In a Time of Crisis, A Look at America's Best Leaders

If the election of Barack Obama showed anything, it's that America—at war and coping with a financial crisis—is hungry for leaders who inspire us. The nation's greatest leadership, however, does not come just from the most powerful office in the land but also from the worlds of science, education, art, and, even in this troubled economy, business. This year's crop of Best Leaders was chosen by a panel of judges convened by Harvard University's Center for Public Leadership. They are diverse, from the truly famous, such as filmmaker Steven Spielberg, to the less well known, like small-town doctor Regina Benjamin. Although she runs a tiny rural health clinic in Alabama, her work on primary-care medicine is international in scope. There's also the growing field of junior officers in the U.S. military—the lieutenants and captains who learned the true meaning of leadership under fire on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. They all stand as models for a nation in troubled times.

PROFILES 2008

• Lance Armstrong — Cyclist and advocate
• David Baltimore — California Institute of Technology
• Regina Benjamin — Le Batre Rural Health Clinic
• Jeff Bezos — Amazon.com
• Terence Blanchard & Herbie Hancock — Musicians
• Benjamin Carson — Johns Hopkins Hospital
• Manny Diaz — Mayor of Miami
• Marian Wright Edelman — Children's Defense Fund
• Anthony Fauci — National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases
• Mike Feinberg & Dave Levin — Knowledge is Power Program
• Robert Gates — Secretary of Defense
• Fiona Harrison & Maria Zuber — NASA scientists
• Freeman Hrabowski — University of Maryland-Baltimore County
• Amory Lovins — Rocky Mountain Institute
• Anne Mulcahy — Xerox
• Indra Nooyi — PepsiCo
• Linda Rottenberg — Endeavor
• Jeffrey Sachs — United Nations Millennium Project
• Steven Spielberg — Filmmaker
• Michael Tilson Thomas — San Francisco Symphony
• U.S. Junior Officers — Military

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