22 Historical Figures Who Sucked Pretty Hard

Winston Churchill was a hero to some, but definitely not all
22 Historical Figures Who Sucked Pretty Hard

They say you should never meet your heroes, and one way to avoid that is by only idolizing historical figures. Literally just pick a guy lauded by your history teacher and form a stan subculture around them, because dead people can never disappoint you by being a jerk when you run into them in public or becoming the subject of sexual misconduct allegations. As an added bonus, you can make a pretty good career out of being a historical stan.

The problem with historical figures is that the time they were living in was way worse than ours. It was just easier to be considered a good guy in the 18th century, when all you had to do was not beat your slaves. Even if they were actually an unredeemable asshole, it was probably glossed over by your history teacher because they didn’t think middle schoolers could handle nuance.

Either way, history is full of correct answers to the question user Sufficient-Citron269 posed to r/AskReddit, “Which historical figure is mistakenly idolized?”

2y ago Julius Caesar was to ROMAN standards, a monster. ROMAN STANDARDS.
AlpacaFarmerCSGO 2y ago Mike Tyson. Very popular rapist.
2y ago John Wayne, he's was a racist and disrespected native Americans
Howdydobe 2y ago Dr.Suess he hated kids, and cheated on his wife so much she killed herself, then within weeks he married the woman he was cheating on her with.
Fanfrenhag . 2y ago Alexander Graham Bell Не did not invent the telephone at all but stole it from a poor but brilliant Italian named Antonio Meucci who could not afford to pay for the patent
ExpensiveDot1732 . 2y ago Coco Chanel. Fashion icon? Yes. N*azi sympathizer? BIG YES. Also apparently not the most up-and-up individual in general. Go read up on her.
drinkallthecoffee 2y ago Mao Zedong. Before you say that he's not mistakenly idolized because nobody in the West idolizes him, remember that there are over a billion Chinese people who think he was the bees knees.
Fritzo2162 2y ago George Washington- Не was a terrible general and made most of his advancements from luck or unintended circumstance. Не literally Mr. Magoo-ed his way into the history books.
VerbalChains 2y ago Woodrow Wilson. Often remembered for coming up with the League of Nations idea, he was a super racist religious fundamentalist weirdo.
FumingOstrich35 . 2y ago Andrew Jackson. Committed full-on genocide of Native American, but remembered as a rags-to-riches and valiant president and general.
Daug17 2y ago Che guavara- he was a socialist dictator, killed thousands of people including homosexuals and dissidents. Yet some people seem to think he is a socialism idol.
Smallgreatthings 2y ago Ned Kelly. A con artist, murderer and violent gang member. In Australia he is an idolised bush ranger, with people tattooing his final words, bumper stickers etc. A movie was made with Heath Ledger, glorifying his life.
Boat_svain 2y ago The historical figure most often mistakenly idolized is Christopher Columbus. Despite his contributions to the exploration of the New World, he was also a violent colonizer who brutally subjugated and enslaved native inhabitants. For this reason, he should not be celebrated as a hero but instead should be remembered as a figure whose actions resulted in the suffering of many.
Euphoric-Hyena8926 2y ago Andrew Carnegie. Absolutely horrible man. Treated his workers like shit, but he always had a scapegoat and would claim ignorance. Then, when he got old and thought he was probably going to hell, he started donating money and building public spaces so he could buy his way into heaven. Told all his friends to do the same.
MrPinkSheet 2y ago Winston Churchill. Don't think it's a secret at this point that the guy was a massive prick. That being said, I'll recognise that he was a man of his time and the man the allies needed to win the war. But the atrocities he committed get swept under the rug a bit too much (Famine in India, Black and tans in Ireland etc.). For some he was a hero, for others... well he might as well have been Hitler.
1angryravenclaw 2y ago Margaret Sanger. I know many disagree with me, that's fine. I'd welcome insightful comments. I do think it's dangerously disingenuous to hail someone as the leader of reproductive rights for women -- someone who was a known eugenicist who encouraged abortion for people she deemed genetically weak or unfit. If famous people who did amazing things but also owned slaves are not be revered in America, it makes sense to me that someone who supported forced sterilization bills should also go without respect.
GoatWithWeapon 2y ago Unpopular opinion, but it's Ghandi, he apparently was a racist (against black people) and he was an extreme pacifist, even as far as saying that the Jews should've surrendered to the no no Germans
MaliciousPorpoise 2y ago Edited 2y ago Mother Teresa was apparently a bitch. Over a third of her patients received inadequate care. Conditions there were likened to nazi concentration camps. She actively campaigned against the use of condoms during the aids epidemic. When she fell ill she ran away to California for care, instead of staying in one of her death traps. Here's a quote from her: There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ's Passion. The world gains much from their suffering.
2y ago Edited 2y ago King Richard I aka Richard the Lionheart. Не is held in a high regard but he was actually a bad king. Не had no interest in governing and his attention span was limited to killing people in warfare. Не was regarded as a cruel leader (even by the standards of the 12th century) and is only held in high regard because the monks liked his crusading and because the Victorians considered him an empire builder. I should also point out that, despite being born in Oxford, Richard I did not consider himself English and
Kkikuks 2y ago Thomas Edison. Не was nothing more than a money hungry guy who stole the ideas of him competitors. Не burned down Teslas laboratory and killed an elephant to show people how dangerous Teslas idea was. Funnily enough the electricity we use today is the one that Tesla was vouching for.
OxVali_ 2y ago Steve Jobs. Not only was he incredibly mean and cruel to his coworkers and employees, he also essentially stole credit for everything that was achieved under the name Apple. Не had no particular skills that aided him in succeeding other than to take credit for others accomplishments.
BillClington 2y ago Keanu Reeves. Since when did we start worshipping vampires?

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