The World's 50 Greatest Leaders

Rank
17
Previous: 16 Next: 18

Nikki Haley

Governor Nikki Haley Signs Bill To Remove Confederate Flag From SC Statehouse
COLUMBIA, SC - JULY 9: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signs a bill to remove the Confederate battle flag from the state house grounds July 9, 2015 in Columbia, South Carolina. Debate on the flag was reignited three weeks ago after the mass murder at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)Sean Rayford — Getty Images
  • Title
    Governor
  • Affiliation
    South Carolina
  • Age
    44

While the most successful Republican pol builds a following by stirring resentment, Haley is proving that Trumpism isn’t the only way. South Carolina’s Indian-American governor was among the earliest in her party to call out the GOP presidential front-runner, warning against “the siren call of the angriest voices”—in a nationally televised State of the Union response, no less. Last summer, following the massacre of nine African Americans in a Charleston church, Haley engineered the removal of the Confederate flag from state capitol grounds, setting off a movement across the South to pack away the charged symbol.   An earlier version of this article gave the incorrect age for Nikki Haley.