
Don N. answered 08/13/16
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Tom is not really chosen to be leader. Usually, he steps into a situation and takes command, or he initiates the activity (moving to Jackson Island to live as a pirate or, at the end of the book, starting Tom Sawyer's Gang). His vivid imagination and enthusiasm for adventure enable him to rouse the other boys' interest. He has a lot of insight into human psychology, which enables him to convince the other boys to beg him for the chance to do his work (whitewashing the fence). Tom is a natural leader (even Judge Thatcher hails him as such at the end of the book), someone the others are happy to follow.