I am sure the old saying ‘cometh the time, cometh the man’ (written in more chauvinistic times but still sadly very true) describes the fact that human history shows in times of crisis someone always bubbles to leadership and somehow gets peoples/nations/tribes through the crisis. As Toussaint Louverture boldly spoke out against slavery on behalf of his people, to Napoleon at once saving and mutating the French Revolution, to Churchill taking the reins of Britain. Irrespective of such great names we should also recognize the thousands of smaller names of little known people who also gave leadership when it was needed.
When Tolstoy was visiting the Caucasus he was asked by the tribal chieftains there to tell them about the great leaders in history (Tolstoy being an expert in the Napoleonic wars) and when he thought he had finished the chiefs asked him why he had left out the greatest of them all. So at their insistence he told the story of Abraham Lincoln.
Truly great leaders leave their nations, their shores, their tribes and transcend to another a plane where all people can understand their humanity, integrity and honesty. Men like Gandhi. Yes they arose in a time when they were needed, but they span history. We don’t need another Napoleon or another Caesar, but we we are always in need of men and women like Lincoln, who can inspire love and respect because they are not feared.