Who's the better starship captain?

Kirk is a better "star ship" captain while Picard is a better officer and more likely to be an Admiral

This is a ridiculously arbitrary poll, and my suspicion is people are voting for whichever actor they grew up with.

Also, the categories are clearly lacking.

Where is the "Most alien women bedded?" or "most omnipotent computers short-cicuited thru human logic?" and "most able to beat a Vulcan at chess?"

Captain Kirk is clearly the mold from which Picard & Riker were cast. They were supposed to be two halfs of Kirk's whole in the original character thumnail bios.

Kirk rules, and Stewart is by far the better Shakespearean actor. But despite Nick Meyer's attempts, Star Trek is not Shakespeare.

Why do you think the entire Federation adopted the Enterprise insignia (the "delta shield" to JJ,K+O fanboys) after the 5 year mission? It's because Kirk rules the Federation! He is THE archytype for all starship captains.

Not to mention the "Which captain has surrendered more often?" question. Picard wins that hands down...

Ignoring all the silly catagories that really have nothing to do with leadership or military command, Picard is clearly better suited as a Star Ship Captain. Kirk might have made a fine first officer but his continuous habit of placing himself in harms way (there is a reason commander's seldom stand on the front line), and his inability to listen to the very experts Star Fleet gave him are two shining reasons why Picard was better suited for command. True, Kirk is more entertaining but the question was "Whos the better commander?", not "Who's the better character?" Being 51 I grew up with Kirk, Spock & Bones and would never trade them for anyone else, but being a 20 year military man I would choose Picard over Kirk as my commander.

personally, i'm not sure a strait comparison is really possible. i think it best to compare each to era they represented. in this case kirk is the obvious winner. kirk's enterprise, under his leadership, broke more ground for righteousness, independent freedoms, and minority awareness, among many other things. picard's enterprise only took all the themes set by kirk's enterprise and repackaged them with a bit more sophistication.

live long and prosper everyone!

However, each of them were a product of their respective times. Since Kirk had to lead his crew into the unknown, so he had no time for much discussion on how to proceed in a situation from members of the crew. Since he and his officers were likely to have the pertinent information, the crew needed to get in line and follow orders. Picard on the other hand, is navigating the political landscape of what Kirk and others before him have discovered, so he has to think first before acting, and gain as much insight into a situation as possible before making a decision that could put lives in jeopardy, even if it means getting his barber's point of view. I would say if it was situational, I would rather have Kirk kicking ass and taking names if we were under attack, and Picard in my corner if I needed to figure out just what the damn Romulans were up to before unleashing the pain. Just my 2 cents!

Both captains were truly great. Each provided Star Fleet with exactly what they needed in his respective era. But lets face it, in a fair fight Kirk would have kicked the shit out of Picard and his entire staff, with the possible exception of Data. Kirk's the best, hands down.

Being in my 50's, I grew up with Kirk, Spock, and "Bones." However, it was Spock that kept me watching and caused me to join the letter-writing campaign that extended the original series. I always felt that if it weren't for Spock's subtle "nudges" to Kirk - "Analysis suggests his tactical thinking is TWO DIMENSIONAL" - Kirk would have his head handed to him on a platter many times.

Kirk = W
Picard = O

Here it is in a nutshell: Kirk would win in hand to hand combat with Picard, Picard would win in ship to ship combat with Kirk (equal ships, Not 1701-D or 1701-E against 1701 or 1701-A), but think of it this way, who would have been more successful in the others' era? Picard wins.

This is the absolutely worst comparison of captains ever. It's so obviously biased towards Picard, who despite his so called good, Shakespearean acting, is about as devoid of heart and soul as kirk is of standard, good acting.

TNG was what I grew up with, but after I discovered the original series, it was like a eating a mango after a stale piece of bread. nothing beats original series. in combat, starship or otherwise, kirk would totally win. heck, kirk's crewmen are way better than picard and his crew put together. kirk. hands down.

There is a good point made - a captain is only as good as his crew. I think that Kirk commanded the tighter crew with the exception of the Ensign Johnsons (red jacket) and even they gave their lives to protect their captain and crew. Kirk's crew never backed down or refused an order, trusting that their captain would ultimately win out. Picard's crew never wimped out, but they did get conflicted and there was that whole - the captain has lost his mind - Borg period.

Kirk had moments of hamminess but also moments of glory; his dynamic range was greater than Picard's, in my opinion. Same with the episodes of their respective shows: TNG may have been more consistent, but they never had anything like "City on the Edge of Forever." I'd rather serve under Picard for the consistency and sagacity of his decisions, but I think I'd rather BE Kirk.

picard is an engineer/scientific minded person. he would have succeed if he was literally space ship capatain.
kirk is a macho, high self-esteem person. he would be get killed or slaved in a cave, if it was for real.

Kirk would have bent Picard over and showed him the true meaning of "live long and prosper!"

This is an easy one,

James T. Kirk is the best man, Picard is nothing more than a politician, it has little to do with the actor, but what or whom they represent.

Kirk represents the man in all of us, Strong, bold, courageous tough yet still needs a womans touch ocassionally (O.K. every episode).
Picard would have been a Affirmative action Homosexual placed into position (no pun) above Kirk by an Admiral that didn't like Kirk and knew of his disdain toward feminine men.
If you look through history, the successful ones are like Kirk, straight forward, says what they mean, a man to be feared mentally and militarily. Where-as now-a-days Picard would be like our current president, considered weak, elusive and willing to sacrifice his principles for marginal success.
Kirk = total victory.

As a woman, I find Picard much more appealing as a human being and a man; Picard is thoughtful and sensitive and drinks Earl Grey; Kirk carries out juvenile male fantasies of bravado and conquest and probably drinks beer. But if we compare First Officers, Spock wins hands and fingers down. Riker is a better director than actor.