Who made the greatest political comeback in history?

Sacked, jailed, purged or beaten at the polls, and back in office regardless. The gap between the fall and the return runs from two years to twenty-seven.

1

Nelson Mandela

Went from prisoner number 46664 to head of state in four years.

1000pts

2

Winston Churchill

Lost a landslide in July 1945 weeks after victory in Europe, then walked back into Downing Street in 1951 aged 76.

560pts

3

Theodore Roosevelt

Left the presidency, fell out with his successor and outpolled him running as a third-party candidate.

503pts

4

Andrew Jackson

Won the popular vote in 1824, lost the presidency in the House, and came back to take it in 1828.

502pts

5

Indira Gandhi

Voted out and briefly jailed in 1977, back as prime minister in 1980.

435pts

6

Grover Cleveland

The only US president to lose the White House and then win it back four years later.

435pts

7

Charles de Gaulle

Retired to write his memoirs in 1946 and was recalled to found a new republic in 1958.

356pts

8

Abraham Lincoln

Lost a Senate race in 1858 to the man he beat for the presidency two years later.

356pts

9

Robert the Bruce

Beaten, excommunicated and in hiding before Bannockburn settled the argument.

356pts

10

Alcibiades

Athenian general who defected to Sparta, then to Persia, then got his Athenian command back.

261pts

11

Richard Nixon

Told the press in 1962 they would not have him to kick around any more, and won the presidency six years later.

261pts

12

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Paralysed by polio in 1921 and elected governor, then president, in the decade that followed.

261pts

13

Konrad Adenauer

Sacked as mayor of Cologne, arrested twice, then chancellor at 73 and in office for fourteen years.

145pts

14

Deng Xiaoping

Purged twice, then returned to run the reforms that rebuilt China's economy.

145pts