The Ruler of All Men

800 years ago, a bow-legged warrior of forty was elected by his countryman as their "universal ruler" after campaigning most of his life to unite the nomadic horse tribes of the Asian steppe. Temujin was crowned Genghis Khan, and proclaimed the Ruler of All Men.
Genghis Khan has an extremely bad reputation in the West. But if you look at his achievements first, and then consider even his warlike behavior in comparison to our Western historical figures, he actually comes off pretty good.

Genghis Khan rose from being dirt poor, literally eating vermin to keep his family alive, to ruling the largest Empire ever conquered by a single man. His immediate goals were to unite the nomad tribes of the Mongols and secure their prosperity. He did this with a certain degree of ruthlessness, to be sure, but he was always fair and stuck to his word. He frequently offered peace and alliance to his enemies. If they submitted without a fight and swore allegiance to him, no harm would befall them and he would ensure they were treated as equals.

Having been poor, he always treated the lowest classes with dignity and fairness. He instituted a merit system of advancement, and most of his generals were common-born men who proved they could lead. His general Subotai is an example of this merit system in action, and also an example of the great trust he placed in his men. Subotai was given free command of an army and covered 90 degrees longitude as he sped across Asia and into Europe in two years. Then he returned home. This was an unprecedented feat. It took the Romans nearly 400 years to conquer the territory Genghis Khan and his generals conquered in 25. Mongol armies, sometimes even the same men, fought both European knights and Japanese Samurai; and neither the Europeans or Japanese even knew of each other's existence.

Genghis Khan was a firm believer in trade and education. After conquering an area, he would take time to interview the scholars and sages. The evidence indicates he enjoyed speaking with these people, and more importantly, he put their ideas into action to administer his new empire, or provide engineering services for his army.

The learned engineers of conquered China helped transform the Mongol army from horse archers to skilled siege masters, the weakness in steppe warrior experience that for centuries had relegated them to raid and retreat tactics. The scholars helped codify a simple, but broadly satisfying legal code. Genghis Khan's law included religious tolerance, free trade, and care for the elderly.

Believe it or not, Genghis Khan outlawed torture. This innovation did not last beyond two generations of his dynasty, but it was strictly adhered to during his reign. He also was careful to protect diplomatic envoys in his care, and expected the same courtesy in return. More than one war began when Mongol envoys were mistreated (i.e. killed and mutilated) when they were sent abroad.
Genghis Khan's fearsome reputation is a legacy of his adventure out of Central Asia into the firmly Muslim lands of Southwest Asia and the Middle East. Here he discovered a redoubtable enemy, and began the scorched earth policy that we now associate with the words "Mongol Horde." It was the Persians who called him a "scourge of God." The Arabs and Persians fought bitter campaigns to the last man, and Genghis Khan sought to crucsh this stiff resistence. The few cities which surrendered and accepted the benovolent rule of the Mongols took the trust to be a sign of weakness and erupted into open rebellion. The Mongols reurned to these rebel cities and wiped them from the face of the earth, trampling the buildings into the earth and killing all who opposed them.