--- title: Gary Johnson Still Trying to Name Foreign Leader He Admires description: Libertarian party presidential candidate Gary Johnson wants you to know that he still can't name a single foreign leader he admires. canonical: https://time.com/4513636/gary-johnson-world-leader/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-29T20:15:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:55:49.744Z article:section: Politics og:title: Gary Johnson Is Still Trying to Find a Foreign Leader He Admires og:description: There are plenty of world leaders Johnson could name og:url: https://time.com/4513636/gary-johnson-world-leader/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6484ca30494190f6/6988a820a988ca7c596b9995/gary-johnson-foreign-leader-name.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Libertarian Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson Speaks At Purdue University og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gary Johnson Is Still Trying to Find a Foreign Leader He Admires twitter:description: There are plenty of world leaders Johnson could name twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6484ca30494190f6/6988a820a988ca7c596b9995/gary-johnson-foreign-leader-name.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gary Johnson Is Still Trying to Find a Foreign Leader He Admires  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Sep 29, 2016 8:15 PM UTC  Gary Johnson, 2016 Libertarian presidential nominee, center, speaks as Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue University and former governor of Indiana, left, looks on during a campaign event at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. Gary Johnson, 2016 Libertarian presidential nominee, center, speaks as Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue University and former governor of Indiana, left, looks on during a campaign event at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016.Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Sep 29, 2016 8:15 PM UTC Libertarian party presidential candidate Gary Johnson wants you to know [that he still can’t name a single foreign leader he admires](http://time.com/4512853/gary-johnson-aleppo-moment-foreign-leader/). Johnson could not name one when Chris Matthews asked him during an interview on _MSNBC_ Wednesday night. “I guess I’m having an Aleppo moment,” he said at the time, for some reason bringing the time [he blanked on the war-torn Syrian city](http://time.com/4483682/presidential-candidate-gary-johnson-asks-and-what-is-aleppo/) and asked “What is Aleppo?” Watch Matthews prod him for an answer (and watch his running mate, former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, step in to help) in the clip above. After a flurry of Thursday coverage about the incident, the former New Mexico governor tweeted an update: > [](https://twitter.com/GovGaryJohnson/status/781559655839522817) Was Johnson employing self-deprecating humor? Trying to show that people are laughing with him, rather than at him? Spinning the situation so it looks like he was being thoughtful, instead of just not being able to name a world leader? Implying that every single foreign leader pales in comparison to leadership in America? No matter the reason, we, like Weld, thought we would offer Johnson some assistance with the question. So here are the names of a few world leaders: * **Vladimir Putin, President of Russia** Donald Trump [already claimed him](http://time.com/3978915/donald-trump-putin-comment/), but [love for Putin](http://time.com/4397022/donald-trump-vladimir-putin/) is so rare in American politics that it’s still a [pretty original choice](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-runner-up-vladimir-putin/). * **Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia** Under [Santos](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2111975%5F2111976%5F2112099,00.html), the Colombian government finally [signed a peace deal](http://time.com/4049361/colombia-farc-civil-war-peace/) with FARC this month, ending decades of civil war. * **Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom** She just stepped up to the plate after the Brexit vote — an undertaking worthy of anyone’s admiration. * **Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada** Johnson [wouldn’t be alone](http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/09/kate-middleton-sure-is-enjoying-the-view-in-canada.html) in his admiration of our neighbor to the North. * **Pope Francis**, **Sovereign of the Vatican City (among other roles)** A divinely uncontroversial choice (and _TIME’s_ 2013 [Person of the Year](http://poy.time.com/2013/12/11/person-of-the-year-pope-francis-the-peoples-pope/)). * **Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany** We know she was Weld’s pick, but we’re including her here because she was _TIME_‘s most recent [Person of the Year](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2015-angela-merkel/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4513636/gary-johnson-world-leader/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4513636/gary-johnson-world-leader/"},"headline":"Gary Johnson Is Still Trying to Find a Foreign Leader He Admires","datePublished":"2016-09-29T20:15:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:55:49.744Z","description":"There are plenty of world leaders Johnson could name","url":"https://time.com/4513636/gary-johnson-world-leader/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6484ca30494190f6/6988a820a988ca7c596b9995/gary-johnson-foreign-leader-name.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6484ca30494190f6/6988a820a988ca7c596b9995/gary-johnson-foreign-leader-name.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Libertarian Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson Speaks At Purdue University","caption":"Libertarian Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson Speaks At Purdue University","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4513636/gary-johnson-world-leader/","name":"Gary Johnson Is Still Trying to Find a Foreign Leader He Admires"}}]}] ```