In reply to hera:
Depends upon what you mean by a politician.
Lord Liverpool, though detested by his peers, was by all accounts a canny statesman indeed with a real understanding of the international system.
Cato was stoic to the point of self-destruction (not unlike his hero Socrates) and his morals ran so deep that christians later compared him to christ in his resolve.
Garibaldi aroused passion and romance in others as arguably no other has since.
Popular belief has it that Lenin was shipped back to Russia in a sealed up train like a virus, so influencial was his supposedly his revolutionary rhetoric.
There are too many to list, or possibly even know. It would take a phenomenally broad grasp of history. All the examples above are from western political history, and there will be many, many extraordinary politicians from the rest of the world who the history we are taught as children simply miss out.
Mohammad Khatami is supposed to be a shrewd player and has reportedly overseen great changes in Iran.
In the world today, I'm quite partial to Blair given his seeming ability to take pounding after pounding and still push through controversial legislation and manage to control such a talented and often centrifugal cabinet.
James