John Kerry

His persistence is pretty amazing, but I am more impressed that, after decades as one of the top decision makers - a US Senator, a Presidential nominee and the Secretary of State, he genuinely still sees that change comes not just from the top. There have been many times he has stopped to commend people like Code Pink for their effort - even when he disagrees.

Other than integrity, I think this is what most distinguishes him from others that have reached his elite level. Consider - if I took out the history (Berlin, Vietnam and the name of his wife) and put this out as written by a Democrat and asked people to guess who --- I suspect there would be more correct answers than mistaken guesses.

Not to mention - as people have often pointed out on his statements eulogizing others - many of these things that he is thankful are things that people could say of him - he really is resilient, he will put enormous effort and heart into things others think impossible.