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I've always had a soft spot for Temujin (AKA Ghengis Khan), in spite of the massive loss of life. I remember reading a book which stated that all those massacres of the populace of conquered cities was mostly because he, uhh, didn't have enough troops to control all them pesky people if they were alive! Never mind the scare value to other cities. But starting out from nothing to ending up with the largest continuous land empire in history is quite amazing.
On the grand scale of things Sequoyah probably doesn't rank too high, but his role in inventing a writing system for the Cherokee is pretty impressive. Especially considering how quickly the system was learned and adopted in the few short years after it was finished.
On the same vein of thought but on the opposite side of things, theres Andrew Jackson. A complete opportunist and just overall bad guy. Those of you who think recent administrations have been bad should take a look at his life and Presidency.