10 Worst Admirals In Star Trek
5. Leyton - Homefront/Paradise Lost
Admiral Leyton shares something in common with several other people on this list. He acted in accordance with his own moral code, though that code displayed no respect for the accepted Rule of Law. Instigating a coup d'etat against Federation President Jaresh Inyo came from Leyton's dogged certainty that the Dominion were a far greater threat than the Alpha Quadrant was ready to admit.
In Leyton's case though, there was a reminder of why Starfleet existed as it did. When his intentions became known, even his most loyal supporters deserted him. Captain Benteen of the USS Lakota was sent to engage the USS Defiant, en route to Earth with proof of Leyton's plot. When it came to crunch time though, she refused the order to destroy the other vessel.
A military take-over of Earth would have shattered the illusion of paradise, something that Leyton truly believed was for the best at the time. He argued that the common Federation civilian had no concept of the efforts that went into safeguarding them, yet as Captain Sisko argued, it wasn't quite that simple.
Several years later, the Breen armada was able to ambush Starfleet Headquarters, even with fleets orbiting the planet. Leyton may have envisioned a ball in the sky surrounded by an impenetrable shield, but the isolationism and militarism would not serve him, nor Earth, in the long run.