Portrait of Mao Zedong
From history

Mao Zedong

Chairman of the Communist Party of China, 1943 to 1976

Policies led to mass famine and repression

Founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949. The Great Leap Forward caused a famine that killed tens of millions, and the Cultural Revolution brought years of upheaval.

Mao Zedong sits in the left-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly state-led and strongly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly authoritarian on liberty and authority, strongly state-led on economy and strongly growth-first on environment.

Read more about Mao Zedong on Wikipedia →

Where Mao Zedong sits on eight dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this leader's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyStrongly state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning progressive
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentStrongly growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning anti-establishment
Anti-establishmentInstitutional

Leaders most like Mao Zedong

Ho Chi Minh President of North Vietnam, 1945 to 196983%Fidel Castro Leader of Cuba, 1959 to 200878%Indira Gandhi Prime Minister of India, 1966 to 1977 and 1980 to 198475%Gamal Abdel Nasser President of Egypt, 1956 to 197075%Josip Broz Tito Leader of Yugoslavia, 1945 to 198072%Hugo Chávez President of Venezuela, 1999 to 201372%

Leaders furthest from Mao Zedong

Mahatma Gandhi Leader of the Indian independence movement6%Václav Havel President of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, 1989 to 200313%Pope Leo XIV Pope and sovereign of Vatican City, 2025 to present14%

Political views closest to Mao Zedong

MaoismA Marxist-Leninist current built on peasant-based revolution and mass mobilization under…91%BolivarianismA Latin American left movement mixing socialism, nationalism and Simón Bolívar's dream…71%Marxism-LeninismAims at a classless society through revolution and a single party ruling on behalf of…69%

Percentages show how close two profiles are across all eight dimensions. Including a person here is for historical study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Chen Zhengqing (1917–1966), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.