There are many people in history to idolize. They could politicians or war heroes, emperors or revolutionaries. These are my personal favorites that who's stories I find interesting (in no particular order).
Though many will respond "Horatio Nelson" (or simply "Admiral Nelson") when asked who was the greatest naval commander in history, and though I acknowledge the Nelson was a great commander, defending Britan in the Napoleonic Wars, I consider Yi Sun-Shin the best naval commander of all time. He won 13 out of 13 battles during the Japanese invasion of Korea in the 1590s and did so with near-impossible odds, facing hundreds of ships with a measly ~50 ships, often less. Under his command, the Korean fleet never lost a single ship. Admiral Yi is undoubtedly the best naval commander in history.
Bismark was the man to pull together one of the greatest land powers Europe had ever seen: Germany. Overnight, with a couple of signatures, the middle of Europe was changed from a hundred squabbling states and municipalities to a unified nation that dwarfed all of the other major land powers of France, Britan, Russia, and Austria-Hungary. Ever the pragmatist, Bismark managed to pull all of the strings just right to make this happen. He also famously predicted WWI (and the collapse of the German Monarchy) 20 years before it happened. He was right about where WWI would start in 1888, saying, “Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans will set it off.” Bismark also said to Wilhelm II in December of 1897, “Your majesty, so long as you have this present officer corps, you can do as you please. But when this is no longer the case, it will be very different for you... the crash will come twenty years after my departure if things go on like this.” Bismark died on July 30, 1898. Twenty years and four months later, Wilhelm II abdicated the throne on November 9, 1918.
Though he did fail in the end, his dream was to free and unite the Spanish colonies in South America into what is known as Gran Columbia. He was a Venezuelan revolutionary who's dream was to liberate people, hence the nickname "El Libertador" or "The Liberator." He set out with a ragtag army to rid the Spanish from South America. Because of the Napoleonic Wars, there wasn't much of a better time to do so. He succeeded, for a short time, in uniting the Spanish colonies. Unfortunately, rumors spread about Simón wanting to make a king out of himself started to circulate, so he tried to keep his hand out of things. But his influence was the only glue holding Gran Columbia together, so after his death, his dream died with him.
Though he was an orphan and an immigrant, he still managed to make his mark on America. George Washington, with a lot of begging from Hamilton, let him lead a unit in the Battle of Yorktown, the final major battle of the American Revolutionary War, though he did serve as a soldier and Washington's right-hand man before that. After the war, he became a lawyer and the first Secretary of Treasury in the US, founded the Bank of New York, and started the Coast Guard. During his time as Secretary of Treasury, he made a life long rivalry with Thomas Jefferson. This rivalry, based on differing beliefs of economic policy and government size, created the partisan infighting that is still in the US today (though, ironically, Washington advised against partisan fighting in his farewell address). Also, as a final note, the musical about his life by Lin-Manuel Miranda is AMAZING.
This man was a Byzantine general in the 500s, easily the rival of Napoleon and Alexander the Great. He was capable, intelligent, and incredibly loyal to his friend Justinian I. Once during his conquest on Italy, the Visigoths offered him a crown as their king. Instead of betraying Justinian and taking the kingship for himself, he accepted it but betrayed the Visigoths, saying he would never take a crown while Justinian ruled. Together with Justinian, they set out on an ambitious goal: bring the West back into the light of Rome. There were people at the time who remembered when the Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic Coast to Asia Minor. Belisarius, in his lifetime, managed to bring Italy, parts of Hispania, and North Africa back into the Roman sphere (though Justinian's eunuch, Narces, was the one to put the last nail in the coffin for Italy). Fun fact: Belisarius was a great general, but he could be shockingly naïve. During his campaign to take back Rome, he sent the enemy commander, who he had put under siege, a letter, basically telling the garrison "I have a way into your city. Please surrender."
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