NationStates Jolt Archive

Who are the political leaders you hate the most/like the least, by region?


North America

Central America & the Caribbean

South America

Western Europe

Eastern Europe

Africa

Middle East

Central Asia

Southeast Asia

Far East

Australia/New Zealand

North America
Abraham Lincoln
Woodrow Wilson
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
James Earl Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush

Central America & the Caribbean
Papa Doc Duvalier
Baby Doc Duvalier
Fidel Castro
Daniel Ortega
Rodrigo Alberto Carazo Odio
Omar Torrijos
Efrain Rios Montt
Rafael Trujillo
Jacobo Arbenz

South America
Hugo Chavez
Salvador Allende
Carlos Andres Perez
Jorge Rafael Videla
Romulo Betancourt

Western Europe
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Charles de Gaulle
Willy Brandt
Clement Atlee
Winston Churchill
John Major
Francois Mitterand

Eastern Europe
Vladimir Lenin
Josef Stalin
Nikita Khrushchev
Leonid Brezhnev
Yuri Andropov
Konstantin Chernenko
Mikhail Gorbachev
Boris Yeltsin
Vladimir Putin
Walter Ubricht
Josip Broz Tito
Nicolae Ceauşescu
János Kádár

Africa
Idi Amin
Robert Mugabe
Haile Mariam Mengistu
Kwame Nkrumah
Julius Nyerere
Kenneth Kaunda
Sekou Toure
Daniel Malan
Johannes Strijdom
Hendrik Verwoerd
Balthazar Johannes Vorster
Muammar Quaddafi
Gamal Nasser
Agostinho Neto
Samora Machel
Jose Eduardo dos Santos
Ahmed ben Bella
Patrice Lumumba
Mobutu Sese Seko
Sam Nujoma
Thabo Mbeki

Middle East
Yasser Arafat
Hafez al-Assad

Central Asia
Mohammed Mossadegh
Ayatollah Khomeini
Saddam Hussein
Mohammed Omar
Islam Karimov
Saparmurat Niyazov

Southeast Asia
Ho Chi Minh
Pham Van Dong
Le Duc Tho
Pol Pot
Norodom Sihanouk
Hun Sen
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Jawaharlal Nehru
Ne Win
Souphanouvang
Sukarno
Suharto
Corazon Acquino

Far East
Mao Tse-tung
Chou En-lai
Deng Xiaoping
Jiang Zemin
Li Peng
Kim Il-sung
Kim Jong-il
Hideki Tojo

Australia/New Zealand
Gough Whitlam

Not that i support what Hitler did with the Jews in Europe, but he was a brilliant leader until his final moments. Granted he made some mistakes, but he brought Germany back from the brink of an economic collapse after Woral War I. Without him taking control, then nation would have broken under the stress of the huge debts and would have probably splintered off into several dozen countries. Hitler kept Germany unified and saved it from economic collapse, not to mention he conquered most of mainland Europe, so how can you say he was a bad leader? He wasn't a bad leader, he was just what germany needed, we was however a bad person.

Another note, how can you say JFK was a bad leader? Without him, the Cuban missile Crisis could have boiled over into full scale war between the Soviets and the United States.

bump

Anyone else?

the worst leaders in history?

Jimmah Carter & Bill Clinton

Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Salvador Allende

Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky

Ho chi Minh

the worst leaders in history?

Jimmah Carter & Bill Clinton

Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Salvador Allende

Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky

Ho chi Minh

Agreed, but what about Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, et. al.?

What about Stalin?

What about Stalin?

He's on my (super-ultra long) list.

North America

George Bush
Brian Mulroney

Western Europe

Adolph Hitler (3 key mistakes cost Germany WWII, and it was him who made them)
Benito Mussolini
Chamberlain

Eastern Europe

Czar Nicholas II
Josef Stalin

Africa

Charles Taylor, Col. Bagosora

Middle East

Yasser Arafat
Saddam Hussein

Southeast Asia

Pol Pot

He's on my (super-ultra long) list.

You thought Churchill was a poor leader?

You thought Churchill was a poor leader?

During World War I, he wanted to let thousands of Belgians starve to death so blame would be placed on the Germans. For providing the Belgians with food, Herbert Hoover was denounced as a "son of a bitch," by Churchill. Churchill also fawned over despots (S)Hitler and Mussolini in the 20s and into the early 30s. He was an ardent internationalist and advocate of world government.

bump

Why're people putting stalin mussilini mao pol pot and ho chi min on their lists?! their good leaders! also, i don't think anyone's put franco from spain up there yet

Why're people putting stalin mussilini mao pol pot and ho chi min on their lists?! their good leaders! also, i don't think anyone's put franco from spain up there yet

Franco saved Spain from communism and made it a thriving, prosperous country.

This is so much easier than the leaders you admire thread. :D

North America
George Washington
Brian Mulroney
Mike Harris
George W. Bush
George H.W. Bush
Ronald Reagan
Richard Nixon

Central America and the Caribbean
Fidel Castro

South America
Augusto Pinochet
Juan Peron

Western Europe
Francisco Franco
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Kaiser Willem II
Winston Churchill
King Louis IV
Napoleon

Eastern Europe
Joseph Stalin
Vladmir Lenin
Nikita Khrushev
Leonid Brezhnev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Vladmir Putin
Leonid Kuchma
Alexander Lukashenko

Africa
Idi Amin
Robert Mugabe

Middle East
King Abdullah II
Ariel Sharon
Saddam Hussein
Yasser Arafat
Shah of Iran
Ayatollah Khomeni
Hosni Mubarak

Central Asia
Gengis Khan
Kublai Khan

Southeast Asia
Pol Pot
Ho Chi Minh
General Than Shwe

Far East
Mao Tse-Tung
Jiang Zemin
Hu Jintao
Kim Il Sung
Kim Jong Il
Park Chung Hee
Hirohito

Australia/New Zealand
John Howard

Methinks Yupaenu is a Communist, and that's why he's so offended by listing Communist leaders. And I'm not even trying to be insulting either, jsyk. I'm absolutely serious.

This is so much easier than the leaders you admire thread. :D

North America
George Washington

Gotta ask why on him.

N.A.

Andrew Jackson
Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
James McGreevey (former governor of NJ)
Jefferson Davis
Vicente Fox

S.A.

Daniel Ortega
Fidel Castro

Europe

Nikita Kruschev
Joseph Stalin
Vladimir Lenin
Jacques Chirac
Louis XIV
Louis XVI
Maximillien Robespierre
Charles VI
King John I
Henry VIII
Charles VI "The Mad King"
Charles De Gaulle
Jose Maria Aznar

Asia

Mao Tse-Tung
Kim Jong-Il
Ho Chi Minh

North America-Reagan, Carter, Hoover

West Europe-Hitler, Chamberlain, Mussolini, Franco

East Europe/Russia-Ceascescu, Stalin, almost any of the Romanovs, Gorbachev, Yeltsin

Asia-Pol Pot, Tojo, Mao

South America/Carribean-Hugo Chavez, Batista, Papa Doc, Baby Doc

Gotta ask why on him.
I don't really know. I just don't like him. I think he's overrated, and people are led to believe that he was great, but he was an elitist and a slave owner, and he gave America the republic that's causing problems today.

I've noticed a lot of people are saying Stalin - and Roach-Busters even put every leader of the Soviet Union on his list. Ok, so he killed millions of his own people, and effectively started the Cold War. Bad. But on the first count he wasn't the only one who had control over this. Lavrenti Beria (head of the secret police) carried out many (certainly over 10 million) executions/deportations (to the gulags) during Stalin's time in power. The Cold War came out of Stalin's paranoia. He didn't trust anyone - let alone the only other superpower in the world (which just happened to be the most anti-Communist society in the world at the time, with the possible exception of Spain). So it's hardly surprising he thought they may try to attack.
And as for every leader of the Soviet Union - under the Tsars, Russia, with the largest labour base in the world at the time, was an industrial backwater compared to Britain, America, France, Germany etc. Lenin, and later Stalin, took it from that to one of only two world superpowers. They can't have been that bad, surely? Also under the Tsarist regime, Russia was being humiliated in the First World War by a German army fighting on two fronts simultaneously. Lenin took them out of this war (admittedly with the humiliating treaty of Brest-Litovsk), but that was after America had joined the war - he knew Germany wouldn't be able to win a war against Britain, France, Italy and America, and after the inevitable German defeat, he would be able to get not only all of Russia's lost lands back, but also, most likely, more. Which he did.
Then, the Second World War - who liberated the Nazi concentration camps? Who were the first soldiers into Berlin (apart from the Germans :p )? Answer: the Soviet Union, under the rule of one Iosef Vissarionovich Stalin. So were Lenin and Stalin really such bad rulers?

Remember - an evil ruler is not necessarily a bad ruler.

I've noticed a lot of people are saying Stalin - and Roach-Busters even put every leader of the Soviet Union on his list. Ok, so he killed millions of his own people, and effectively started the Cold War. Bad. But on the first count he wasn't the only one who had control over this. Lavrenti Beria (head of the secret police) carried out many (certainly over 10 million) executions/deportations (to the gulags) during Stalin's time in power. The Cold War came out of Stalin's paranoia. He didn't trust anyone - let alone the only other superpower in the world (which just happened to be the most anti-Communist society in the world at the time, with the possible exception of Spain). So it's hardly surprising he thought they may try to attack.
And as for every leader of the Soviet Union - under the Tsars, Russia, with the largest labour base in the world at the time, was an industrial backwater compared to Britain, America, France, Germany etc. Lenin, and later Stalin, took it from that to one of only two world superpowers. They can't have been that bad, surely? Also under the Tsarist regime, Russia was being humiliated in the First World War by a German army fighting on two fronts simultaneously. Lenin took them out of this war (admittedly with the humiliating treaty of Brest-Litovsk), but that was after America had joined the war - he knew Germany wouldn't be able to win a war against Britain, France, Italy and America, and after the inevitable German defeat, he would be able to get not only all of Russia's lost lands back, but also, most likely, more. Which he did.
Then, the Second World War - who liberated the Nazi concentration camps? Who were the first soldiers into Berlin (apart from the Germans :p )? Answer: the Soviet Union, under the rule of one Iosef Vissarionovich Stalin. So were Lenin and Stalin really such bad rulers?

Remember - an evil ruler is not necessarily a bad ruler.


Vladimir Iliyich Ulyanov was a brilliant leader and a great man, as was Trotsky. Stalin was a psychopath, and the CCCP industrialized at heavy cost due to him. We also suffered staggering casualties in the Patriotic War because of Stalin's lunacy.

Vladimir Iliyich Ulyanov was a brilliant leader and a great man, as was Trotsky. Stalin was a psychopath, and the CCCP industrialized at heavy cost due to him. We also suffered staggering casualties in the Patriotic War because of Stalin's lunacy.
I don't think psychopath is fair - he was extremely paranoid. Yes, the industrialisation was at heavy cost, but it was better than the alternative - being crushed by America after World War Two. And yes, I can't argue with the unnecessary casualties - I think it was around 26 million wasn't it? But the one positive that came out of it was that it worked. Hitler's lunacy didn't work.

as a political leader, Hitler was pretty good, he managed to get a cult following, was a great public speaker, took Germany from economic ruin to being extremely powerful...

doesnt stop the guy from being an evil **** whose grave i would piss on though...

Who are the political leaders you hate the most/like the least, by region?

People, people, please read the above. ^

This is about who you hate/dislike, not how good or bad someone was as a politician.

People, people, please read the above. ^

This is about who you hate/dislike, not how good or bad someone was as a politician.


Aha, I see. So out of curiosity, why did you list guys like Khruschev and Putin and Andropov and Lenin? Gorbachev was an ass clown, and I understand Stalin, and Yeltsin was just a god damn drunk, but what of the others?

People, people, please read the above. ^

This is about who you hate/dislike, not how good or bad someone was as a politician.
i just read the topic title, you should have called it "Which political leaders in history do you not like (by region)?"

meh

Aha, I see. So out of curiosity, why did you list guys like Khruschev and Putin and Andropov and Lenin? Gorbachev was an ass clown, and I understand Stalin, and Yeltsin was just a god damn drunk, but what of the others?

Khrushchev: Hungarian revolt

Andropov: Blegh

Lenin: Executed tens of thousands of 'enemies of the state,' caused millions to starve with this asinine 'War Communism,' is the father of modern terrorism, set up one of the most totalitarian police states in history, etc.

Putin: Reviving the old dictatorship

North America
George W. Bush - Most presidents had flaws, but at least they had the decency to hide them until their second term.

Central America & the Caribbean
Fidel Castro - Never the same after Che died.

South America
General Augusto Pinochet - look at the trial

Western Europe
Adolf Hitler - :mad:

Eastern Europe
Josef Stalin - Worst mass murderer of all time

Africa
Robert Mugabe - At least previous racists could claim they thought it a good thing - Mugabe has seen its atrocities and continues to commit them

Middle East
Yasser Arafat - need I say more

Central Asia
Ayatollah Khomeini

Southeast Asia
Pol Pot - Was it 1 million of his own? And he was an English teacher!

Far East
Kim Jong-il

Australia/New Zealand
Gough Whitlam - No other choice

North America Lyndon Johnson

Central America & the Caribbean Papa Doc Duvalier

South America Augusto Pinochet

Western Europe Adolf Hitler

Eastern Europe Josef Stalin

Africa Idi Amin

Middle East King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz

Central Asia Mullah Omar

Southeast Asia Pol Pot / Suharto (tie)

Far East Mao Tse Tung

Australia/New Zealand John Howard

Aha, I see. So out of curiosity, why did you list guys like Khruschev and Putin and Andropov and Lenin? Gorbachev was an ass clown, and I understand Stalin, and Yeltsin was just a god damn drunk, but what of the others?
I put Khrushev and Brezhnev on the list because they were authoritarian pricks and I don't like them.

I put Lenin on there because he was in reality an enemy of the left. His actions are anything but left wing. He banned opposition parties, and attacked the Makhnovists. His policies of War Communism were horrible, as well.

I put Khrushev and Brezhnev on the list because they were authoritarian pricks and I don't like them.

I put Lenin on there because he was in reality an enemy of the left. His actions are anything but left wing. He banned opposition parties, and attacked the Makhnovists. His policies of War Communism were horrible, as well.

Khruschev was the man and compared to what preceded him, was great. Brezhnev was kind of an ass though. Lenin never claimed to be leftist I think-he was simply anti-Tsarist. Thank God for Lenin though, I hate to think what it would be like without him.

North America-Reagan, Carter, Hoover

West Europe-Hitler, Chamberlain, Mussolini, Franco

East Europe/Russia-Ceascescu, Stalin, almost any of the Romanovs, Gorbachev, Yeltsin

Asia-Pol Pot, Tojo, Mao

South America/Carribean-Hugo Chavez, Batista, Papa Doc, Baby Doc
Your list is interesting - one of the few that displays no obvious political bias (you listed both Reagan and Chavez!)

Who are the political leaders you hate the most/like the least, by region?


North America
LBJ
JFK
Truman
FDR
Woodrow Wilson
Cretain

Central America & the Caribbean
Fidel Castro

South America
don't care

Western Europe
Chirac
Petain
Degaulle (spl?)

Eastern Europe
Yeltsin

Africa
Mandela

Middle East
Arafat

Central Asia
Ghandi (annoying)

Southeast Asia
Pol Pot
Ho Chi Mihn

Far East
Kim Jong Il

Australia/New Zealand
umm, I am sure they have had some rotten apples but I just find then to inoffensive.



yes, I know I picked on lefties for the most part. They are just more annoying people. The choices above are mine, not Roach-Busters. I just haven't figured out how to use the qoute thingy correctly. stupid stupid stupid :headbang:

North America

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry Truman
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
James Earl Carter
Bill Clinton


Central America & the Caribbean
Fidel Castro

South America
Hugo Chavez
Salvador Allende

Western Europe
Adolf Hitler
Charles de Gaulle
Jaques Chirac
Neville Chamberlain
Caligula
Elagabalus


Eastern Europe
Vladimir Lenin
Josef Stalin
Nikita Khrushchev
Leonid Brezhnev
Yuri Andropov
Konstantin Chernenko
Mikhail Gorbachev
Walter Ubricht
Nicolae Ceauşescu
Alexander of Macedon


Africa
Idi Amin
Robert Mugabe
Gamal Nasser
Nelson Mandela

Middle East
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed
Abu Bakr
Caliph Omar


Central Asia
Mohammed Mossadegh
Ayatollah Khomeini
Saddam Hussein
Mohammed Omar
Dr. Shapur Bakhitar
Ghengis Khan
Tamerlane

Southeast Asia
Ho Chi Minh
Pol Pot
Suharto
Ghandi


Far East
Mao Tse-tung
Deng Xiaoping
Kim Il-sung
Kim Jong-il
Hideki Tojo

Australia/New Zealand
Don't Know

North America

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry Truman
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
James Earl Carter
Bill Clinton


Central America & the Caribbean
Fidel Castro

What about Richard Nixon and Daniel Ortega?

North America
George Bush Jr
Central America & the Caribbean
Batista

South America
Innumerable

Western Europe
Adolf Hitler

Eastern Europe
Josef Stalin

Africa
Innumerable

Middle East
Ariel Sharon, Yasser Arafat

Not that i support what Hitler did with the Jews in Europe, but he was a brilliant leader until his final moments. Granted he made some mistakes, but he brought Germany back from the brink of an economic collapse after Woral War I. Without him taking control, then nation would have broken under the stress of the huge debts and would have probably splintered off into several dozen countries. Hitler kept Germany unified and saved it from economic collapse, not to mention he conquered most of mainland Europe, so how can you say he was a bad leader? He wasn't a bad leader, he was just what germany needed, we was however a bad person.



Why is everyone saying Hitler was a bad leader! Hitler was a brilliant political leader and tactician (for the most part). Also, I agree with the fact that George Washington was a terrible leader. He was a slave owner and a very very poor General. Every major battle he commanded, the Americans lost.

Another thing, Napoleon was also not a "bad leader". He single handedly rebuilt the French economy and military and conquered much of Europe. As he went, he reformed many nations' economies so they were better then they were before. Even after his exile to St. Helena, many of these countries kept the economic reforms he created.

North America
Abraham Lincoln
Woodrow Wilson
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
James Earl Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush

Central America & the Caribbean
Papa Doc Duvalier
Baby Doc Duvalier
Fidel Castro
Daniel Ortega
Rodrigo Alberto Carazo Odio
Omar Torrijos
Efrain Rios Montt
Rafael Trujillo
Jacobo Arbenz

South America
Hugo Chavez
Salvador Allende
Carlos Andres Perez
Jorge Rafael Videla
Romulo Betancourt

Western Europe
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Charles de Gaulle
Willy Brandt
Clement Atlee
Winston Churchill
John Major
Francois Mitterand

Eastern Europe
Vladimir Lenin
Josef Stalin
Nikita Khrushchev
Leonid Brezhnev
Yuri Andropov
Konstantin Chernenko
Mikhail Gorbachev
Boris Yeltsin
Vladimir Putin
Walter Ubricht
Josip Broz Tito
Nicolae Ceauşescu
János Kádár

Africa
Idi Amin
Robert Mugabe
Haile Mariam Mengistu
Kwame Nkrumah
Julius Nyerere
Kenneth Kaunda
Sekou Toure
Daniel Malan
Johannes Strijdom
Hendrik Verwoerd
Balthazar Johannes Vorster
Muammar Quaddafi
Gamal Nasser
Agostinho Neto
Samora Machel
Jose Eduardo dos Santos
Ahmed ben Bella
Patrice Lumumba
Mobutu Sese Seko
Sam Nujoma
Thabo Mbeki

Middle East
Yasser Arafat
Hafez al-Assad

Central Asia
Mohammed Mossadegh
Ayatollah Khomeini
Saddam Hussein
Mohammed Omar
Islam Karimov
Saparmurat Niyazov

Southeast Asia
Ho Chi Minh
Pham Van Dong
Le Duc Tho
Pol Pot
Norodom Sihanouk
Hun Sen
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Jawaharlal Nehru
Ne Win
Souphanouvang
Sukarno
Suharto
Corazon Acquino

Far East
Mao Tse-tung
Chou En-lai
Deng Xiaoping
Jiang Zemin
Li Peng
Kim Il-sung
Kim Jong-il
Hideki Tojo

Australia/New Zealand
Gough Whitlam


why churchill?

RB's List
North America
Abraham Lincoln
Woodrow Wilson
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
James Earl Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush

Alright, I'll have to disagree with a lot of these. Hoover was incompetent, but you can't put him on the same list as Stalin! FDR did a brilliant job with WW2, Truman rebuilt the US economy after WW2, Eisenhower continued this, and built the highway system. Lyndon Johnson, while a complete fool and corrupt incompetent, again, isn't bad enough to be on such a list. Nixon was just a political hack, and Ford was a weakling, as was Carter, foreign policy wise. but again, none of them could qualify under "worst" status. Kennedy made a grave mistake in the Bay Of Pigs, but he did handle the missile crisis deftly. Reagan's brilliant politicking and ability to sense where to lean on the Soviets and when to cut them slack led to their downfall. George H.W. handled Iraq quite well. Clinton wasn't particularly good, but wasn't particularly bad. George W. Bush has cut taxes, boosted the economy, and succesfullly waged the War on Terror. Abraham Lincoln's strategizing, both military and political, won the civil war. Woodrow Wilson had a brilliant plan in his fourteen points, and could have prevented WW2, if he had been listened to.

North America

Harry Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
George W. Bush

Central America & the Caribbean

Fulgencio Batista
François Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier
Efrain Rios-Montt

South America

Augusto Pinochet
Jorge Rafael Videla
Alfredo Stroessner
Alvaro Uribe
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada

Western Europe

Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Francisco Franco
António Salazar
Philippe Pétain
Margaret Thatcher
Tony Blair

Eastern Europe

Josef Stalin
Boris Yeltsin
Vladimir Putin
Franjo Tuđman
Slobodan Milosevic

Africa

Ian Smith
Idi Amin
Robert Mugabe
PW Botha
Hendrik Verwoerd
Mobutu Sese Seko
Thabo Mbeki
Teodoro Obiang

Middle East

Ariel Sharon
Fahd bin Abdul Aziz
Saddam Hussein
Reza Pahlavi
Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini

Central Asia

Mohammed Omar
Islam Karimov
Saparmurat Niyazov

South Asia

Ngo Dinh Diem
Pol Pot
Atal Behari Vajpayee
General Suharto

Far East

Chiang Kai-shek
Deng Xiaoping
Jiang Zemin
Kim Il-sung
Kim Jong-il

Australia/New Zealand

John Howard

North America

Harry Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
George W. Bush

Central America & the Caribbean

Fulgencio Batista
François Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier
Efrain Rios-Montt

South America

Augusto Pinochet
Jorge Rafael Videla
Alfredo Stroessner
Alvaro Uribe
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada

Western Europe

Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Francisco Franco
António Salazar
Philippe Pétain
Margaret Thatcher
Tony Blair

Eastern Europe

Josef Stalin
Boris Yeltsin
Vladimir Putin
Franjo Tuđman
Slobodan Milosevic

Africa

Ian Smith
Idi Amin
Robert Mugabe
PW Botha
Hendrik Verwoerd
Mobutu Sese Seko
Thabo Mbeki
Teodoro Obiang

Middle East

Ariel Sharon
Fahd bin Abdul Aziz
Saddam Hussein
Reza Pahlavi
Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini

Central Asia

Mohammed Omar
Islam Karimov
Saparmurat Niyazov

South Asia

Ngo Dinh Diem
Pol Pot
Atal Behari Vajpayee
General Suharto

Far East

Chiang Kai-shek
Deng Xiaoping
Jiang Zemin
Kim Il-sung
Kim Jong-il

Australia/New Zealand

John Howard

Why don't you like Pol Pot, Stalin, the Kims or Mugabe? :confused:

the worst leaders in history?

Trotsky



Not really a leader was he though? A General and idealist mainly but he never had any political control or leadership

Why don't you like Pol Pot, Stalin, the Kims or Mugabe? :confused:
I'll take a wild stab in the dark there and guess because he's also a libertarian. :rolleyes:

They were all authoritarian rulers.

I'll take a wild stab in the dark there and guess because he's also a libertarian. :rolleyes:

They were all authoritarian rulers.

No, he's not a libertarian. He loves Ho Chi Minh, Daniel Ortega, Fidel Castro, Mao Tse-tung, Muammar Quaddafi and other totalitarian rulers.

North America
Abraham Lincoln
Woodrow Wilson
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
James Earl Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush

Central America & the Caribbean
Papa Doc Duvalier
Baby Doc Duvalier
Fidel Castro
Daniel Ortega
Rodrigo Alberto Carazo Odio
Omar Torrijos
Efrain Rios Montt
Rafael Trujillo
Jacobo Arbenz

South America
Hugo Chavez
Salvador Allende
Carlos Andres Perez
Jorge Rafael Videla
Romulo Betancourt

Western Europe
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Charles de Gaulle
Willy Brandt
Clement Atlee
Winston Churchill
John Major
Francois Mitterand

Eastern Europe
Vladimir Lenin
Josef Stalin
Nikita Khrushchev
Leonid Brezhnev
Yuri Andropov
Konstantin Chernenko
Mikhail Gorbachev
Boris Yeltsin
Vladimir Putin
Walter Ubricht
Josip Broz Tito
Nicolae Ceauşescu
János Kádár

Africa
Idi Amin
Robert Mugabe
Haile Mariam Mengistu
Kwame Nkrumah
Julius Nyerere
Kenneth Kaunda
Sekou Toure
Daniel Malan
Johannes Strijdom
Hendrik Verwoerd
Balthazar Johannes Vorster
Muammar Quaddafi
Gamal Nasser
Agostinho Neto
Samora Machel
Jose Eduardo dos Santos
Ahmed ben Bella
Patrice Lumumba
Mobutu Sese Seko
Sam Nujoma
Thabo Mbeki

Middle East
Yasser Arafat
Hafez al-Assad

Central Asia
Mohammed Mossadegh
Ayatollah Khomeini
Saddam Hussein
Mohammed Omar
Islam Karimov
Saparmurat Niyazov

Southeast Asia
Ho Chi Minh
Pham Van Dong
Le Duc Tho
Pol Pot
Norodom Sihanouk
Hun Sen
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Jawaharlal Nehru
Ne Win
Souphanouvang
Sukarno
Suharto
Corazon Acquino

Far East
Mao Tse-tung
Chou En-lai
Deng Xiaoping
Jiang Zemin
Li Peng
Kim Il-sung
Kim Jong-il
Hideki Tojo

Australia/New Zealand
Gough Whitlam


wow this guy hates pretty much everyone ever

Why is everyone saying Hitler was a bad leader! Hitler was a brilliant political leader and tactician (for the most part).


Hitler was a lucky moron. His key mistakes- Dunkirk, attacking Russia, micromanaging the military, appointing a nincompoop like Goering (sp) in charge of the Luftwaffe, abandoning the 6th Army- all point to him as anything but brilliant. He was an overly ambitious fool, and that is without any moral judgements.

No, he's not a libertarian. He loves Ho Chi Minh, Daniel Ortega, Fidel Castro, Mao Tse-tung, Muammar Quaddafi and other totalitarian rulers.

I am a Libertarian and that is why I hate people like Stalin, Pol Pot, Mugabe and Kim Jong-Il who have brutally murdered many innocent people and have no respect for human rights and democracy. On the list of "greatest political leaders" the only reason I included Mao was becuase he did do some good things for China and was the only person I could think of in the far east although I don't like him because of his very authoritarian policies and I shouldn't have included him. Although the other people you mentioned are fairly authoritarian leaders (except Ortega) I still believe they have generally been good leaders in other ways and Castro's Cuba, for example, has achieved much better medical treatment and education than any other third world country.

Why have a lot of people put Allende? It's not that I disagree, it's just I don't know anything about him, other than that he was killed by Pinochet. What was wrong with him?

Just a shore list of American Presidents who were the worst, in my personal opinion:

James Buchanan - Basically allowed the Civil War to occur.
Andrew Jackson - Crimes against humanity [trail of tears, etc.]
Woodrow Wilson - Foreign entanglements galore. Poor bastard.

Margaret Thatcher


FINALLY!

I was wondering when someone would remember the 'Iron Lady'

oh yes, and Richard Nixon. Yeah they all betrayed you, yeah, and your country too.

Your list is interesting - one of the few that displays no obvious political bias (you listed both Reagan and Chavez!)


I try. If someone sucks as a leader, they suck as a leader; it doesn't matter where you're from.


For the people who listed Trotsky, I'm baffled. The CCCP would have turned out much better under Trotsky and he was a great military leader for the Red Army in the crucial early days of the Civil War against the White forces/Allies invading. Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia was one of the greatest in my opinion though.

What about Richard Nixon and Daniel Ortega?

Nixon supported the Shah quite a lot, which makes up for it. Carter undermined the Shah and allowed the Islamic repulblic to be born, for that alone he should be tried for crimes and executed.


I forgot Ortega, but he is on the list.

Nixon supported the Shah quite a lot, which makes up for it. Carter undermined the Shah and allowed the Islamic repulblic to be born, for that alone he should be tried for crimes and executed.


I forgot Ortega, but he is on the list.

Nixon betrayed Chiang Kai-shek, Nguyen Van Thieu, Lon Nol, and other staunch anticommunists.

I am a Libertarian and that is why I hate people like Stalin, Pol Pot, Mugabe and Kim Jong-Il who have brutally murdered many innocent people and have no respect for human rights and democracy.

Ho Chi Minh killed millions of Vietnamese. Why isn't he on your list?

Ho Chi Minh killed millions of Vietnamese. Why isn't he on your list?

It is the USA that has been responsible for 4 million deaths in Vietnam and although Ho Chi Minh was responsible for some abuses (certainly not millions) this is inevitable when one of the world's most powerful countries was doing everything to destroy the democratic rights of the people of Vietnam.

It is the USA that has been responsible for 4 million deaths in Vietnam and although Ho Chi Minh was responsible for some abuses (certainly not millions) this is inevitable when one of the world's most powerful countries was doing everything to destroy the democratic rights of the people of Vietnam.

Yes, he killed millions. And don't bullshit yourself. The U.S. never started the war. If anyone's responsible, it's the communists. As for 'democratic rights,' that's also a farce. North Vietnam had no elections, no freedom of speech, workers could not strike, there was no freedom of religion, etc. 5% of the population of each hamlet, village, and city was killed. Intellectuals, Christians, and the wealthy were killed, along with their families.

Who are the political leaders you hate the most/like the least, by region?



Australia/New Zealand

Jenny fucking Shipley.


Or more seriously, Colonel Logan, although he was in charge of Samoa.

North America
Ronald Reagan
George W. Bush

South America
Augusto Pinochet
Hugo Chavez

Western Europe
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini

Eastern Europe
Ivan the Terrible
Josef Stalin
Boris Yeltsin
Vladimir Putin

Africa
Robert Mugabe
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi

Central Asia
Ayatollah Khomeini
General Pervez Musharraf

Far East
Emperor Hirohito
Mao Tse-tung
Kim Jong Il

South-East Asia
Ferdinand Marcos
Imelda Marcos

Oceania/Australasia
George Speight
Robert Menzies
John Howard

North America
Too new a continent to pick the worst yet, though Theodore Roosevelt teeters on being bad.
Central America & the Caribbean
Papa Doc Duvalier
South America
Probably one of the many caudillos
Western Europe
King Louis XIV
Eastern Europe
Josef Stalin
Africa
Idi Amin
Middle East
Asuburnapil I (real sob)
Central Asia
Chandragupta Maurya
Southeast Asia
Pol Pot
Far East
Emperor Qin Shi Huandai
Australia/New Zealand
Very new to civilization, so I can't pass judgement yet.

North America
Abraham Lincoln
Woodrow Wilson
Herbert Hoover
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
James Earl Carter
Ronald Reagan
George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush

Central America & the Caribbean
Papa Doc Duvalier
Baby Doc Duvalier
Fidel Castro
Daniel Ortega
Rodrigo Alberto Carazo Odio
Omar Torrijos
Efrain Rios Montt
Rafael Trujillo
Jacobo Arbenz

South America
Hugo Chavez
Salvador Allende
Carlos Andres Perez
Jorge Rafael Videla
Romulo Betancourt

Western Europe
Adolf Hitler
Benito Mussolini
Charles de Gaulle
Willy Brandt
Clement Atlee
Winston Churchill
John Major
Francois Mitterand

Eastern Europe
Vladimir Lenin
Josef Stalin
Nikita Khrushchev
Leonid Brezhnev
Yuri Andropov
Konstantin Chernenko
Mikhail Gorbachev
Boris Yeltsin
Vladimir Putin
Walter Ubricht
Josip Broz Tito
Nicolae Ceauşescu
János Kádár

Africa
Idi Amin
Robert Mugabe
Haile Mariam Mengistu
Kwame Nkrumah
Julius Nyerere
Kenneth Kaunda
Sekou Toure
Daniel Malan
Johannes Strijdom
Hendrik Verwoerd
Balthazar Johannes Vorster
Muammar Quaddafi
Gamal Nasser
Agostinho Neto
Samora Machel
Jose Eduardo dos Santos
Ahmed ben Bella
Patrice Lumumba
Mobutu Sese Seko
Sam Nujoma
Thabo Mbeki

Middle East
Yasser Arafat
Hafez al-Assad

Central Asia
Mohammed Mossadegh
Ayatollah Khomeini
Saddam Hussein
Mohammed Omar
Islam Karimov
Saparmurat Niyazov

Southeast Asia
Ho Chi Minh
Pham Van Dong
Le Duc Tho
Pol Pot
Norodom Sihanouk
Hun Sen
Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Nhu
Jawaharlal Nehru
Ne Win
Souphanouvang
Sukarno
Suharto
Corazon Acquino

Far East
Mao Tse-tung
Chou En-lai
Deng Xiaoping
Jiang Zemin
Li Peng
Kim Il-sung
Kim Jong-il
Hideki Tojo

Australia/New Zealand
Gough Whitlam

Some of the names I don't recognize, but most I do. It seems like you hate everyone. Wanna give me reasons for a couple that aren't too authoritarian? And you seemed to confine the list to the past few hundred years. Any reason fro that?

Nixon supported the Shah quite a lot, which makes up for it. Carter undermined the Shah and allowed the Islamic repulblic to be born, for that alone he should be tried for crimes and executed.
The Shah was pretty much as bad as the Ayahtollah.

And like it or not (I know I don't), the Ayatollah actually has the popular support of the Iranian public, something the Shah never once came close to.

The Shah was pretty much as bad as the Ayahtollah.

And like it or not (I know I don't), the Ayatollah actually has the popular support of the Iranian public, something the Shah never once came close to.

The Islamic Republic does not have the support of the vast majority of Iranians. Many feel nostalgia for the economic prosperity and personal freedom existing under the Shah. Iran used to be westernized, with casinos, coke, and everything a modern nation has, but now, it is ruined. Those who opposed the Shah deserved what they got because they opposed bringing Iran into the 20th century. That is treason.

Nicolae Ceauşescu

Nobody insults my mom's dad's second cousin and gets away with it :p . No, I agree that he was a terrible, uber-crazy leader and my family tries to forget that we were related to him.

Looks like Canada's doing a pretty damn fine job, according to Josh. ;)

Nobody insults my mom's dad's second cousin and gets away with it :p . No, I agree that he was a terrible, uber-crazy leader and my family tries to forget that we were related to him.

Looks like Canada's doing a pretty damn fine job, according to Josh. ;)

also some of you should know that he was leader of Romania and had nothin to do with Russia (except the comunist view) and he fought (diplomatic war) to get out of Russia`s influence. In his last years he got a little (2 much) crazy and the revolutioners in `89 executed him. He did a lot of good things 2.. but yes.. he was a dictator.

The palace was a stupid idea and it's an eyesore right in the middle of the jewel that is Bucuresti. Nice Christmas present for Cousin Nicolae and Elena, by the way. ;)

Not to burst anyones bubble re: Hitler being a "good leader" - but his economics were a ponzi scheme. Nothing "genius" there.

Not to burst anyones bubble re: Hitler being a "good leader" - but his economics were a ponzi scheme. Nothing "genius" there.
Well, considering how he basically abolished the financial sector and killed Germany's brightest economic minds in his first few years in office, he did great for himself.

And like it or not (I know I don't), the Ayatollah actually has the popular support of the Iranian public, something the Shah never once came close to.

Whatever their opinion is/was, I personally think the Shah is the coolest.

Josh, I'm surprised you're not going to lecture me on why Nicolae sucked ass at leading a country. ;)

Josh, I'm surprised you're not going to lecture me on why Nicolae sucked ass at leading a country. ;)

He was a communist tyrant and an asshole. He made prisoners eat feces and then eat their vomit when they threw it up. And that's just for starters.

North America
George W Bush
Ronald Reagan
Richard Nixon
James Buchanan
Andrew Jackson

Central/South America
Hugo Chavez
Augusto Pinochet
Leaders of Argentina's military junta

Europe
Adolf Hitler
Josef Stalin
Klaus von Metternich
King George III

Africa
Idi Amin
Hutu leaders in Rwanda
Robert Mugabe

Middle East
Yasser Arafat
Gamel Abdel Nasser
Bashar Assad
Hafez Assad

East of the Middle East
Pol Pot
Japanese military leaders during WWII

And those scary dudes from Antarctica.

He was a communist tyrant and an asshole. He made prisoners eat feces and then eat their vomit when they threw it up. And that's just for starters.
And coincidentally, he had the support of American governments for 20 years. :rolleyes:

He was a communist tyrant and an asshole. He made prisoners eat feces and then eat their vomit when they threw it up. And that's just for starters.

True, but that was only in public. His private life was completely different, my grandpa and great aunt describe him as being a compassionate, kind person away from the duties of government. That is, of course, not to attempt to hide his terrible activities as Romanian dictator. That was just disturbing and a stain on our family, say the same two relatives. It was really Elena that was the bitch both in and out of government affairs.

Phillip II was pretty bad. He caused the Spanish Empire to crumble with his poor economic policies.

And coincidentally, he had the support of American governments for 20 years. :rolleyes:

Why so surprised? Our government loves communists.

Flashheart']why churchill?

Yeah, and why de Gaulle ?

Yeah, and why de Gaulle ?

Read France: The Tragic Years 1939-1947 by Sisley Huddleston (Devin-Adair, New York, 1955, and Western Islands, Boston, 1965).

For those who asked, "Why Churchill?" I recommend the following:

The Lusitania by Colin Simpson
The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I by Thomas Fleming
Churchill's War by David Irving
The New Dealer's War by Thomas Fleming
The Tragedy of Europe A Diary of the Second World War by Francis Neilson

Read France: The Tragic Years 1939-1947 by Sisley Huddleston (Devin-Adair, New York, 1955, and Western Islands, Boston, 1965).

Wait, wait. De Gaulle was the one to propose the French General Headquarters to build a mechanized force able to manoeuver and operate against superior German forces, to the point hostile generals gave him the nickname of "Colonel Motors" (a pun about the famous US brand General Motors). He also prophesisez the importance of the tank-assault plane binom.

He was scorned by fellow officers among them Marshal Philippe Pétain and rebuffed by politicans such as Daladier and Léon Blum. Only Paul Reynaud paid heed to de Gaulle's words and at that time it was already late.

As the Germans ' Western offensive began, De Gaulle led a mechanized unit (what little had been organized) in Montcornet in a counteroffensive where the French troops managed to stall the German assault, but suffered heavily from lack of anti-tank artillery and assault aviation. Reynaud, who was then in power, made him his Secretaire d'Etat (a junior Secretary) to War, but at that time the battle of France had already been lost.

Pressed by the British (he had made quite an impression on a visiting Winston Chruchill), de Gaulle flew secretly to London in early June, 1940, hoping to be able to attract fellow officers and colonial units. Largely because of his (and France's) being in a desperate situation, and because of his sense of national pride and honor, de Gaulle was a difficult ally for the British and the Americans (who had maintained normal diplomatic relations with the Vichy regime), but he certainly was an ally. As Franc's Black African colonies rallied to de Gaulle, the Free French units were able to take part in major battles (like in Syria, at Monte Cassino, in Provence) at the Allies's side.

At the Liberation, de Gaulle was the natural leading political figure, as one who never wavered in his abhorrence of Vichy and Nazi regimes. He was swept into office but soon realized large political reforms were needed to give France stable governments and organize the re-building of an economy which had been totally looted by the Germans. Facing severe opposition from the old parties and the Communists, he left power in 1946, retiring from public affairs for more than 12 years.

All in all, de Gaulle exerted normal, democratic power in France from 1945 to 1946. Before that, he was more like a military leader assuming the role of a national symbol.

So I really can't understand how on Earth General de Gaulle could be held responsible from the dark 1939-1947 years !

Why so surprised? Our government loves communists.
Yeah, they really showed that when they killed millions in Latin America. :rolleyes:

Far East
Kim Jong Il
In terms of being an unscrupulous, conniving, greedy, unrepentant son of a bitch, though, you have to admit he's pretty good.

Yeah, they really showed that when they killed millions in Latin America. :rolleyes:

If you're going to be a smart-ass, get the hell off of my thread.

Yeah, they really showed that when they killed millions in Latin America. :rolleyes:

Here are fifty- count 'em, fifty- sources proving the U.S. government loves communism.

) I Saw Poland Betrayed (by Arthur Bliss Lane, who was ambassador to Poland at the time)
2) The Fourth Floor (by Earl E.T. Smith, who was the last U.S. ambassador to Cuba)
3) Cuba Betrayed (written by former Cuban president Fulgencio Batista)
4) The Great Betrayal (by former prime minister of Rhodesia Ian Smith)
5) Nicaragua Betrayed (by former Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza)
6) The Politician (by Robert Welch)
7) The Actor (by Alan Stang)
8) The Betrayers (by Phyllis Schlafley and Chester Ward)
9) The Gravediggers (by Phyllis Schlafley and Chester Ward)
10) America's Retreat From Victory (by Senator Joseph McCarthy)
11) Why Not Victory? (by Senator Barry Goldwater)
12) Again, May God Forgive Us (by Robert Welch)
13) Henry Kissinger: Soviet Agent (by Frank Cappell)
14) Kissinger on the Couch (by Phyllis Schlafley and Chester Ward)
15) Background to Betrayal: The Tragedy of Vietnam (by Hilaire du Berrier)
16) The Ravens (by Christopher Robbins)
17) Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution (by Antony Sutton)
18) Western Technology and Soviet Economic Development (by Antony Sutton)
19) National Suicide: Military Aid to the Soviet Union (by Antony Sutton)
20) The Best Enemy Money Can Buy (by Antony Sutton)
21) The Fearful Master (by G. Edward Griffin)
22) Richard Nixon: The Man Behind the Mask (by Gary Allan)
23) None Dare Call it Conspiracy (by Gary Allan)
24) None Dare Call it Treason...25 Years Later (by John Stormer)
25) Betrayal (by Bill Gertz)
26) Year of the Rat (by Edward Timperlake and William C. Triplett)
27) Inside the State Department (by Bryton Barron, who worked in the State Department)
28) The Untouchable State Department (by Bryton Barron)
29) The Assassination of Joe McCarthy (by Medford Evans)
30) Who Promoted Peress? (by Lionel Likos)
31) The Lattimore Story (by John Flynn)
32) McCarthy and his Enemies (by William Buckley and Brent Bozell)
33) The Secret War for the A-bomb (by Medford Evans, who was part of the Manhattan Project)
34) Operation Keelhaul (by Julius Epstein)
35) The East Came West (by Peter J. Huxley-Blythe)
36) The Ordeal of Otto Otepka (by William J. Gill)
37) The Bleeding of America (by Herman H. Dinsmore)
38) How We Lost the Vietnam War (by Nguyen Cao Ky, former premier of South Vietnam)
39) Ally Betrayed (by David Martin)
40) Survival is Not Enough: Soviet Realities and America's Future (by Richard Pipes)
41) The Web of Subversion (by James Burnham)
42) Red Scare or Red Menace?: American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era (by John Earl Haynes)
43) Trilaterals Over Washington (by Antony Sutton)
44) Trilaterals Over America (by Antony Sutton)
45) Nixon and the CFR (by Phoebe Courtney)
46) The Invisible Government (by Dan Smoot, who used to be in the FBI)
47) The Welfare States (by Colonel Victor J. Fox)
48) America's Unelected Rulers: The Council on Foreign Relations (by Kent and Phoebe Courtney)
49) The Shadows of Power (by James Perloff)
50) The Tax-Exempt Foundations (by William H McIlhany)

51) The Shah's Story: By Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi

51) The Shah's Story: By Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi

I never knew he wrote a book. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks!

Parthia, check TG's, please. Thanks!

If you're going to be a smart-ass, get the hell off of my thread.
Yessir. :p

PS. Just for debate's sake, what about Operation Condor? Pinochet, Videla, Stroessner, the Somozas? Kissinger and the CIA? The Contras? The Cubana explosion?

3) Cuba Betrayed (written by former Cuban president Fulgencio Batista)
5) Nicaragua Betrayed (by former Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza)
10) America's Retreat From Victory (by Senator Joseph McCarthy)
11) Why Not Victory? (by Senator Barry Goldwater)
38) How We Lost the Vietnam War (by Nguyen Cao Ky, former premier of South Vietnam)


Look at these sources! These are just a few of them, but they're all from either
discredited hacks or ex-dictators looking for someone to blame.

Fulgencio Batista - oppressive dictator who controlled his populace via murder and torture, whining about the US not invading Cuba after Castro's Revolution. I'm not sure we were willing to start a war, potentially with the Soviets, over Cuba at the time.

Somoza - More or less the same in terms of ruthlessness as Batista. Again the US actually supported his rule - he's just looking for someone to blame for his own incompetence.

McCarthy - need I say more? Started a witch hunt akin to Salem for Communists, and when he didn't find any real ones, he started making them up to hold on to power. When finally denounced on the Senate floor, his power broke, and the terror he held the nation in finally lifted.

Barry Goldwater - extremist who lost the Republicans the Oval Office for years to come after his nomination due to backlash against his absurd views.

Ky - Again, murderous dictator who the US refused to support after we found out exactly what he was doing in his country, and how ineffective he was for the purposes of the fight against communism in Vietnam.

Nixon supported the Shah quite a lot, which makes up for it. Carter undermined the Shah and allowed the Islamic repulblic to be born, for that alone he should be tried for crimes and executed.


I forgot Ortega, but he is on the list.

I would argue that it was Eisenhower who allowed the Islamic republic to build up power by overthrowing the democratically elected Mossadegh who was having much more success at curbing religious fundamentalism at that time.

Franco saved Spain from communism and made it a thriving, prosperous country.

Spain had a standard of living higher than that of the United States in the 50's before Franco's "revolution." After that, it became a third world power and remains so today.

I would argue that it was Eisenhower who allowed the Islamic republic to build up power by overthrowing the democratically elected Mossadegh who was having much more success at curbing religious fundamentalism at that time.

Mossadegh was a Communist who wanted to sell Iran over to the Soviets.

Mossadegh was a Communist who wanted to sell Iran over to the Soviets.
Wasn't every elected politician in the developing world who was anywhere left of eceonmic centre? :rolleyes:

Yessir. :p

PS. Just for debate's sake, what about Operation Condor? Pinochet, Videla, Stroessner, the Somozas? Kissinger and the CIA? The Contras? The Cubana explosion?

The U.S. does indeed occasionally support anticommunists, but not because of their ideology, but because they are pro-U.S. Example: Jacobo Arbenz. He was not ousted because he was a 'communist,' but because he tried to nationalize United Fruit Company, which Secretary of State Dulles had invested in. Likewise, at first the U.S. was pro-Castro, even though it was overwhelmingly evident he was a communist. However, once he started nationalizing U.S. businesses, he earned the ire of the government. Allende was originally supported by the U.S.- which sold him weapons in 1971- but after he started nationalizing U.S. businesses, the U.S. decided, "Allende's got to go."

Look at these sources! These are just a few of them, but they're all from either
discredited hacks or ex-dictators looking for someone to blame.

Fulgencio Batista - oppressive dictator who controlled his populace via murder and torture, whining about the US not invading Cuba after Castro's Revolution. I'm not sure we were willing to start a war, potentially with the Soviets, over Cuba at the time.

Somoza - More or less the same in terms of ruthlessness as Batista. Again the US actually supported his rule - he's just looking for someone to blame for his own incompetence.

McCarthy - need I say more? Started a witch hunt akin to Salem for Communists, and when he didn't find any real ones, he started making them up to hold on to power. When finally denounced on the Senate floor, his power broke, and the terror he held the nation in finally lifted.

Barry Goldwater - extremist who lost the Republicans the Oval Office for years to come after his nomination due to backlash against his absurd views.

Ky - Again, murderous dictator who the US refused to support after we found out exactly what he was doing in his country, and how ineffective he was for the purposes of the fight against communism in Vietnam.

From your post, it's entirely obvious to me that you know absolutely zilch about Somoza, McCarthy, or Ky.