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They're heroes to some and villains to others. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the twenty figures in history whose actions, beliefs, and/or policies have been subjects of heavy debate.
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00:00Vladimir Lenin is little more than a museum piece now to most Russians, a curiosity, a relic of a lost world.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the 20 figures in history
00:13whose actions, beliefs, and or policies have been subjects of heavy debate.
00:19We will not be including people who are universally regarded as monsters, like Adolf Hitler.
00:24Extremely radical, revolutionary figure that was going to bring more change than they had seen since the time of the prophets.
00:38Often called the most prolific inventor in American history, we have Thomas Edison to thank for numerous life-changing creations,
00:45including the phonograph and the electric lightbulb.
00:47Then again, maybe Edison didn't actually give us these things? Maybe we just think he did.
00:52What's that? What's that thing you're working on?
00:55Well, it's a lightbulb and...
00:56Lightbulb! Lightbulb! I invented that! Me! I'm Thomas Edison! I invented the lightbulb! What to do?
01:03Edison has long been accused of taking credit for other people's work and engaging in ruthless business tactics,
01:09painting him as more of a shrewd businessman than a creative genius.
01:13He counterattacked Tesla's success by launching a brutal smear campaign, one of the nastiest in the history of American industry.
01:20He was also known to cause harm to animals, like killing an elephant on Coney Island
01:25and being complicit in the electrocution of horses while helping to develop the electric chair.
01:31That is also another point of contention, with many having since argued against the merits of capital punishment.
01:40She was a charlatan, pure and simple.
01:44Her very name is synonymous with good deeds, having won the Nobel Peace Prize and being officially canonized by the Catholic Church.
01:51But the truth is actually a bit more complex than that.
01:55Mother Teresa has been criticized for her dogmatic views on contraception and abortion, but that's the least of it.
02:01The medical care she provided was described as haphazard, with a spiritual approach in place of genuine medical knowledge.
02:09Enormous sums of money that she received as charity may have been mismanaged.
02:13She gave more money to the Vatican Bank than entire countries.
02:17The first thing you ask is, what are they doing with the money?
02:20She defended a priest accused of sexual assault and kept curious friends,
02:24like Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier and fraudster Charles Keating.
02:29And some have even argued that she engaged in forced conversions by baptizing patients without their consent.
02:36I don't believe that there is any human being who doesn't believe in God, unless they are mental.
02:44Oliver Cromwell
02:45The controversy over Cromwell as hero or villain has been fiercely argued over for centuries.
02:50While he is celebrated by some as a champion of democracy and religious freedom,
02:55others view Oliver Cromwell as a dictator who ruled with an iron fist,
02:59including future leader Henry VIII, who is equally controversial.
03:03The Cromwell family has links to Henry VIII, and Oliver would later help execute Charles I
03:08and establish the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.
03:12A few months later, the army council declared him Lord Protector, King in all but name.
03:19Cromwell has long been criticized for his violence and dictatorial actions,
03:24like abusing his power with the New Model Army.
03:27He is also fiercely criticized for his brutal conquest of Ireland,
03:31which included killing up to 50% of the native population, sending the country into famine,
03:36and taking 50,000 native Irish as indentured laborers.
03:42Martin Luther
03:43Initially, Martin Luther was only calling for a renewal of the Church and its faith.
03:48But the Pope and the Emperor saw him as a threat, and he was demonized by both.
03:53A hugely influential figure in Christian history, Martin Luther formed the backbone of the Protestant Reformation
03:59and challenged the authority of the Catholic Church.
04:01But with great change comes great division.
04:04A man branded a heretic by the Church, celebrated like the Messiah in the German city of Worms.
04:11Luther's actions led directly to a schism within Western Christianity,
04:15as Protestant denominations broke away from Roman Catholicism.
04:18And his call for radical change provoked wars and violent upheavals.
04:22A bloody uprising, staged by peasants demanding greater rights and freedom.
04:27Encouraged by Luther's Reformation ideas, they used his arguments to justify their revolt.
04:33His late writings also expressed vehemently anti-Semitic views,
04:37and he publicly promoted the burning of synagogues.
04:40He said, burn their synagogues, burn their books, chase them off your lands.
04:44Never give them a decent job, give them a good beating.
04:47Some even contended that Luther's anti-Semitic philosophy eventually inspired the creation of the Nazi party.
04:53Now that is not a good legacy to leave behind.
04:56Number 16. Maximilien Robespierre
04:59Maximilien Robespierre was a divisive figure in his day, and he's a divisive figure today.
05:04Moi, qui suis né esclave de la liberté, on m'appelle un tyran.
05:13Moi qui ai vécu le martyr pour la République, on m'appelle un dictateur.
05:18Robespierre advocated strongly for many important rights and progressive stances.
05:23However, he was one of the leading figures of the French Reign of Terror,
05:27and his reputation is marred by his incredible penchant for violence.
05:31Many see him as an authoritarian figure who prioritized ideological purity over human rights,
05:37and many argue that he hoped to form a dictatorship in France.
05:41He also enforced his revolutionary laws through force with his radical political group, La Montagne,
05:46and authorized countless executions via the guillotine.
05:50But he himself became a victim of the Blade, and was executed in 1794.
05:55Number 15. Henry Ford
05:58Thanks to his innovative practices, Henry Ford provided vehicles to the middle class,
06:03and changed the very nature not only of transportation, but urban infrastructure and economic industry.
06:10With the Model T, the most successful car in history, and the groundbreaking $5 a day wage,
06:17Ford ushered in the modern world.
06:19But he was also a terrible person.
06:22Ford could be a poor boss, lobbying against labor unions,
06:26and often sending investigators to pry into his employees' private lives.
06:31He also had a negative view against women in the workplace, stating,
06:35I consider women only a temporary factor in the industry.
06:38But perhaps worst of all, Ford was also an enormous anti-Semite,
06:43spreading terrible conspiracy theories about Jewish internationalism through his various publications.
06:48One of the nation's richest men, he despised the wealthy,
06:53and feared a vast conspiracy threatened to bring him down.
06:59Number 14. Karl Marx
07:02Author of The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital,
07:06Karl Marx is one of the most divisive philosophers the world has ever seen.
07:10He was seen as so seditious that he couldn't find a home anywhere in continental Europe.
07:14Marx promoted a societal revolution through his many publications,
07:19arguing against the merits of capitalism,
07:21and claiming that its very structure would eventually promote its downfall.
07:25In turn, he promoted a socialist mode of production,
07:28which is the basis of communism and the ideologies of socialist states
07:32like the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union.
07:35While some praise Marx's critiques of capitalism,
07:38others argue that his ideology led to oppressive regimes and destructive economic failures.
07:44Whether he foresaw it or not, his impact on revolutionary movements
07:48from Russia to China to Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, has been immense.
07:55Number 13. Napoleon Bonaparte
07:58We return to the French Revolution, sorta, with Napoleon,
08:01arguably the greatest military leader in human history.
08:09But like any great military leader, his reputation is decidedly mixed,
08:14owing to his legacy of death and destruction.
08:16His unquenchable thirst for expansion plunged Europe into years of devastating warfare,
08:22and it's believed that up to six million people died during the Napoleonic Wars.
08:34Furthermore, despite promoting equality, he reinstated forced labor in French colonies,
08:39after it had been abolished during the Revolution.
08:42Some regard Napoleon as a liberator,
08:45forced to do unspeakable things in the name of expansion.
08:48Others, a power-hungry tyrant.
09:09You probably know his face from various t-shirts and dorm room posters.
09:14Che Guevara was instrumental in the Cuban Revolution,
09:17partnering with Fidel Castro and his 26th of July movement,
09:21and overthrowing Fulgencio Batista, who was receiving support from the American government.
09:26His status as a counter-cultural icon clashes with the reality
09:30that Guevara endorsed the use of brutal violence and was a ruthless revolutionary,
09:35who oversaw summary trials and executions.
09:37Che Guevara organized hundreds of trials,
09:40and put to death possibly 500 or even more Batista supporters.
09:45The international community saw him as a murderer as a result of this.
09:49He also contributed to establishing an authoritarian government,
09:52violated human rights, and helped incite revolutions in other countries,
09:57which eventually led to his capture and execution.
10:00According to some critics, Che Guevara is little more than a terrorist,
10:04who sought to overthrow governments through warfare.
10:06Che Guevara is revered in Cuba today.
10:09You'll see him on a peso note.
10:11School children each day give a daily chant to him.
10:14Number 11. Richard Nixon.
10:16It was a political scandal that changed our country forever.
10:19No matter the good he did, Nixon's legacy will forever be tarnished by the Watergate scandal.
10:24Nixon accomplished quite a lot in his time as president,
10:27like reducing American involvement in Vietnam,
10:30establishing the Environmental Protection Agency,
10:33and easing relations with the Soviet Union.
10:35But he also spied on political opponents,
10:38and had attempted to use federal officials to obstruct justice
10:42when investigators examined the break-in at Watergate.
10:45As impeachment proceedings loomed,
10:47rather than face almost certain removal from office,
10:50Richard Nixon made history by becoming the first U.S. president to resign.
10:54To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body.
11:02But as president, I must put the interests of America first.
11:07He left behind a more cynical America where public trust in government was at a historic low.
11:13Number 10. Benjamin Netanyahu.
11:15The days when the Jewish people remain passive in the face of genocidal enemies are over.
11:21He's the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Israel,
11:24having held office on and off since 1996.
11:28Despite this, Netanyahu is enormously controversial in his native country.
11:32Supporters believe he has strengthened Israel.
11:34Critics argue that he has hindered peace negotiations
11:37by promoting settlement expansions in the occupied territories,
11:40and many accuse him of employing excessive force during military operations.
11:45In fact, critics argue that Netanyahu has engaged in acts of genocide
11:49and is set to face charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
11:54Branding Israel's leaders and soldiers as war criminals
11:57will pour jet fuel on the fires of anti-Semitism,
12:00those fires that are already raging on the campuses of America
12:04and across capitals around the world.
12:06Many also blame him for the failure to anticipate and prevent the Israel-Hamas war,
12:12and he has since been the target of protests calling for his removal.
12:16Number 9. Vladimir Putin.
12:19In Russia, statehood comes first, and human rights come last.
12:23They use any means to prove the state is the most important, more important than a human.
12:28Another highly controversial world leader, Vladimir Putin has run Russia since 1999,
12:34making him the longest-running leader since Stalin.
12:37Some admire the effectiveness of his strongman tactics.
12:40However, many critics have argued that Putin has transformed the country
12:45into an authoritarian dictatorship, as evidenced by the 2020 constitutional referendum
12:50that gave him more power and drew accusations of corruption.
12:54He also controls most major media outlets in Russia,
12:57and violently suppresses independent journalists
13:00who speak out against his corruption and dictatorial rule.
13:03And that's to say nothing of his human rights violations,
13:07suppression of political opponents, and invading Ukraine.
13:11Putin has been issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court
13:15for various crimes against humanity.
13:17It will now be up to the international community to actually carry out the warrant,
13:21as the court has no police force of its own to actually enforce it.
13:258. MARGARET THATCHER
13:27There were no half-measures with Margaret Thatcher.
13:30She was the most loved prime minister, and the most hated.
13:35Being the first female British prime minister,
13:38Margaret Thatcher's place in the history books is firmly secured.
13:41But aside from that, Thatcher was also a very popular leader,
13:45known for her widespread reforms and uncompromising nature.
13:48I'll do my bit. I know you'll do yours.
13:52However, her ideological shift towards neoliberal policies is not favoured by all,
13:57and she certainly didn't finish strong.
13:59Thatcher was not loved by labourers after defeating the miners' unions in 1985,
14:05her economic policies led to increased inequality,
14:08progressives hated her conservative leanings,
14:10and her infamous poll tax was widely hated for affecting lower-income workers.
14:15I think that she was to blame for most of the ills in society,
14:18and most of the things that poor people and ill people are now being blamed for were her fault.
14:23She eventually grew wildly unpopular within her own cabinet and resigned from office in 1990.
14:297. FIDEL CASTRO
14:31Few men in the world have been as idolized and at the same time as hated as Cuba's Fidel Castro.
14:37Everything we said about Che Guevara also applies to Fidel Castro,
14:41but Castro takes the controversy one step further by leading Cuba between 1959 and 2008.
14:47For nearly five decades, he determined the fate of generations of Cubans,
14:52while becoming the ideological godfather of left-wing leaders all over Latin America.
14:57With the help of his brother Raul and Guevara,
15:00Castro violently overthrew Batista and established himself as the leader of the country.
15:05Castro played a huge role in the Cold War by allying with the Soviet Union
15:09and allowing them to place nuclear weapons in the country,
15:12resulting in the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
15:16And like the Soviet Union, Castro turned Cuba into a socialist state,
15:20turning himself into a dictator who oversaw the ruining of the country's economy
15:24and the mass exodus of native Cubans.
15:27He represents significant social achievement alongside terrible failures of human rights.
15:32Until the very end, Fidel Castro was a proud man who scoffed at international and domestic criticism,
15:39always insisting that his was the most democratic system in the world.
15:44Number 6. Recep Tayyip Erdogan
15:47Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the 25th Prime Minister of Turkey
15:50and has held the leadership position since 2003.
15:53This despite the fact that he was banned from politics after being convicted for inciting religious hatred.
15:59Erdogan's administration has been criticized for authoritarian practices
16:03and sending Turkey into a democratic backslide.
16:06European countries have repeatedly condemned Turkey for the attacks on civil liberties.
16:11His government's crackdown on journalists is seen as an assault on free speech
16:15and the 2017 constitutional referendum significantly expanded his presidential powers.
16:21I'm telling you to stay in your lane.
16:24He is also known for his military interventions in Syria
16:27and his government's actions after the failed 2016 coup
16:31resulted in a large-scale crackdown on perceived dissenters.
16:35I can say that the members of the party that I am the founder of
16:38will be hand in hand with our people in city squares and punish those that are responsible.
16:43Early on, he was admired for his advances in religious freedom and minority rights.
16:48However, his legacy is quickly being tarnished.
16:51Number 5. Donald Trump
16:54The business magnate turned president is a polarizing figure,
16:58with his adherents steadfastly loyal to him
17:00and seeing him as a victim of a supposed, quote,
17:03One of the most controversial figures in modern history,
17:08Trump received widespread criticism throughout his presidency,
17:11with his policies on immigration, healthcare, and climate change stoking incredible division.
17:17His approach to governance was unorthodox,
17:20his foreign policy decisions were destructive,
17:22and many argue that his rhetoric emboldened extremist groups.
17:26And let's not forget the whole January 6th fiasco.
17:29We're going to walk down, and I'll be there with you.
17:32We're going to walk down.
17:35We're going to walk down.
17:37Anyone you want, but I think right here, we're going to walk down to the Capitol.
17:41Trump is the only American president to be impeached twice
17:44and has been indicted on numerous charges,
17:47including sexual abuse, financial fraud, and falsifying business records.
17:52I just went through a rigged trial in New York.
17:57They know it's a corrupt system.
17:59They know all about it.
18:00But with your help, less than five months from now,
18:03and we're going, and I'll tell you what, we have to change the system.
18:06We have to straighten out what's going on in these courts.
18:09Unsurprisingly, many scholars rank him as one of the worst American presidents.
18:14Number four, Julius Caesar.
18:17When you're assassinated by your own senators,
18:19you know your plans have gone off the rails.
18:22Credited with kick-starting the Roman Empire,
18:24Julius Caesar performed many great deeds
18:26and is responsible for many positive reforms throughout the Republic.
18:30Caesar begins a massive rebuilding of Rome.
18:33He builds libraries.
18:34He builds a new forum named after him.
18:38This building project provides thousands of jobs for Roman citizens
18:43and glorifies the city as it has never been glorified before.
18:47However, it was his political maneuvering and accumulation of power
18:51that made him a central figure of controversy.
18:53Caesar set a precedent for authoritarian rule
18:56and appointed himself dictator for life,
18:59undermining Republican institutions.
19:01Dictator is a form of exceptional power that was supposed to be temporary.
19:07Caesar is using this as a fig leaf to hide the fact
19:11that there are no limits to his influence and power.
19:13He was also a fantastic military commander,
19:16leading many to both fear and respect his authority.
19:19However, many of his contemporaries began to view him as a power-hungry tyrant
19:24and had him assassinated, prematurely ending his rule and instigating civil war.
19:30Number three, Vladimir Lenin.
19:32The Soviet Union is arguably the most well-known socialist state in history,
19:36and that's thanks to the work of Vladimir Lenin.
19:39There are an estimated 14,000 statues of this man in the Soviet Union.
19:43That means that wherever you went in the USSR,
19:46there was probably at least one Lenin thinking about you.
19:49Taking care of you.
19:51Or just watching you.
19:53A revolutionary socialist from a young age,
19:55Lenin helped establish the USSR and its communist ideologies,
19:59leading to a highly divisive reputation.
20:02Lenin's government oversaw land redistribution, which benefited many of the poor.
20:07But it was also responsible for the Red Terror,
20:09which included mass arrests, executions, and human rights abuses.
20:13And he was involved in wars with massive casualties.
20:17Furthermore, the suppression of opposition, mass censorship, and strict control over media
20:22created an environment that critics argue was repressive and undemocratic.
20:26His regime led to economic stagnation and authoritarian rule under subsequent leaders,
20:32resulting in a very questionable legacy.
20:34Vladimir Lenin is little more than a museum piece now to most Russians.
20:39A curiosity. A relic of a lost world.
20:43Number two, Christopher Columbus.
20:45I never liked Columbus.
20:48There are questionable legacies, and then there's what Christopher Columbus left behind.
20:53Columbus is known for the widespread European discovery of the Americas,
20:57and his journeys changed the course of human history.
21:00By all the powers vested in me,
21:05I claim this island and name it
21:09San Salvador.
21:10But his arrival in the Americas led to widespread violence,
21:14rampant disease, and the enslavement of indigenous populations.
21:18It's estimated that European settlers dwindled the native population by as much as 80%,
21:24leading some scholars to label it an act of genocide.
21:27Furthermore, his voyages mark the beginning of an era of aggressive European colonialism.
21:33The mythologizing of Columbus as an intrepid hero ignores many darker truths about the man
21:38and his impact on the indigenous population.
21:42Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
21:46Hillary Clinton.
21:47She blew the Benghazi response and used a private email server as Secretary of State.
21:52I'm not going to make any excuses.
21:53It was a mistake, and I take responsibility for that.
21:56Niccolo Machiavelli.
21:58The beliefs he shared have caused his name to represent deception and tyranny.
22:02The Renaissance strategist Niccolo Machiavelli associated with many a plotting politician.
22:07Silvio Berlusconi.
22:09A brash leader who attracted controversy for his crimes and ethics.
22:13Silvio Berlusconi was sentenced to four years behind bars for tax evasion.
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22:34Number 1. Jesus Christ.
22:36Overall, Jesus' formative years were relatively simple.
22:41But one day, the boy Jesus becomes a man who challenges an empire and earns the name King of Kings.
22:49At the top of our list stands a figure whose influence on the world is simply unparalleled.
22:54Scholars universally agree that Jesus was a real person, that he was baptized around the year 28 CE, and that he was crucified.
23:02That's about all we know for sure, but there's no denying that he altered the course of world history.
23:08Extremely radical, revolutionary figure that was going to bring more change than they had seen since the time of the prophets.
23:17His actions upended the social and religious norms of the time, and people have been fighting over his teachings ever since, both literally and figuratively.
23:27Christianity's historical association with colonialism has added another layer of controversy, with many arguing that its spread was a case of cultural assimilation.
23:37Christ's teachings brought about profound changes, but the many controversies surrounding these changes cannot be ignored.
23:45What do you make of these people? Let us know in the comments below.
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