In my view, the most “colorful” (key word) historical figure of all time would have to be Will Rogers, the Oklahoma cowboy whose creed was, “I never met a man I didn’t like”: http://www.willrogers.org/wrbio.html
See also: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ro-Sc/Rogers-Will.html and Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Rogers
Will Rogers catches my attention because of his “down-to-earth” common sense philosophies and his love of the common man, a characteristic which our present-day politicians need to emulate.
Here’s some of the wisdom of Will Rogers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR_VAirKE9I