The Quiet Ones: 12 Leaders Who Get Things Done

Elizabeth Warren
Senate candidate, Massachusetts

What She's Done As chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, Warren exposed the Bush administration for giving big banks a secret handout worth $78 billion. Then she midwifed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau into law, creating a host of new protections for average Americans. Now, attempting to oust Wall Street darling Scott Brown, Warren has unabashedly embraced Occupy Wall Street's fight to hold the nation's big banks accountable for their crimes. "There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own," says Warren, a registered Republican into her forties. "Nobody."

Admirers Say "She's become the leading voice in our country on behalf of consumers," said Barack Obama, "and she's done it while facing some very tough opposition."

Enemies Say Karl Rove's outfit, Crossroads GPS, calls her a frontwoman for "extreme left" protesters who "attack police, do drugs and trash public parks."

Gives Us Pause Her intelligence and solution-oriented approach may be wasted on the Senate.