@PolAmKrakow, male rulers did all kinds of nasty and stupid things too (and simply evil things), including killing their family, wives, etc or such "trifles" like genocide of millions of people (Hitler to just name one). But since men, unlike women, were allowed to rule for thousands of years - you have also a number of good examples to choose from.
As for Elizabeth - she's one of the most famous rulers of England, her rule marked a golden age in the history of her country, as far as I understand and a whole epoch was named after her:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan_era
So how she's "not exactly a great example"?
From another article in Wikipedia:
""She is only a woman, only mistress of half an island," marvelled Pope Sixtus V, "and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, by France, by the Empire, by all". Under Elizabeth, the nation gained a new self-confidence and sense of sovereignty, as Christendom fragmented. Elizabeth was the first Tudor to recognise that a monarch ruled by popular consent. She therefore always worked with parliament and advisers she could trust to tell her the truth-a style of government that her Stuart successors failed to follow."
Catherine stabbed her husband in the back to get the throne.
With the backing of the nobility, the clergy, the army, etc. from what I understand. Her husband apparently hated RuSSia and preferred Prussia. Poles are no fans of her for obvious reasons, but she wasn't called "Great" for nothing. Perhaps you should read up about her:
britannica.com/biography/Catherine-the-Great