Who Is the Most Powerful Person in the World?
Yesterday a friend and I were discussing who is the most powerful person in the country. Then he refined it to who is the most powerful person in the world.
What do you think?
1) Who is the most powerful person in the country?
2) Who is the most powerful person in the world?
Is the answer to question #2 different from the answer to question #1?
I think your answer depends in large part upon how you define power. Define it any way you see fit, and leave a comment.
I haven’t come up with any definitive answers, but I have some possibilities in the extended entry. No peeking until you’ve left your comment.
As I say, the answer depends in large part upon your definition of power. Is it the ability to affect world events? To set moral values? To make others dance to your tune? Does it matter whether your power is held in check by others?
With these thoughts in mind, here are some possibilities, with brief explanations.
George W. Bush: an obvious choice.
Alan Greenspan: as my friend put it, he could bring down the Euro within days if he wanted.
Sandra Day O’Connor: her power is primarily limited to this country (see question #1), but as the swing vote on the U.S. Supreme Court, she has more unreviewable power than any other person in the nation.
The Pope: setting moral values for millions across the world. A changed view on birth control could have profound effects, for example.
Osama bin Laden: arguably the single greatest influence on world affairs over the last five years.
Hu Jintao: Chinese president. A billion people dance to his tune.
And yours?
UPDATE: Before I walked out the door this morning, I thought to myself: you forgot to include Bill Gates. But I didn’t have time to go back to the computer to add him. Luckily, a commenter and a blogger have filled in the gap.
The most powerful person in the country is Matt Drudge.
The most powerful in the world is Mr. Bean.
Comment by Dean Esmay — 11/5/2004 @ 7:53 am
More seriously:
The most powerful person in the country is probably Greenspan. He is also one of the most powerful people in the world.
The most powerful person in the world is the President of the United States, by the simple expedient that he has it within his power to order military strikes on anything he wants pretty much any time he wants for whatever reason he wants. He’ll have ot answer to the Congress if he overreaches but the amount they’ll let him do without even questioning him is extraordinary. Furthermore, their diplomatic authority is damn near limitless–no they can’t ratify treaties but the things they can do are simply extraordinary.
This, by the way, is why MOST Presidents wind up spending most of their second term on foreign policy issues. They realize that domestic issues are a constant legislative slog through the mud and gets them all kinds of grief from the people at home and the Congress. Abroad, well, he’ll get criticism but his ability to ride that out is much greater.
The funny thing about Bush is that his Presidency will probably be the reverse of the usual trend. He had a very ambitious domestic agenda when he was elected in 2000 but got sidelined by the war. He’s made it clear that the domestic agenda is going to be very aggressive this term.
Although Greenspan can still break him.
Comment by Dean Esmay — 11/5/2004 @ 8:02 am
You could make a case for Madonna being the most powerful woman in the world, by the way. Mind you her influence is waning. But she’s arguably one of the most poweful cultural forces of the last generation, and the influence she exerts on other cultures, especially the Middle East is enormous. I’m sure she, and the host of slutty divas that followed, are one of the primary things that inflames people like Al Qaeda.
Comment by Dean Esmay — 11/5/2004 @ 8:20 am
Bill Gates. Though his power has eroded slightly, Microsoft products still dominate the computer world. So long as Windows is the OS of choice, he will continue to be the most powerful man on the planet.
Comment by Shawna — 11/5/2004 @ 9:10 am
It is difficult to argue against the President of the United States being the most powerful man in the world. Even within the limits of the executive branch, the President does have tremendous influence over the legislative branch, and has some direct control over the judicial. Of course, the President, as Commander-in-Chief, has authority over the most potent military forces the world has ever seen.
The most powerful person in the country would most likely be the one who can influence the President. That would almost certainly be his wife, or else his most trusted advisor.
These are political arguments. Economic power is much more difficult to define and identify.
Comment by Chris — 11/5/2004 @ 10:20 am
1. Karl Rove
2. Glenn Reynolds
Comment by Watcher — 11/5/2004 @ 11:36 am
I’ve been waiting for someone to mention Kofi Annan, but surprisingly, no one has.
Heh…
Comment by Laudio — 11/5/2004 @ 1:04 pm
Andrew Card for #1 and #2 – the Chief is Staff is always the puppeteer. Don’t you watch West Wing?
Comment by Shawnski — 11/5/2004 @ 3:02 pm
I can’t just click on the link and get the extended discussion. I have to tediously type in the URL in the address line. I have an iMac with OSX and I am using the
Safari browser.
Comment by David Hamilton — 11/5/2004 @ 4:43 pm
Easy… Bill Gates.
Comment by Sonny Parlin — 11/5/2004 @ 4:54 pm
I can’t just click on the link and get the extended discussion. I have to tediously type in the URL in the address line. I have an iMac with OSX and I am using the Safari browser.
David,
I don’t know why this is happening, but while I am looking into a fix, do me a favor and
see if this works as an interim solution:
Pull up the main page and go to a post with the extended entry.
Now left-click on the time stamp at the bottom of the post. (This also functions as a
permalink for the whole post.)
You should now get the whole post. You’ll have to find your place, but it should all be
there.
Does that work?
Comment by Patterico — 11/5/2004 @ 5:46 pm
Definitely Bill Gates.
Comment by Dave Schuler — 11/6/2004 @ 2:07 pm
If power is defined as unrestrained exercise of one’s office plus titular leadership of an international following in the tens of millions, then I would say the Pope is the most powerful man in the world. He is not only the longest-serving elected leader, he has absolute authority to act as he wishes, which means he can brush aside opposition to his policies — and there is no legislative body that can veto his decisions. If he is not the most powerful leader in the world, that is because many Roman Catholics simply ignore his instructions. It’s an interesting way of limiting the power of an absolute dictator: the masses can selectively render him irrelevant. But is his authority genuine power? Papal armies no longer being in vogue, I suppose the Pope is just a teacher, sage, moral standard-bearer and interpreter of faith to those who accept his authority. That puts him on a par with the Dalai Lama. Some would argue that such men are far more influential and, in an important sense, ultimately more powerful than those who command armies. It depends on how you understand moral and spiritual leadership, and whether you think it plays a fundamental role in history.
Comment by L. Barnes — 11/6/2004 @ 7:56 pm
Who has the power to “trick” a major news organization into self-destructing, orchestrate the non-capture capture of the world’s most wanted terrorist and “trick” him into producing a pro-Bush video on the eve of the election AND micromanage the blogging efforts of thousands of grass-roots pundits all across the country?
There’s only one man who possesses mid control powers that great.
Karl Rove, Evil Master of the Universe.
Comment by raffles — 11/8/2004 @ 12:42 pm
“mind control,” that is.
Comment by raffles — 11/8/2004 @ 12:42 pm
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is obviously the most powerful person on earth today.
She is the Sovereign or Head of State of some 16 counties (including the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia). Additionally she is the Crown for a further 14 dependant territories (such as Bermuda, and Gibralter). She is also the head of the Commonwealth of Nations, a world organisation of over 50 countries which make up almost one third of the world’s population.
She has held power as the Sovereign for over 50 years. Power like that does not come and go every 4 years as with an American president, it lasts a life time. That is perhaps why she has no need to flaunt her authority about. However, do not underestimate the subtle power of this mighty sovereignty.
Comment by JP — 11/23/2004 @ 8:34 am
Most powerful man in the world
Patterico asks an interesting question, “Who is the most powerful person in the world.” With so much going on in politics lately it’s quite easy to forget about this guy.
Trackback by Conestoga Street — 11/5/2004 @ 5:00 pm