America's Best Leaders 2009 PDF Print E-mail
Gergen: The National Deficit—of Leadership

It is fashionable these days to decry the quality of American leaders, and why not?

Not long ago, we celebrated our CEOs as the new masters of the universe; some paid themselves as if they thought so, too, and their faces graced the covers of magazines everywhere. But last year, that universe imploded, and taxpayers were forced to come to the rescue. As Bill George of the Harvard Business School argues, we have come to realize that the economic crisis was less a matter of subprime mortgages than subprime leadership.

How America's Best Leaders Were Picked

America's Best Leaders is a collaboration between U.S.News & World Report and the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The honorees were selected by a committee of academic, government, business, community, and nonprofit leaders convened by the center. U.S. News did not have a vote.

Who Would You Choose as America's Best Leader?

What makes someone a great leader? Do the people on our list reflect the best of the best in their respective fields? Why? Why not? Whom would you have chosen instead?


2009 Honorees:

Ben Bernanke
Federal Reserve Chairman

Cory Booker
Mayor of Newark, New Jersey

John Chambers
CEO, Cisco Systems

Yvon Chouinard
Environmentalist and CEO, Patagonia

John Doerr
Venture Capitalist

Cheryl Dorsey
Activist and President, Echoing Green

Eve Ensler
Playwright and Activist

Norman Francis
President, Xavier University of Louisiana

Orrin Hatch
U.S. Senator

Susan Hockfield
President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ted Kennedy
U.S. Senator (1932-2009)

Bill & Kathy Magee
Founders, Operation Smile

Greg Mortenson
Philanthropist

Ray Odierno
U.S. General

Eboo Patel
Founder, Interfaith Youth Core

Sally Ride
Astronaut and Advocate

David Robinson
Philanthropist and Former NBA Star

Judith Rodin
Rockefeller Foundation President

Senior Noncommissioned Officers
Military

Jim Senegal
CEO, Costco

Twyla Tharp
Choreographer and Dancer

 
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