Mosaik wrote..

I don't have a dog in this fight, but just off the top of my head, Elizabeth I of England and Catherine the Great of Russia were two of the greatest, most intelligent, most successful sovereigns of all time.

Absolutely, and Catherine helped bail us out during the Revolution. Now put her in the middle of the Bolshevik Revolution, on either side. How'd it have gone?

But discounting the above and just for the sake of argument: Make a list of the greatest female leaders during crises, all-time greats. I'd list Cleopatra up there. Maggie Thatcher was great but she was riding the coattails of a post-WW2 wave, even with the terrible inflation.

Then make yourself a list of the men. Start by canceling out yours above with GEN Washington, Marcus Aurelius, and Cincinnatus.

Based on raw numbers, which one lends to a greater probability of what we need?