the work ethic necessary to be a successful leader.

Also I don't hate Boris Johnson. I thought he was gonna be a British Trump but he seems surprisingly moderate and he doesn't seem like a horrible human being and wannabe fascist dictator like Trump. Outside of Brexit (which is admittedly huge), he doesn't seem all that bad. I mean I still wouldn't vote for him, but I'd probably be a Lib Dem voter if British -- both Labour and Conservative seem pretty awful these days, but Boris might actually be better than Corbyn would have been. The new Labour leader (too lazy to look up his name) might be an improvement over either though, I guess we'll see.

[Ferguson97]

I like Hillary Clinton.

She has been a victim of a media smear campaign for nearly 30 years at this point. I think she's one of the most intelligent people in Washington in the past 15 years, and it's a damn shame she isn't the one leading us right now.

[Never Made it to Graceland]

Jeremy Corbyn.

To me, he's one of the best and most selfless British politicians ever. He represents a generation of Labour people connected to the working class origins of the party - people like Dennis Skinner and Tony Benn. His plan was to fundamentally address the forgotten people and regions of the UK, and the significant issues of inequality that have arisen in Britain as of late - things like the unprecedented housing crisis, energy costs, and so on. David Cameron was letting people freeze to death in their houses because his government deemed them unfit to receive benefits.
As for the Big Lie, I'll never forget people like Bret Stephens, a racist and a neocon, using false accusations to erode his support. I can only imagine him roaring with laughter as he wrote the subheader for his op-ed in the formerly credible New York Times: "the only thing necessary for the bigoted to be normalized is for the unbigoted to shrug."

In exchange, they got a genuine bigot with a history of classless statements against all kinds of groups! Women, Africans, you name it. Oh, but Corbyn once shook the hands of somebody who had previously stood in front of a mural with controversial imagery, I guess he's the biggest threat to the Jews in history. I don't believe for one second anybody trumpeting this narrative was doing so in good faith.
It's easy to see the contrast between him and Johnson if you look at the history after Britain first started to suffer heavily from COVID. Corbyn, the reviled old man, spent his time volunteering at food drives. Johnson went on holiday and has been doing so ever since.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Joe Biden, because he’s on track to being the best POTUS in over half a century.