5 Famous Leaders Who Were Shorter Than Napoleon

  • Gen. Francisco Franco, 1936
Gen. Francisco Franco, 1936
Credit: brandstaetter images/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

For all his accomplishments as a military general and emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte never escaped the caricature of being a small, temperamental soldier. His supposed frustration over this popular perception even gave rise to the derogatory term “Napoleon complex,” attached to an individual perceived as trying to overcome a lack of stature with a show of power.

Ironically, Napoleon was not short by the standards of 19th-century France. Measuring somewhere between 5 feet, 6 inches, and 5 feet, 7 inches, he was actually taller than his average countryman, who stood between 5 feet, 2 inches, and 5 feet, 6 inches tall at the time. Even England’s Duke of Wellington, who beat back Napoleon’s forces at the Battle of Waterloo, was barely taller than Napoleon at 5 feet, 8 inches.

Regardless, history has shown that height need not be a prerequisite for being in charge. While Peter the Great and Charles de Gaulle towered over their charges at 6 feet, 8 inches, and 6 feet, 5 inches, respectively, Winston Churchill and Benito Mussolini (both 5 feet, 6 inches) surely found themselves looking up at plenty of people they bossed around.

Here are five world leaders who made a formidable impact in their times, despite being even shorter than France’s mighty — and somewhat mislabeled — “Little Colonel.”

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