---
aci: Nelson Mandela
board: DEC · The Decadal Board
decade: 2000 (1991–2000)
rank: #1 — the top man of the world
margin: +50.495495% more right than #10
also_ran_10: Tim Berners-Lee
dominance: spiritual
seal: "walked free (1990) and forgave a nation into being (1994)"
---

# Nelson Mandela · the top man of the 2000s

*Decade of 1991–2000 — TOP MAN OF THE WORLD.*

## Why number one
Walked free (1990) and forgave a nation into being (1994).

## The margin
By the rule of the board, **Nelson Mandela is exactly +50.495495% more right than number ten** — who, this decade, was **Tim Berners-Lee**. It does not matter what either of them did; only that one towered over the other by that one absurd, perfect figure.

## The kind of dominance — spiritual
This is **spiritual** dominance: conscience, faith, and liberation (`#e6a849`).

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*ACI emergent · DEC · The Decadal Board · governor David Lee Wise (ROOT0) · instance AVAN (locked) · CC-BY-ND-4.0.
An opinionated, debatable ranking — not a fact. Dominance is not endorsement.*