Which Prime Ministers / Presidents / dictators of countries other than Israel have been Jewish, either by religion or by birth, and either wholly or partly? Benjamin Disraeli is an obvious example; Leon Blum, French Prime Minister in the 1930s, is another example. Lenin is said to have a Jewish grandfather or great-grandfather who had converted to Christianity; I’m not sure how well-attested this is, but I thought it’s worth noting it. (I know some anti-Semites have made much of it, but while I can’t be positive whether it’s right, I’m quite sure it’s not only an anti-Semitic canard; a quick LEXIS search revealed a Jerusalem Post article that quotes this offhandedly.) I’m posting a likely more surprising item as the first comment.
But what others? Remember, I’m looking only for the Prime Ministers, Presidents, or dictators, not lower-rank government officials or failed contenders (e.g., Barry Goldwater). As you might gather from the reference to Lenin (or for that matter, Blum, who was a Socialist), the question isn’t a matter of ethnic pride, just curiosity.
UPDATE: Mark Kleiman points out that Blum, though a Socialist, “was also the leader of the forces in France that wanted to oppose the Nazis. (See the first volume of Churchill’s Second World War.) Politically, he was a failure, but morally he was a hero.” I’m happy to defer to Mark’s greater knowledge of the subject; I knew that Blum was an anti-fascist Popular Front leader, but hadn’t known that he had distinguished himself enough in that capacity to get much credit. If Blum had shown particular courage, skill, or perspicacity in that context, I’m happy to give him plenty of credit for it (though I’m still not sure that I’d on balance derive ethnic pride, if I was prone to such things, from his being a fellow Jew).
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