Political Leaders in the 20th Century What is a leader? A word that is very hard to define. Will's definition of a leader is a person who shares a common goal with his followers. A person that has followers and can lead those followers. The three people I chose to critique all have something in common. Harriet Tubman a great radical leader shares something in common with Franklin Roosevelt an electoral leader. Both have had to overcome great illness or pain. The pain they overcame made them a stronger leader that we know today. My third choice as leader is George Washington, who had to overcome something similar as Roosevelt. Roosevelt had the Great Depression