Fallen Idols
History loves its heroes a little too much. We paint murals and build statues about people who probably didn't deserve the praise. Dig past the legends and you'll find frauds, tyrants, and phonies.
Douglas MacArthur
When President Truman fired him in 1951 for insubordination during the Korean War, MacArthur had been advocating for nuclear strikes against China and publicly criticizing administration policy. His farewell address to Congress, with its dramatic "old soldiers never die" line, was pure theater.
Harris & Ewing, photographer, Wikimedia Commons
Douglas MacArthur (Cont.)
It came from a man who confused personal glory with national strategy. The general's ego was legendary even among his peers. MacArthur carried a riding crop, wore custom uniforms, and insisted on being photographed from his “good side”. He wanted total victory in Korea regardless of global consequences.
Christopher Columbus
This individual catastrophically underestimated Earth's size, thinking he could reach Asia by sailing west across what he thought was a narrow ocean. When he landed in the Bahamas in 1492, he stubbornly called the natives "Indians" and spent the rest of his life insisting he'd found the East Indies.
Sebastiano del Piombo, Wikimedia Commons
Christopher Columbus (Cont.)
Columbus’s governance was so brutal that the Spanish Crown arrested him in 1500 for misrule. He enslaved thousands of indigenous people, demanded gold tributes that led to mass deaths, and established the encomienda system that justified centuries of exploitation. Even by 15th-century standards, his cruelty stood out as excessive.
Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, Wikimedia Commons
Andrew Jackson
Old Hickory signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830, defying a Supreme Court ruling that declared it unconstitutional. When Chief Justice John Marshall sided with the Cherokee Nation, Jackson allegedly responded, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it”.
Miner Kilbourne Kellogg, Wikimedia Commons
Andrew Jackson (Cont.)
This act of presidential defiance brought about the Trail of Tears. Between 1830 and 1850, around 100,000 Native Americans had to relocate from their ancestral lands in the Southeast to territories west of the Mississippi River. The Cherokee removal alone resulted in about 15,000 deaths.
Edward Dalton Marchant, Wikimedia Commons
Abraham Lincoln
The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed exactly zero enslaved folks on the day it was signed, applying only to the rebelling Confederate states where Lincoln had no actual authority. Meanwhile, slavery remained legal in loyal border states like Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri.
Alexander Gardner, Wikimedia Commons
Abraham Lincoln (Cont.)
His primary motivation was preserving the Union, not ending slavery, as he made clear in his 1862 letter to Horace Greeley. The historian stated that he would maintain slavery if it meant saving the Union. His administration also supported the proposed Corwin Amendment.
Alexander Gardner, Wikimedia Commons
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Julius Caesar
Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon in 49 BCE wasn't a brave stand for the people against corrupt senators—it was an illegal invasion to avoid prosecution for atrocities and unauthorized campaigns in Gaul. He had slaughtered and enslaved an estimated 2 million Gauls, per contemporary accounts.
Ralf Roletschek, Wikimedia Commons
Julius Caesar (Cont.)
His famous clemency toward defeated enemies was calculated political theater designed to appear magnanimous while consolidating absolute power. Caesar pardoned prominent Romans like Cicero and Brutus not from genuine mercy, but because executing respected citizens would have triggered immediate revolt.
Pic, Roger (1920-2001). Photographe, Wikimedia Commons
Al Capone
The Chicago Outfit's most famous boss carefully cultivated his image as a Robin Hood figure, opening soup kitchens during the Great Depression and positioning himself as a friend to the working class. Capone claimed he was simply providing services the government couldn't deliver, calling himself a “public benefactor”.
Wide World Photos, Chicago Bureau (Federal Bureau of Investigation)., Wikimedia Commons
Al Capone (Cont.)
Those charitable acts were public relations acts designed to buy protection and sympathy while he orchestrated the St Valentine's Day Massacre and countless other murders. Capone's empire generated approximately $60–120 million annually through bootlegging and gambling, but his soup kitchens cost him only a few thousand dollars.
Chicago Bureau (Federal Bureau of Investigation) - Wide World Photos., Wikimedia Commons
Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi's early writings from South Africa reveal deeply troubling racial attitudes that persisted throughout his life. In 1903, he wrote that white people should be "the predominating race" and described black Africans as “troublesome, very dirty, and live like animals”.
Elliott & Fry, Wikimedia Commons
Mahatma Gandhi (Cont.)
He campaigned for separate entrances in post offices—one for whites, one for Indians, and one for “Natives”. This individual’s approach to India's caste system was equally problematic, despite his later reputation as a social reformer. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who drafted India's constitution, accused Gandhi of “double-dealing”.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
Buffalo Bill
This famous figure turned the exploitation of Native American defeats into entertainment through his Wild West shows, which toured America and Europe from 1883 to 1913. The spectacles featured "Indian attacks" on stagecoaches and cavalry rescues, essentially forcing Native Americans to reenact their own defeat.
Burke-Koretke Photo Chicago, Wikimedia Commons
Buffalo Bill (Cont.)
The irony runs deeper than mere exploitation. Many of the Native American performers in Cody's shows were actual veterans of conflicts like the Battle of the Little Bighorn, now reduced to playing caricatures of themselves for survival. Cody paid them wages while simultaneously profiting from such narratives.
Chicago Tribune, Wikimedia Commons
Thomas Edison
Did you know that this famous American employed a team of researchers at his Menlo Park laboratory who actually developed most of “his” innovations? The phonograph, incandescent bulb improvements, and motion picture camera emerged from collaborative efforts, yet Edison's name appeared on over 1,000 patents.
Levin C. Handy (per http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cwpbh.04326), Wikimedia Commons
Thomas Edison (Cont.)
His ruthless business tactics included publicly electrocuting animals to discredit rival George Westinghouse's alternating current system. Edison organized demonstrations where he electrocuted dogs, cats, and even an elephant named Topsy in 1903, hoping to prove AC power was dangerous.
Louis Bachrach, Bachrach Studios, restored by Michel Vuijlsteke, Wikimedia Commons
Ronald Reagan
Everyone’s "Great Communicator" remained conspicuously silent during the early AIDS epidemic. He refused to publicly mention the disease until 1985—four years after the first cases appeared. By then, over 5,800 Americans had died. Reagan's press secretary, Larry Speakes, actually joked about "gay plague" during White House briefings.
Ronald Reagan (Cont.)
Such a move reflected the administration's callous indifference to a public health crisis. Reagan's War on Drugs resulted in the US prison population nearly tripling during his presidency, from 500,000 to 1.3 million inmates. His administration's focus on mandatory minimum sentences disproportionately affected minority communities.
Michael Evans, Wikimedia Commons
Alexander The Great
By age 30, Alexander had conquered an empire stretching from Greece to India. Still, his supposed genius lay more in inheriting his father Philip II's revolutionary military machine. Philip had already created the Macedonian phalanx, trained the army, and planned the Persian invasion before his assassination.
Antonio de Pereda, Wikimedia Commons
Alexander The Great (Cont.)
Alexander's empire collapsed immediately after his demise in 323 BCE because he never established sustainable governance systems. His generals fought brutal succession wars for decades, carving up territories and wrecking the unity he claimed to develop. At the mass graves at Tyre, he crucified 2,000 survivors.
Unknown creatorUnknown creator, Wikimedia Commons
Napoleon Bonaparte
The legend who supposedly championed liberty across Europe actually reinstated slavery in French colonies in 1802, reversing the abolition that had occurred during the Revolution. This decision condemned hundreds of thousands of people back into slavery. It showcased the hollowness of his egalitarian rhetoric.
Jacques-Louis David, Wikimedia Commons
Napoleon Bonaparte (Cont.)
Bonaparte’s self-coronation as Emperor in 1804 also demonstrated his complete abandonment of republican ideals. He crafted a new aristocracy, established a secret police, and censored the press while claiming to spread freedom across Europe. The ruler’s battles killed around 6 million people.
Andrea Appiani, Wikimedia Commons
J Edgar Hoover
From 1924 to 1972, Hoover wielded unprecedented power, being celebrated as the FBI’s heroic Director. Well, he survived eight different presidents only through a combination of blackmail, political intelligence, and carefully cultivated public relations. Besides, Hoover maintained secret files on every central political figure.
Harris & Ewing, photographer, Wikimedia Commons
J Edgar Hoover (Cont.)
How? By using personal scandals and alleged Communist connections to destroy careers and maintain his position. Hoover's FBI harassed civil rights leaders, with Martin Luther King Jr receiving death threats that investigators traced back to Bureau operations. The COINTELPRO program infiltrated many political organizations.
Marion S. Trikosko, Wikimedia Commons
Richard The Lionheart
Modern estimates suggest Richard I spent only six months of his ten-year reign actually ruling England, preferring crusading adventures and continental wars to governing his kingdom. He bankrupted the royal treasury through excessive taxation to fund his military campaigns, selling offices and castles.
Richard The Lionheart (Cont.)
During the Third Crusade, the individual ordered the massacre of 2,700 Muslim prisoners at Acre in 1191 after negotiations broke down, an act that shocked even his medieval contemporaries. Richard’s supposed chivalry extended only to fellow Christian nobles—he showed no mercy to civilians.
Merry-Joseph Blondel, Wikimedia Commons
Che Guevara
Viewed as a hero by some for anti-imperialism, the romantic revolutionary image on countless t-shirts masks Guevara's role as executioner at La Cabana fortress. Here, he personally oversaw the deaths of numerous political prisoners after Castro's victory. Former prisoners described him as cold and methodical.
Alberto Diaz Gutierrez (Alberto Korda), Wikimedia Commons
Che Guevara (Cont.)
Every radical movement Guevara attempted after Cuba ended in spectacular failure. His campaigns in the Congo and Bolivia collapsed due to his complete disconnection from local conditions and populations. In Bolivia, he alienated potential allies through arrogance and cultural insensitivity.
Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons
Paul Revere
Longfellow's 1861 poem Paul Revere's Ride converted a relatively minor participant into the sole hero of April 18, 1775, when in reality dozens of riders carried warnings that night. British patrols captured Revere before he could complete his mission.
John Singleton Copley, Wikimedia Commons
Paul Revere (Cont.)
The historical Revere was indeed a skilled silversmith and active patriot, but his contribution to the Revolution was far more modest than popular mythology suggests. He failed in his military service during the disastrous Penobscot Expedition of 1779 and was court-martialed for cowardice.
Internet Archive Book Images, Wikimedia Commons
Robert E Lee
Postwar mythology shaped Lee into a reluctant hero torn between loyalty and principle, but his own writings bring to light a person deeply committed to preserving slavery. In an 1856 letter, he described it as “a greater evil to the white than to the black race”.
Julian Vannerson, Wikimedia Commons
Robert E Lee (Cont.)
This was not because it harmed slaves, but because it supposedly corrupted white society. Lee's "genteel" image breaks when examining his treatment of such individuals on his Arlington estate. He frequently separated families through sales, whipped escapees, and refused to honor his father-in-law's will that promised freedom.
Levin Corbin Handy / Adam Cuerden, Wikimedia Commons
Benito Mussolini
Il Duce's propaganda machine convinced many that he "made the trains run on time," but Italian railway records show no significant improvements during his rule. This myth persisted because Mussolini understood that public perception mattered more than actual performance, carefully staging photo opportunities.
Benito Mussolini (Cont.)
His alliance with Hitler wasn't an ideological commitment but desperate opportunism after years of military disasters. Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia required poison gas to defeat poorly equipped African forces. His Greek campaign ended in humiliating retreat, and his North African adventures collapsed without German support.
Unknown authorUnknown author, Wikimedia Commons
Winston Churchill
The Bengal Famine of 1943 killed approximately 3 million Indians while Churchill diverted food supplies to build stockpiles for British troops and Greek civilians. When officials pleaded for relief shipments, Churchill callously asked why Gandhi hadn't died yet and blamed Indians for “breeding like rabbits”.
Unknown author., Wikimedia Commons
Winston Churchill (Cont.)
This historian’s reputation as democracy's defender ignores his lifelong opposition to Indian independence and his use of concentration camps during the Boer War. He advocated using poison gas against "uncivilized tribes" in Iraq and supported forced sterilization of the "feeble-minded" in Britain.
Yousuf Karsh, Wikimedia Commons
PT Barnum
Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth built its fortune on exploiting people with disabilities and medical conditions, displaying them as "freaks" for public entertainment. He exhibited Joice Heth, an elderly enslaved woman he falsely claimed was George Washington's 161-year-old nurse.
unattributed, Wikimedia Commons
PT Barnum (Cont.)
When she died, he sold tickets to her public autopsy to continue profiting from her exploitation. The "Prince of Humbugs" openly admitted that deception was his business model, allegedly declaring, "There's a sucker born every minute”. His American Museum featured fake mermaids, rigged games, and doctored specimens.
Brady-Handy Photograph Collection (Library of Congress), Wikimedia Commons
Ulysses S Grant
The Whiskey Ring scandal of 1875 depicted how Grant's administration had become a playground for tax evaders and corrupt officials. His private secretary, Orville Babcock, was at the center of a conspiracy that defrauded the government of millions in revenue.
Ulysses S Grant (Cont.)
Grant's blind loyalty to Babcock nearly ruined his presidency when he intervened to prevent his friend's prosecution. His military tactics during the Civil War relied heavily on attrition, earning him the grim nickname "Butcher Grant" from both Union and Confederate observers.
Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons
Charlemagne
Through organized campaigns of cultural annihilation and conversion, the "Father of Europe" established his kingdom. Most notable is the 30-year Saxon Wars that culminated in the slaughter of 4,500 Saxon prisoners at Verden. As part of his Christian mission, Charlemagne destroyed pagan temples and banned customs.
Louis-Félix Amiel, Wikimedia Commons
Charlemagne (Cont.)
His famous coronation as Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day 800 CE was likely a calculated political maneuver by Pope Leo III to legitimize papal authority. Charlemagne reportedly claimed he would never have entered St. Peter's Basilica had he known the Pope's intentions, but this protestation rings hollow.
