© Getty Images

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton -

There was not much love lost between Thomas Jefferson, America's first secretary of state, and Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury. The pair held diametrically opposed views regarding the role of a central government in the newly formed United States, with Jefferson advocating for states' rights and an agrarian society, while Hamilton favored an economy built on industry and commerce. Things were not made any easier by their obvious differences in personality.

© Getty Images

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton -

Despite being polar opposites, both men agreed to work together for the greater good of the country, and to appease the president, George Washington, who was becoming increasingly exasperated with their sniping and public put-downs.

© Getty Images

Nelson Mandela and P.W. Botha -

P.W. Botha was minister of community development and coloured affairs when Nelson Mandela was jailed in 1962. Throughout his incarceration, the South African government pursued its hardline policy of systematic racial segregation.

© Getty Images

Nelson Mandela and P.W. Botha -

In 1984, Botha became president. In 1989 and still behind bars, Mandela met Botha. The jailed African National Congress leader treated his VIP 'guest' with deference, his ethos of reconciliation already manifest despite having by then spent 26 years as a prisoner of the state.

© Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X -

As one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for non-violent protest in order to get his message across. Malcolm X, on the other hand, was more revolutionary in his approach, urging his followers to achieve freedom, justice, and equality "by any means necessary."

© Getty Images

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X -

The two men met only once, in Washington, D.C. on March 26, 1964, during the Senate hearing on the Civil Rights Act. Crossing paths with the civil rights leader somewhat mellowed Malcolm X. He'd already left the Nation of Islam and soon expressed a willingness to work with King and others in the movement. The following year, on February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated. King met a similar fate, on April 4, 1968.

© Getty Images

Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin -

The Second World War saw a number of uneasy alliances forged between powerful and ideologically opposed figures. Winston Churchill was a staunch anti-communist yet found himself aligned with Joseph Stalin, a totalitarian communist dictator.

© Getty Images

Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin -

Theirs was an alliance of necessity, a fight against fascism in Europe and the likes of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Their distrust of one another was palpable, but cooperation between the British and Soviet leaders was vital in order to secure an Allied victory.

© Getty Images

Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat -

Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt, and Menachem Begin, the prime minister of Israel, were leaders of nations that for decades had been at war with each other. Egypt was one of several Arab countries that invaded Israel in 1948, marking the beginning of the Arab–Israeli conflict. In 1973, the Yom Kippur War resulted in an Israeli victory and prompted Sadat to initiate peace negotiations to end the long-running conflict. The two men agreed to meet at Camp David, the US presidential retreat in Maryland.

© Getty Images

Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat -

Twelve days of secret negotiations between Begin and Sadat resulted in the Camp David Accords, a series of agreements brokered by President Jimmy Carter that led to the two countries signing a peace treaty in Washington the following year. Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 for their contributions to the agreements.

© Getty Images

John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson -

John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson were two of the most prominent figures in early 19th-century US politics. In 1824 they faced off in a bitterly contested presidential election, which Adams won in what Jackson's supporters insisted was a "corrupt bargain" (Adams was elected by the House of Representatives after Jackson won the most popular and electoral votes but failed to receive a majority).

© Getty Images

John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson -

Despite the bad blood between them, Adams and Jackson later found common ground in their concern over national unity and threats to the republic. Jackson would later secure the presidency himself, succeeding his rival in 1829.

© Getty Images

Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong -

After the Second World War, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin wielded absolute power over the Soviet Union and its east European satellites. In 1949, Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong declared the creation of the People's Republic of China.

© Getty Images

Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong -

Initially the two communists leaders found themselves at odds with each other, with both expressing different ideological and strategic views. To smooth over Sino-Soviet relations, in 1950 Mao and Stalin safeguarded the national interests of China and the Soviet Union with the Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance. This poster reads: 'Long live the steadfast friendship and partnership between the Soviet and Chinese peoples!' Mao is seen holding a book entitled 'Lenin.'

© NL Beeld

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance -

Two days after the attempt on his life, former US President Donald Trump introduced Senator J.D. Vance, a Republican from Ohio, as the Republican vice-presidential nominee during the Republican National Convention. Vance was a onetime critic of Trump, but is now one of his most ardent defenders.

© Getty Images

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance -

In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, Vance described Trump as an "idiot" and said he was "reprehensible." Privately, he compared him to Adolf Hitler. And even after Trump was ensconced in the White House the insults kept coming, with Vance insisting the president was a "total fraud." The Ohio native is now Donald Trump's running mate for the White House.

© Getty Images

Richard Nixon and Zhou Enlai -

Relations between the United States and China simmered throughout the Cold War. President Richard Nixon and Chinese premier Zhou Enlai were staunch adversaries, Nixon outspoken in his anti-communist views and Enlai scathing in his opinions about Western capitalism.

© Getty Images

Richard Nixon and Zhou Enlai -

In 1972 in a historic diplomatic breakthrough, Nixon accepted an invitation to visit China for face-to-face talks with Enlai. The meeting prompted a thaw in relations between the two countries and fundamentally changed the global geopolitical landscape.

© Getty Images

Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk -

Nelson Mandela's opposition to apartheid in South Africa and the 27 years he spent behind bars is well documented. P.W. Botha's successor F.W. de Klerk, the last president of South Africa under the apartheid regime, was a politician who initially supported the country's brutal segregation policies.

© Getty Images

Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk -

In 1989 as president of South Africa, F.W. de Klerk secretly met with Mandela, who was still in jail albeit as the most famous political prisoner in the world. The two discussed the future of South Africa and Mandela's possible release. On February 11, 1990, Mandela walked out of prison a free man. The two men subsequently worked together to dismantle apartheid and establish multiracial elections. For their efforts, they shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. The following year, Nelson Mandela succeeded de Klerk as the country's president.

© Getty Images

Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich -

In 1995, Democratic US President Bill Clinton famously clashed with Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich after Gingrich demanded Clinton approve cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs, or he would shut down the government. In another example of the antagonism that existed between the two politicians, Gingrich complained that Clinton hadn't talked to him on an Air Force One trip in early November to attend the funeral for Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. And furthermore, he'd had to exit from the back of the plane.

© Getty Images

Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich -

Despite their fierce political battles and mutual dislike of one another, Clinton and Gingrich were able to work together on a number of important legislative issues, notably welfare reform and a balanced budget agreement.

© Getty Images

George Washington and Benedict Arnold -

George Washington was commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. One of his most loyal generals during the conflict was Benedict Arnold. In 1780, however, Arnold defected to the British, his name later becoming synonymous with treason and betrayal in the United States.

© Getty Images/Public Domain 

George Washington and Benedict Arnold -

Washington was stunned, and the two men were never reconciled. After the war, American and British military leaders adopted a more conciliatory tone towards one another, a civility that eventually established full diplomatic relations between the two former adversaries.

© Getty Images/NL Beeld

Augustus (Octavian) and Mark Antony -

The rivalry between Augustus (also known as Octavian), founder of the Roman Empire and its first emperor, and the Roman politician and general Mark Antony, was extraordinary. On the one hand, they were political partners; on the other, they were rivals each vying for power.

© Getty Images

Augustus (Octavian) and Mark Antony -

Matters came to a head after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE. Augustus defeated Antony and his ally, Cleopatra of Egypt, at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE. However, before this final showdown, the two men had managed to form the Second Triumvirate with Lepidus, working together to defeat Caesar's assassins and stabilize Rome, albeit temporarily.

© Getty Images

Francis I and Suleiman the Magnificent -

One of history's most unlikely alliances was that forged between King Francis I of France and the Ottoman sultan Suleiman I. Francis, bested to the title of Holy Roman Emperor by his bitter rival Charles V of Spain, was seeking payback. He looked east for salvation.

© Getty Images

Francis I and Suleiman the Magnificent -

An alliance between a Christian kingdom and a Muslim empire was unthinkable in the 16th century, but the snubbed monarch was in no mood to follow conventional wisdom. The alliance was signed in 1536 and only formally dissolved in 1798. The French and the Ottomans would team up one last time in the Crimean War (1853–1856).

© Getty Images

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin -

The most infamous political alliance of all time was signed on August 23, 1939, when Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia shocked the world by concluding a non-aggression pact, a treaty historians would later describe as "The Devil's Alliance."

© Getty Images

Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin -

Promising not to aid each other's enemies or to engage in hostile acts against one another, in reality the two nations were in denial of the other's true intentions. On June 22, 1941, the Nazi leader launched Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. The attack would ultimately decide the Second World War. 

Sources: (AP) (CNN) (Reuters) (The Atlantic) (Time) (Britannica) 

© Getty Images