Chairman Mao: Was Mao a Good Leader?

Mao Zedong was the ruler of the Communist party in China and was widely beloved by the people of the country. He led the people of China on the Long March, and emerged as the new leader of China. Despite all of Mao's successes he made some decisions that lead to the question, was Chairman Mao a good leader? To answer this question, we must first compare his success and failures as a leader. His major success were being able to overthrow the Nationalist party and remove Chiang Kai-Shek from power. This was a major turning point in China, as it began the Communist rule in China. Mao then went on to lead major reforms, such as a major overhaul of the feudal system and ending the last bits of imperialism from China. However, he wasn't without his flaws, as some of his reforms, especially the Great Leap Forward (an attempt at industrialization that ended with the deaths of about 20 million people), ended poorly and turned out to be some of the darkest periods in Chinese history. His utilization of the Red Guard could be compared to some of the worst dictators of the last century. His squelching of knowledge and learning seems ill-advised looking back now. Yet despite all of Mao's faults, I personally feel that the good out weighs the bad. Personally I think that without Mao, China would not be in the position of power that it holds today, as they would still be trapped in the free-for-all of capitalism and imperialism. Mao's reforms on the country created long lasting impacts that were very important for Chinese history and are a huge reason why China is one of the most powerful countries today.