Archer is an ignorant, arrogant prick, and Janeway is a psychopath.
That leaves Kirk, Picard and Sisko.
Sisko is a badass, but he crossed the line when he used the bio weapon on the Maquis colony.
Kirk is too much of a cowboy. (jarjarkirk is an arsehole, and is naturally disqualified, because jar jar abrams)
My favourite is Picard.
Q was captain and admiral of the Enterprise a couple of times. Nog was a captain in the future. Their are many captains who had small roles as captain. Data was a excellent captain when they made the space net to detect Romulans.
I want to say Jean-Luc Picard, but he did not defeat the Borg where Janeway did. She also had to fight and survive with no help from Star fleet. I would gather what she learned from years fighting the Borg, certainly helped out Star fleet, should the Borg ever have come back. Not only dealing with Q but having to tackle the Krenim Imperium temporal weaponry, again, no help from Star Fleet. She had far more to contend with with less backup and resources.
It was the late 60’s in our world, on this side of the worm hole, so free love and multracial issues were in full swing. Kirk was a product of his time.
@ibstubro He was cheesy in Star Trek. I thought he was great in Boston Legal. I like him. I like him on talk shows, I find his opinions interesting, I like his enthusiasm for life, for work, and for his friendships.