History books love a good headline name: the emperor, the king, the president whose face ends up on statues and currency. But behind a surprising number of those rulers stood someone else entirelya power broker who pulled strings, made deals, and decided who actually got the crown. Those shadowy power players are called kingmakers, and once you start noticing them, you realize they’ve been steering the world for a very long time.

A kingmaker isn’t just a helpful advisor. By classic definition, it’s a person or group who has enough influence, money, military muscle, or political leverage to decide which of several rivals ends up in chargewhile never really being a candidate themselves. They thrive in chaos: civil wars, succession crises, hung parliaments, and messy elections. From medieval earls to Roman bodyguards and Cold War ideologues, kingmakers have repeatedly changed the course of history without ever formally sitting on the throne.

Below is a tour through ten of the most fascinating kingmakers highlighted by Listverse, re-examined with extra historical context and a modern eye. Think of it as a backstage pass to humanity’s greatest “power behind the throne” moments.

What Makes a Kingmaker So Dangerous (and Useful)?

Three ingredients show up again and again in the lives of famous kingmakers:

• Access: They’re close enough to the ruler or to the troops, money, or votes that decide the ruler.
• Leverage: They control something crucialsoldiers, cash, ideology, or public opinion.
• Plausible deniability: When things go wrong, they can quietly step back and let the “official” leader take the blame.

With that in mind, let’s meet ten people and groups who showed just how powerful a kingmaker could be.

10. Richard Neville, “Warwick the Kingmaker”

If anyone earned the title “Kingmaker,” it was Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. In 15th-century England, during the Wars of the Roses, Neville helped his cousin Edward, Duke of York, win the crown as King Edward IV. Warwick wasn’t just another noble with a fancy titlehe controlled key castles, ports, and the crucial garrison at Calais. For a while, foreign ambassadors joked that England really had two rulers: Edward on the throne, and Warwick pulling the strings behind him.

The partnership fell apart spectacularly when Edward married Elizabeth Woodville in secret, wrecking Warwick’s careful diplomatic plan to marry the king into French royalty. Insulted and sidelined, Warwick did what no HR department has ever recommended: he switched sides entirely. He helped restore Henry VI, the deposed king from the rival House of Lancaster, putting England through another round of civil war. Eventually, Edward IV returned, Warwick was killed at the Battle of Barnet, and the original Kingmaker discovered the one job even he couldn’t talk his way out ofbeing dead on the battlefield.

9. The Praetorian Guard: Rome’s Armed “HR Department”

The Praetorian Guard began as the elite bodyguard of Rome’s emperors. Over three centuries, that bodyguard learned a dangerous lesson: if you’re the ones with the swords standing next to the throne, it’s very easy to decide who gets to sit in it.

The Guard protected emperors it liked and casually assassinated those it didn’t. More than a dozen emperors died at their hands. The most infamous moment came in AD 193, when the Guard actually auctioned off the empire to the highest bidder after killing Emperor Pertinax. Senator Didius Julianus won by promising a massive cash bonus to each soldier. His reign lasted barely two months before another strongman arrived with real legions, and the Guard abandoned their “client” as quickly as a bad stock pick.

Eventually, Constantine the Great had enough. After defeating his rival Maxentiuswhom the Praetorians had backedhe disbanded the Guard entirely. When the guys with the swords finally lose their kingmaking privileges, they tend not to get severance packages.

8. Ricimer: The General Who Outlived His Emperors

In the dying days of the Western Roman Empire, Flavius Ricimer proved that you don’t need a royal bloodline to control an empireyou just need the army. A high-ranking general of Germanic origin, Ricimer could never be emperor under Roman law, but that didn’t stop him from acting like one.

First, he helped his friend Majorian become emperor, then turned on him when a military campaign went badly. Majorian was arrested, tortured, and executed. Ricimer then elevated another figurehead, Libius Severus, who died a few years later. When the Eastern Roman emperor tried to stabilize the West by sending Anthemius, Ricimer married into his family, then eventually went to war against him and had him killed too.

Ricimer’s “hire and fire” approach to emperors left the Western Empire in chaos. Short-lived rulers followed one another until the entire system collapsed. It’s hard to build a stable bureaucracy when your informal performance review includes the risk of beheading.

7. Mikhail Suslov: The Soviet Union’s Ideological Gatekeeper

Fast forward to the 20th century and swap to cold suits instead of armor. Mikhail Suslov never held the top Soviet office, but for decades he was the Communist Party’s chief ideologuethe man who guarded the party line and, crucially, decided who got to lead the USSR.

Suslov helped Nikita Khrushchev survive a 1957 challenge from an “Anti-Party Group,” then later supported Khrushchev’s removal in 1964 when his leadership became too erratic for other elites. Suslov favored a collective leadership and quietly championed Leonid Brezhnev, who became the face of Soviet power while Suslov controlled the doctrinal and internal party machinery.

Diplomats and journalists often described Suslov as a gray, almost monk-like presence: rarely charismatic, never flashy, but enormously influential. He represents a modern style of kingmakersomeone who trades swords and treasure chests for committee votes and control over the narrative.

6. Carl Otto Mörner: The Lieutenant Who Picked Sweden’s Dynasty

In early 19th-century Sweden, the monarchy had a serious problem: King Charles XIII was aging and heirless. After the designated crown prince died suddenly, the country needed a new successorbut no one could quite agree on who that should be. Enter Carl Otto Mörner, a relatively junior army officer and member of the Swedish assembly.

While on a mission to France, Mörner took it upon himself to suggest an unexpected candidate: French Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. Bernadotte wasn’t even Napoleon’s favorite general at that point, but Mörner saw strategic advantages. A respected soldier with support in France could stabilize Sweden and deter Russian aggression. Mörner pushed the idea so boldly he almost got arrested, yet eventually the Swedish political elite came around.

Bernadotte became Crown Prince, took the name Charles XIV John, and founded the House of Bernadottethe royal family that still sits on the Swedish throne today. That’s not a bad outcome for a lieutenant who, technically, was never supposed to freelance the choice of an heir.

5. Wiremu Tamihana: The “Kingmaker” of the Māori King Movement

In 19th-century New Zealand, growing European settlement put intense pressure on Māori land and sovereignty. In response, Māori leaders launched the Kingitanga, or Māori King Movement, to unify different iwi (tribes) under a single monarch who could negotiate with the British on more equal terms.

Wiremu Tamihana, a chief of Ngāti Hauā, became known to European settlers as the “kingmaker.” He was deeply Christian, a savvy diplomat, and a skilled community builder, founding prosperous villages that traded with nearby settlers. When Waikato chief Te Wherowhero was chosen as the first Māori king, Tamihana championed his candidacy and persuaded other chiefs to accept the new institution.

At the 1859 coronation, Tamihana crowned the king by placing a Bible on his heada symbolic blend of Māori and Christian traditions that his descendants still repeat. Although later wars and land confiscations limited what the King Movement could achieve, Tamihana’s kingmaking left a lasting political and cultural legacy in Aotearoa New Zealand.

4. The Sayyid Brothers: Puppet Masters of the Mughal Throne

When the mighty Mughal Empire in India began to fracture after Emperor Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, two brothersHussain Ali Khan and Abdullah Khan, known as the Sayyid brothersstepped into the power vacuum. They served as top commanders and nobles, but what really made them famous was their habit of treating emperors like pieces on a chessboard.

They helped one prince gain the throne, grew disillusioned, then backed another contender. They deposed emperors they found inconvenient, installed young or sickly successors who were easier to control, and held de facto power while the nominal rulers cycled through the palace. For about a decade, no one became Mughal emperor without their approval.

Eventually, their web of influence triggered a backlash. A later emperor, Muhammad Shah, rallied other nobles to eliminate the brothers. The Sayyids’ downfall was spectacular and bloodya reminder that in an absolute monarchy, being the visible kingmaker can be almost as dangerous as being the king.

3. Godwin, Earl of Wessex: The Man Behind England’s Last Anglo-Saxon King

In 11th-century England, Godwin, Earl of Wessex, rose from relative obscurity to become the most powerful noble in the land. He served under King Cnut, navigated shifting dynastic claims, and survived multiple political storms by switching allegiances at just the right time.

Godwin’s support was essential in securing the throne for Edward the Confessor after Cnut’s heirs died or were displaced. During Edward’s reign, Godwin effectively functioned as the second-most powerful man in the kingdom, controlling vast estates and military resources. His family’s influence didn’t end there: his son Harold Godwinson later became king after Edward died childless.

Of course, Harold’s reign ended rather abruptly at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William the Conqueror invaded. Still, for a crucial generation, the Godwin family’s decisions shaped who ruled Englandand how ready the country was (or wasn’t) to resist a Norman takeover.

2. James Farley: The New Deal’s Political Kingmaker

Not all kingmakers operate in palaces. Some work out of party headquarters and post offices. James Farley, a New York political operative, became one of the most important behind-the-scenes figures in 20th-century American politics.

Farley managed Franklin D. Roosevelt’s campaigns for governor of New York and then for president in 1932 and 1936. He had a gift for building coalitions: urban machines, rural voters, Catholics, labor unions, and new voters energized by the New Deal. As Democratic National Committee chair and Postmaster General, he combined political strategy with old-school patronage, strengthening Roosevelt’s grip on power.

His influence was so significant that journalists started calling him a “kingmaker,” a label Roosevelt reportedly disliked. The partnership ended when Farley opposed FDR’s bid for a third term and briefly considered his own presidential run. Farley never reached the Oval Office, but he helped decide who didmultiple times.

1. Chanakya: The Philosopher Who Built an Empire

Our last kingmaker is also one of the oldest. Chanakya, also known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta, was a 4th-century BCE scholar and political strategist traditionally credited with helping Chandragupta Maurya overthrow the Nanda dynasty and create the Mauryan Empire in northern India.

According to later accounts, Chanakya was insulted by the Nanda king and vowed to bring down the dynasty. He found his champion in Chandragupta, a young man of disputed background but considerable charisma and talent. Together, they built a coalition of forces, waged a prolonged campaign, and eventually seized power. Chandragupta became emperor; Chanakya became his chief minister and the brain behind a new model of centralized imperial rule.

Chanakya is also associated with the Arthashastra, a sophisticated treatise on statecraft, economics, and military strategy. Whether or not he wrote every line, the text reflects the same hard-headed realism attributed to him: rulers should be virtuous when possible, ruthless when necessary, and always aware that information and intelligence can matter as much as armies. It’s the kind of book you’d expect a world-class kingmaker to write.

What All These Kingmakers Have in Common

These ten stories span centuries, continents, and political systems, but they share some striking patterns:

• They flourish in uncertainty. Civil wars, succession crises, and ideological conflicts create openings for people who can simplify chaos by backing a winner.
• They rarely survive unscathed. Warwick died in battle, the Sayyid brothers were eliminated, the Praetorian Guard was disbanded, and Ricimer’s empire collapsed after his death. Being the power behind the throne doesn’t guarantee long-term safety.
• They show that legitimacy is constructed. Crowns, titles, and offices matterbut so do soldiers’ loyalty, party votes, religious rituals, and public opinion. Kingmakers are the engineers of that legitimacy.
• They leave a long shadow. Chanakya’s ideas influenced centuries of political thought; the Praetorian Guard became a warning about military meddling; Suslov’s style of ideological control echoed in later authoritarian regimes.

Experiences and Modern Reflections on Kingmakers

Reading about kingmakers can feel oddly familiar, even if you’ve never worn armor or plotted in a marble palace. Modern life is full of smaller-scale versions of the same dynamic. Maybe you’ve worked in a company where the official “leader” gave the speeches, but everyone knew the real decisions were made by the veteran manager who had been there forever. Or perhaps you’ve seen a local election where a community organizer, influential donor, or media personality quietly decided which candidate stood a chance.

One striking experience in studying kingmakers is realizing how often they underestimate the costs of their own success. Ricimer thought he could endlessly swap emperors without breaking the empire; the Sayyid brothers believed they could treat the Mughal throne like a revolving door forever. On paper, they looked brilliantalways two steps ahead of their rivals. In practice, they hollowed out the systems they depended on, until there was nothing stable left for anyone to rule.

Another takeaway comes from figures like Wiremu Tamihana and Chanakya, whose kingmaking wasn’t just about grabbing power but about building a vision. Tamihana tried to protect Māori land and sovereignty through a new institution, the Māori kingship. Chanakya crafted not just a new ruler, but a set of principles for governing a vast empire. When you look closely, the difference between a constructive kingmaker and a destructive one often lies in that long-term vision. Are they building something that can outlast themor just arranging the furniture before they set the house on fire?

On a personal level, thinking about kingmakers changes how you read headlines. When a new president, CEO, or party leader appears, it’s worth asking: Who cleared the path for them? Which advisors, donors, strategists, or institutions acted as modern kingmakers? In democracies, those forces might be party committees, media networks, big donors, or grassroots movements. In authoritarian regimes, they might be generals, intelligence chiefs, or ideological hard-liners. Either way, focusing only on the person at the top is like watching a puppet show and ignoring the strings.

There’s also a more uncomfortable lesson: most of us, given enough leverage and the right temptations, might be tempted to play kingmaker in our own circles. Maybe it’s deciding which coworker gets recommended for promotion, which friend you introduce to a valuable contact, or which candidate you amplify on social media. Those choices can feel casual, but collectively they shape careers, reputations, and institutions. History’s kingmakers show what happens when that kind of influence scales up to an empire. It’s exhilarating, but it’s also dangerousand sometimes catastrophic.

Ultimately, studying kingmakers is a way of reminding ourselves that power is rarely as simple as one name at the top of an org chart. Behind every “great leader” there are people who calculated, persuaded, funded, and sometimes coerced their way into making that leader possible. The next time you see someone crownedliterally or metaphoricallyit might be worth asking not just “Who is this person?” but also “Who put them there, and what do they want?”

Conclusion: The Power Behind the Power

From medieval England and imperial Rome to Soviet Moscow and New Deal Washington, kingmakers have quietly tilted the world’s axis. They remind us that history isn’t only about the people whose names end up on monuments. It’s also about the strategists, fixers, ideologues, and dealmakers who never quite sit on the thronebut still decide who does.

Whether you think of them as visionaries, manipulators, or something in between, one thing is clear: ignore the kingmakers, and you only see half the story.

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