World leaders are typically old, stern, and clothed in immense power. Which is why the following list, compiled by Gabriel H. Sanchez for Buzzfeed, is particularly powerful, as it shows even these highly revered (or feared) figures, once used to be young and hopeful too, just like the rest of us.
1. Elizabeth II — Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
“Taken when she was only an 18-year-old princess, this picture shows the young Elizabeth Alexandra Mary during her time in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II, 1945.”
2. Barack Obama — 44th U.S. President
“Obama sits on the couch of a college friend smoking a cigarette in 1980, long before he would become president of the United States.”
3. Hillary Clinton — Former U.S. Secretary of State and 2016 Presidential Candidate
“Clinton, then Hillary Diane Rodham, sits for a photo shoot while attending Wellesley College, 1969.”
4. Bill Clinton — 42nd U.S. President
“In a rare encounter between a current and future president, a young Bill Clinton meets President John F. Kennedy in 1963.”
5. Donald Trump — Entrepreneur and 2016 Presidential Candidate
“The real estate mogul in his senior year of New York Military Academy, 1964.”
6. Dilma Rousseff — President of Brazil
“This mugshot shows the future Brazilian president apprehended for her participation in a guerrilla movement against the country’s military dictatorship.”
7. Martin Luther King Jr. — Minister and Civil Rights Leader
“King at the age of 6.”
8. Vladimir Putin — President of Russia
“An 18-year-old Putin’s class photo, 1970.”
9. Xi Jinping — General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
“Xi Jinping, then party chief of Zhengding county, Hebei province, 1983.”
10. Angela Merkel — Chancellor of Germany
“Merkel, wearing a Free German Youth uniform, is awarded the Lessing Medal for outstanding social and academic performance, 1971.”
11. John F. Kennedy — 35th U.S. President
“This 1927 portrait shows the young president-to-be at age 10.”
12. Joseph Stalin — Former Leader of the Soviet Union
“Stalin at age 24 in 1902.”
13. Fidel Castro — Former Prime Minister of Cuba
“Fidel Castro relaxing at an outpost in the Sierra Maestra, 1957.”
14. George W. Bush — 43rd U.S. President
“George W. Bush as a baby with his parents, 1947.”
15. Shinzō Abe — Prime Minister of Japan
“In the center of the picture, kindergartner Abe sits on the lap of his grandfather, then-Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi.”
16. Oprah Winfrey — Media Mogul
“Seventeen-year-old Winfrey shows off her ‘Miss Fire Prevention’ trophy in her hometown of Nashville in 1971.”
17. Albert Einstein — Theoretical Physicist
“Einstein poses for a portrait at 14.”
18. Bill Gates – Co-Founder of Microsoft
“A mugshot of Gates taken by the Albuquerque police in 1977 after he was arrested for traffic violation.”
19. Steve Jobs – Co-Founder and Former CEO of Apple
“Jobs poses at the first West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco, where the Apple II computer debuted in 1977.”
20. Mahatma Gandhi — Leader of the Indian independence movement
“A young Gandhi poses for a picture in 1906.”
21. Pope Francis — 266th Pope of the Catholic Church
“Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who would become Pope Francis, poses for a portrait as a teenager in Buenos Aires.”