President Obama left off Fortune's 50 greatest leaders in the world list

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

Pope Francis was named the world’s greatest leader by Fortune magazine, topping a diverse list released Thursday.

Fortune’s first list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders includes a Hollywood actress, a baseball superstar, a teenage education advocate and the president of a small California college. It also includes a former American president, but the current one failed to make the cut.

Former President Bill Clinton ranks No. 5 on the list, selected for being a “relentless and forceful advocate” in numerous causes, but noticeably absent is one of his successors and the current leader of the free world.

“President Obama wasn’t excluded from Fortune’s World’s 50 Greatest Leaders list,” Fortune said in a statement. “He simply didn’t make this year’s list of 50 outstanding individuals who have demonstrated rare leadership, leadership in multiple areas or who have demonstrated a long history of leading.”

The White House did not respond to an NBC request for comment.

Pope Francis ranked first among the world leaders for an attitude that has drawn more attention and admiration in just one year than any of his predecessors have over several decades.

Francis, who just celebrated his first anniversary as pontiff, has helped clean up the money-scandal that plagued the Vatican bank and has begun to address the church’s child sexual abuse scandal. He also has “set a striking new tone through his personal example of modesty and inclusiveness — this is what a great leader does,” the magazine said about the Pontiff, who just months earlier was named Time’s “Person of the Year.”

Click here to read more.