The phrase “kingmaker” describes a heavyweight figure who steers the course of royal or political succession without ever sitting on the throne themselves. Such individuals usually bank on an arsenal of political clout, massive wealth, or military muscle to produce outcomes that would have been impossible without their meddling. Two extra hallmarks of a kingmaker are that they cannot claim the very seat they are fighting for, and they emerge when rival factions are locked in a fierce power struggle.
Why These Figures Rank Among the Top 10 Kingmakers
10 Richard Neville, Earl Of Warwick
Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick, earned the very first use of the nickname “Kingmaker” by playing a decisive role in toppling two monarchs during England’s Wars of the Roses.
In the latter half of the 15th century, both the Lancastrian and Yorkist houses laid claim to the English crown, igniting a protracted civil war famously known as the Wars of the Roses.
At first, the Neville family threw its weight behind the Yorkist camp, rallying around Richard, the third Duke of York. After both the duke and Neville’s own father, the Earl of Salisbury, fell in battle, the mantle fell to Richard Neville and the duke’s son, Edward, to lead the Yorkist cause. Their decisive victory in 1461 installed Edward as King Edward IV, while Warwick’s own fortunes surged as he inherited his parents’ estates and collected a slew of titles from the new monarch. A dispatch from the governor of Abbeville to King Louis XI of France captured the reality of English power, stating, “They have but two rulers—M. de Warwick and another whose name I have forgotten.”
The alliance soured when Edward secretly wed Elizabeth Woodville, contravening Warwick’s plan to secure a marriage with a French princess. Warwick’s attempt to place Edward’s brother, George, on the throne failed, prompting him to flip sides and back the Lancastrians, briefly restoring Henry VI. Though initially successful, Edward reclaimed the throne in 1471, and Warwick met his end at the Battle of Barnet.
9 The Praetorian Guard
From the time Augustus inaugurated the role of emperor, the Praetorian Guard functioned as his personal security corps, a position they held for more than three centuries. Over time, their authority swelled, morphing into a corrupt and self‑serving institution.
While ostensibly sworn to guard the emperor, the Guard’s primary loyalty lay with its own interests. When a ruler threatened those interests, the Praetorians showed no hesitation in turning on the very person they were meant to protect, assassinating a string of emperors including Commodus, Caligula, and Aurelian.
The Guard’s avarice peaked in AD 193, the infamous Year of the Five Emperors. After murdering Emperor Pertinax for attempting to reform them, the Praetorians auctioned the imperial title to the highest bidder. Didius Julianus won by promising 25,000 sesterces per soldier, only to be executed nine weeks later.
The Praetorian Guard finally met its demise in AD 312 when Constantine disbanded the unit after a decisive victory over Maxentius, sending the remnants to the farthest reaches of the empire.
8 Ricimer
Flavius Ricimer, a military commander of mixed Suebi and Visigoth heritage, effectively pulled the strings of the Western Roman Empire for its final two decades, installing and deposing puppet emperors at will.
Ricimer, barred from the throne by his barbarian lineage, befriended Flavius Julius Majorianus and helped him ascend as Emperor Majorian in AD 457. In gratitude, Majorian appointed Ricimer as magister militum, or master of the soldiers.
When Majorian suffered a defeat against the Vandals, Ricimer swayed the Senate to turn against him, leading to Majorian’s arrest, torture, and execution. Ricimer then placed Libius Severus on the throne in 461.
After a series of short‑lived reigns, Ricimer eventually married his daughter into the family of Emperor Anthemius, a compromise arranged with Eastern Emperor Leo I. In 472, Ricimer turned against Anthemius, captured and beheaded him, and installed Olybrius. Ricimer died a few weeks later, and the Western Empire soon collapsed under Odoacer.
7 Mikhail Suslov
Informally dubbed the chief ideologue of the Communist Party, Mikhail Suslov held a senior position in Soviet politics for more than thirty years, maintaining his influence until his death in 1982.
Under Stalin, Suslov’s star rose rapidly. He entered the Central Committee in 1941, became a secretary in 1947, and joined the Politburo in 1952. Although he briefly fell out of favor after Stalin’s death when Khrushchev launched de‑Stalinization, Suslov rebounded within a year, providing the ideological scaffolding Khrushchev needed to justify his anti‑Stalin campaign.
Suslov’s first kingmaking moment came in 1957 when he backed Khrushchev against the Anti‑Party Group led by Georgy Malenkov, helping to crush the old guard. Seven years later he switched allegiances, playing a crucial role in ousting Khrushchev for what he termed “adventurism.”
Rumors once suggested Suslov was offered the top Soviet post himself, but he allegedly preferred the role of second secretary, subtly nudging Leonid Brezhnev into the spotlight. This move arguably gave him even greater control over the Central Committee, as the Soviet leader had to juggle both domestic and international challenges.
6 Carl Otto Morner
At the dawn of the 19th century, Sweden faced a succession dilemma. King Charles XIII was aging with no heir, and after adopting Charles August, the crown prince died of a stroke in 1810. Meanwhile, fears grew that Tsar Alexander I might intervene to install a Russian puppet monarch.
Swedish elites concluded that the safest bet was to invite a French marshal, favored by Napoleon, to become heir. A delegation traveled to Paris, and among them was a low‑ranking lieutenant named Carl Otto Morner. Despite his modest status in the Riksdag, Morner boldly proposed Marshal Jean‑Bernadotte as the prospective crown prince.
The suggestion was so audacious it nearly landed Morner in jail. Napoleon was initially lukewarm, as he and Bernadotte were not on the best terms, and Bernadotte himself hesitated. However, after some contemplation, Napoleon gave his nod, and public opinion in Sweden warmed to Bernadotte.
The Riksdag then unanimously elected Bernadotte as crown prince, who adopted the name Charles XIV, founding the Bernadotte dynasty that still reigns today. Morner served as Bernadotte’s advisor, retired as a colonel, and later became a deputy governor.
5 Wiremu Tamihana
During the 1850s, mounting tensions between Māori iwi and European settlers (Pākehā) over land encroachment sparked the Kingitanga, or Māori King Movement, which aimed to unite the tribes under a single monarch.
While the Waikato chief Te Wherowhero became the first Māori king, Wiremu Tamihana earned the label “kingmaker” from Pākehā for his pivotal role in the movement.
As leader of the Ngāti Haua iwi, Tamihana was respected by settlers for establishing thriving Christian settlements and fostering trade in Auckland. He championed the Kingitanga, presenting Te Wherowhero as a candidate and persuading other iwi to accept his kingship. When the coronation took place in 1859, Tamihana placed a Bible upon the king’s head—a ritual still echoed by his descendants today.
Despite the new king, the clash over land escalated into the Taranaki Wars of 1860. Tamihana attempted to mediate and sought a peaceful solution, but other chiefs chose armed resistance. The conflict concluded with a government victory, leading to extensive Māori land confiscations.
4 The Sayyid Brothers
When Emperor Aurangzeb died in 1707, he left behind a sprawling Mughal empire that stretched across most of the Indian subcontinent. The ensuing years saw a rapid turnover of emperors, each installed or removed according to the whims of two influential court brothers, Hussain and Hassan Sayyid.
Aurangzeb’s heir, Mu’azzam, became Emperor Bahadur Shah and ruled until 1712, after which his son Jahandar Shah took the throne. Jahandar’s reign was short‑lived; his decision to elevate a dancing girl to queen consort angered many, prompting the Sayyid brothers to back his nephew Farrukhsiyar, who defeated his uncle at Agra and ascended in 1713. The brothers were rewarded with high titles and powerful positions.
Relations soured as Farrukhsiyar increasingly consulted other advisors, sidelining the Sayyids. By 1719, open conflict erupted; the brothers emerged victorious, deposed Farrukhsiyar, and installed Rafi ud‑Darajat, a grandson of Bahadur Shah, as a puppet emperor. Rafi ud‑Darajat reigned for roughly 100 days before dying, succeeded by his brother Rafi ud‑Daulah, who met the same fate.
The final emperor, Muhammad Shah, refused to be a figurehead. He rallied disgruntled nobles, assassinated one Sayyid brother, and defeated the other in battle, ending the brothers’ reign of kingmaking.
3 Godwin, Earl Of Wessex
Between 1016 and 1035, the North Sea Empire—comprising Denmark, Norway, and England—flourished under King Cnut the Great. After Cnut’s death, a new class of “new nobles” rose from obscurity to prominence at his court.
Chief among them was Godwin, who secured the title of Earl of Wessex around 1020. Following Cnut’s demise, his son Harold Harefoot contested the English throne with Alfred, son of Ethelred the Unready. According to the Anglo‑Saxon Chronicle, Godwin conspired with Harold to lure the young prince to his death, feigning loyalty before guiding him into an ambush where Alfred’s men were slain and the prince blinded, later dying in a monastery.
Harold died in 1040 and was succeeded by his brother Harthacnut, also half‑brother to Alfred. Outraged by the murder, Harthacnut ordered Harold’s corpse exhumed, decapitated, and discarded in a sewer. Godwin escaped harsh punishment by convincing Harthacnut he was merely following orders and presenting a lavish ship as a gift.
In 1042, after Harthacnut’s death, a power struggle erupted between Magnus I of Norway and Edward the Confessor, son of Ethelred. Godwin’s backing proved decisive for Edward, who became king. During Edward’s reign, Godwin was regarded as the second most powerful man after the monarch. His son, Harold Godwinson, later succeeded him as earl and eventually claimed the throne after Edward’s death, becoming the last Anglo‑Saxon king before the Norman conquest.
2 James Farley
U.S. politician James Farley is perhaps best remembered for a scandal dubbed “Farley’s Follies,” where, as postmaster general in 1933, he took un‑gummed stamp sheets, signed them, and gifted them to acquaintances, prompting philatelists to decry the abuse of his office.
While that episode was a minor footnote, Farley’s career spanned decades, during which he served as an advisor to dignitaries and even chaired Coca‑Cola International. His crowning achievement, however, was engineering four victorious elections for Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Farley first met Roosevelt at the 1924 Democratic National Convention. Four years later, he managed Roosevelt’s successful gubernatorial campaign, repeating the feat in 1930. He repeated his triumphs in the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections, after which Roosevelt appointed him postmaster general, chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, and chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
The partnership eventually soured in 1940 when Roosevelt opted for a third presidential term instead of backing Farley’s own presidential ambitions, leading to a public rift between the “king” and his “kingmaker.”
1 Chanakya
Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, was a fourth‑century BC philosopher and strategist who served as teacher and chief advisor to Chandragupta, helping him forge the largest empire on the Indian subcontinent.
During Chanakya’s era, most of India consisted of smaller states called Mahajanapadas, while the northern region was dominated by the Magadha Kingdom under the Nanda dynasty. Legend holds that King Dhana Nanda insulted Chanakya, prompting the philosopher to vow the dynasty’s destruction.
Chanakya aligned himself with the young Chandragupta Maurya—whose background varies between orphaned noble and commoner depending on the source—and together they slowly amassed an army to challenge the Nandas. Though the exact details of the war are murky, around 321 BC Chandragupta overthrew the Nanda dynasty, establishing the Maurya Empire. He based his governance on the Arthashastra, a treatise traditionally attributed to Chanakya, a framework later adopted by successors such as his grandson Ashoka, who expanded the empire and promoted Buddhism.