Who was the Greatest Hokage

[HBKJames]

I don't see how Minato is getting so many votes when he hardly accomplished anything during his reign as hokage....is only real accomplishment as hokage happened to be his last, sacrificing himself to seal Kurama into Naruto and saved the village from it & Tobi's rampage...pretty short list during his tenure

Minato had great potential had he lived longer, but that's all it is...unfulfilled potential

 

[TheEvilOne]

Minato >/= Tsunade > Hashirama > Tobirama > Hiruzen

 

[odara rasengan]

Minato: anyday. he is the sole reason for naruto's strength and existence.
hashiraama:god of all shinobi but not that great.

 

[odara rasengan]

dude. he is the reason for naruto's strength. if he hadnt sacrificed himself , he would'nt have gained kurama's strength

 

[Touken]

People are forgetting that Obito sealed the Uchiha's fate by unleashing the Kyuubi upon Konoha.

Honestly, Hashirama didn't go anywhere wrong. Even though he was too forgiving, he did what was necessary in the end. My list is like this:
Hashirama=Tobirama>Minato>Tsunade>Hiruzen.

 

[HBKJames]

Minato had potential but hardly accomplished anything during his tenure except die protecting it

Hashirama founded the village and defined the role of hokage, much in the same way Washington defined the role of the President for generations to come. It was Hashirama that created the concept of shinobi villages; it was hashirama that brought the nations together if only temporarily and passing out the power of the tailed beast he'd captured as temporary peace offerings. In terms of power, Hashirama had only one equal, Madara, and even in that case he was the greater shinobi, not by much but enough to win when it counted and that's all that matters.

Tobirama, inferior to Hashirama but alot in terms of power; but he still was far greater than mostly everyone during that time of war and during his reign as hokage. It was Tobirama who created the details of structure of the village, filling out the details of the vision Hasirama had but his lack of details left Tobirama to fill in the void. He also created alot of powerful yet essential jutsus. Also helped train and bring up Hiruzen Saratobi, who turned out to be one of the greatest shinobi himself. Tobirama's only fail, also his biggest, was his attitude towards the Uchiha. While extremely practical in his reasons for putting the Uchiha exclusively on the Police force it was also the seed that lead to all the contention with the Uchiha & Konoha down the road. Essentially cutting the Uchiha out of the political scene in Konoha and out of the major decision making of the village

With Hiruzen Saratobi, in his prime he was compared to Hashirama in terms of power and strength, which is a major accomplishment. Being revered as a god says alot. During his watch, just as the 2 hokages before him had, Saratobi ensured the the village remain protected and standing strong. But unlike his predecessors, he managed to do it without dying so young, but lived well past retirement age. He saw the Konoha successfully through 2 Shinobi World Wars and kept all enemies at bay with the exemption of Orochimaru, who just loved starting war for the sake of it. He brought the village together to the best of his ability; always seeking peace and caring for all like his own; the ideal started by Hashirama & Tobirama. His only failing was keeping Danzo around

 

[Oblivionx]

well minato was the best for me....! he was feared on par with hashirama and has the most awesome jutsu in NV, the "ftg"....! 2nd best is tobirama as he actually had some sense and intellect in him....! third best is hashirama as he actually created everything in NV....! Fourth obviously hiruzen as he had longest reign...!

 

[KingHashirama]

Minato had potential but hardly accomplished anything during his tenure except die protecting it

Hashirama founded the village and defined the role of hokage, much in the same way Washington defined the role of the President for generations to come. It was Hashirama that created the concept of shinobi villages; it was hashirama that brought the nations together if only temporarily and passing out the power of the tailed beast he'd captured as temporary peace offerings. In terms of power, Hashirama had only one equal, Madara, and even in that case he was the greater shinobi, not by much but enough to win when it counted and that's all that matters.

Tobirama, inferior to Hashirama but alot in terms of power; but he still was far greater than mostly everyone during that time of war and during his reign as hokage. It was Tobirama who created the details of structure of the village, filling out the details of the vision Hasirama had but his lack of details left Tobirama to fill in the void. He also created alot of powerful yet essential jutsus. Also helped train and bring up Hiruzen Saratobi, who turned out to be one of the greatest shinobi himself. Tobirama's only fail, also his biggest, was his attitude towards the Uchiha. While extremely practical in his reasons for putting the Uchiha exclusively on the Police force it was also the seed that lead to all the contention with the Uchiha & Konoha down the road. Essentially cutting the Uchiha out of the political scene in Konoha and out of the major decision making of the village

With Hiruzen Saratobi, in his prime he was compared to Hashirama in terms of power and strength, which is a major accomplishment. Being revered as a god says alot. During his watch, just as the 2 hokages before him had, Saratobi ensured the the village remain protected and standing strong. But unlike his predecessors, he managed to do it without dying so young, but lived well past retirement age. He saw the Konoha successfully through 2 Shinobi World Wars and kept all enemies at bay with the exemption of Orochimaru, who just loved starting war for the sake of it. He brought the village together to the best of his ability; always seeking peace and caring for all like his own; the ideal started by Hashirama & Tobirama. His only failing was keeping Danzo around

He had no equal o-o

 

[Crossroads]

People are still debating this...?

Pretty sure this has already been solo'd by a number of people.

Minato>Tsunade>Tobirama>Hiruzen>Hashirama in terms of political leadership.

 

[TrollingSage]

Other than Minato and Tsunade all of them were bastards. Hashirama's tailed-beast free-for-all distribution plunged the world into chaos. He never managed to alter his brother's paranoia and extreme political ideals. He destroyed the democratic system by selecting his brother and that was the onslaught of the poor political system within the village.

Tobirama was paranoid beyond belief and a terrible choice for leadership given his contentions and lack for spirit to actually reconcile with a Clan who left all behind for a peaceful existence. His disgusting mindset to keep the surveillance produced brilliant minds like Danzo and Hizuren who did worse if not more than himself. His political infrastructure to maintain a dictatorial rule was solely done to keep Uchiha Clan out of power. He didn't fully accept peace, nor did he save Hyuga Clan's branch from their terrible oppression.

Both clans were oppressed and when Hizuren took charge, he never halted the surveillance, let Uchiha Clan get massacred from which Danzo greatly benefited. Let him carry out utterly despicable terrorist acts by murdering whomever he felt necessary so he could crawl his way up to Hokage seat. Not to mention how he treated and recruited Root Members. He let a mass murderer walk free and never eased the plight of the branch family.

If all these mishaps, intolerable oppressive acts, and tyrannical rule translates into good leaders then I would question the ethics of the person making such a claim.

That's a rather narrow and one sided view you have there mister. Hashirama started an arms race? Plunged the world into chaos? I think you have him confused with Madara. What would you would you have him do. Keep all the tailed beasts for Konoha? Do you realize that would have caused more problems? The other villages would probably be scared of Konoha's military power and they will unite and attack and destroy Konoha like they did to the Uzumakis.
I suppose he could have let the tailed beasts roam free. Oh wait, that wouldn't work either because the other villages would compete to capture them.