Overview
We know, of course, that Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Zheng He did not have resumes to distribute. Da Gama and Zheng might not have needed theirs even if resumes had existed in their time. King Miguel of Portugal asked da Gama to find a sea route to India by sailing around Africa. The Yongle emperor chose Zheng, a favorite servant and commander in his army, as the leader of the Ming expeditions. In contrast, Columbus struggled for nearly 10 years to find a royal sponsor for his plan to sail west to reach the Indies.