- 6/17/2025
From heroic leaders to celebrated visionaries, history is filled with powerful figures who plummeted from their pedestals. Join us as we examine remarkable individuals who once stood at the pinnacle of influence before suffering spectacular downfalls. These cautionary tales remind us how quickly fame, power, and adoration can transform into disgrace, imprisonment, or worse.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Napoleon once controlled an empire of over 40 million people. Now he was utterly powerless.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo! Today we're counting down our picks for 10 figures from throughout history
00:12who climbed the proverbial mountaintop only to fall in the most spectacular fashion.
00:16The seemingly unremarkable man testifying at a war crimes tribunal in Tokyo is in fact no ordinary
00:23person. Number 10. Maximilien Robespierre. Robespierre was a self-styled freedom fighter,
00:31pushing for voting rights and the abolition of slavery. He thought himself an incorruptible
00:35noble figure and at one point that may have even been true. One man would rise to inspire the nation
00:41to cast aside a reluctant king and a hated queen. Today he's remembered for little else beyond the
00:48guillotine. A key figure in the French Revolution, Robespierre rose to power championing liberty,
00:53equality and fraternity. But once he obtained power, he unleashed the reign of terror, overseeing
00:57mass executions on an ungodly scale. The radical jackass believing the young revolution is in danger
01:04of being sabotaged by traitors are steering the revolution with more and more violent means.
01:10One such unfortunate was the famously corrupt libertine queen Marie Antoinette, herself thrown
01:15down from a lofty haughty perch. By the end even Robespierre's allies feared him. Branded a tyrant,
01:20he was arrested and executed without trial by the very machine he had once used to reshape France.
01:26What they understood by terror was striking terror into the hearts of the enemies of the Republic,
01:32so that they would be either scared straight, as it were, or arrested and disposed of.
01:40Number 9. Field Marshal Philippe Pétain As World War I took off, Colonel Pétain could have retired.
01:46Instead, he continued his career, rising to general. At Verdun, he helped the French find victory from the
01:51jaws of a nine-month slog. The defense-minded Pétain had been ignored before the war.
01:57Afterward, he was hailed as a prophet. He was France's greatest hero. A few decades later,
02:02his reputation exploded. When the Nazis conquered France, they installed Pétain as head of the Vichy
02:07government. Placed its trust in Pétain. Most French citizens, reeling from their defeat,
02:13believed the armistice was a wise or at least a necessary choice. But what Pétain did next was
02:20neither wise nor necessary. As the chief French collaborator, he betrayed his own people. After the
02:25war, he was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. Charles de Gaulle intervened, reducing the
02:30sentence to life in prison. Pétain died there in 1951. Imprisoned on an island off the coast of France.
02:37Pétain died unrepentant in 1951 at the age of 95.
02:428. Louis Strauss
02:43He almost single-handedly shaped the atomic age before being buried by it. Louis Strauss was a
02:48powerful figure in American science and politics. The senator from Wyoming, Admiral Strauss, I'm
02:55interested in your relationship with Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer. You met him in 1947?
03:00Correct. He was chair of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, playing a key role in the development of
03:05nuclear weapons. But he's also infamous for his behind-the-scenes role in the downfall of J.
03:09Robert Oppenheimer. After the war, Louis accused Oppenheimer of being a national security risk.
03:14You can't give Oppenheimer a platform. You can't martyr him. We need a systematic destruction of
03:21Oppenheimer's credibility so he can never again speak on matters of national security.
03:25Strauss' influence began to unravel when he was nominated as Secretary of Commerce in 1958. The Senate
03:31hearings were brutal. All of his grudges and behind-the-scenes manipulations were exposed
03:35on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Oppenheimer made mincemeat out of Strauss' position on the
03:40shipments of isotopes to Norway and Strauss never forgave him. His nomination was rejected publicly and
03:46humiliatingly. In trying to destroy Oppenheimer, he doomed himself in the eyes of history.
03:517. Aung San Suu Kyi
03:53Once celebrated as a global icon of democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi was a darling among human rights
03:58activists the world over. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her non-violent
04:13resistance against Myanmar's military dictatorship. After spending years under house arrest, she was
04:18finally elected to power. Her global reputation fell to pieces once she was in office.
04:22For years, she's denied that Myanmar has been persecuting the Rohingya.
04:26I don't think there's ethnic cleansing going on. I think ethnic cleansing is too strong
04:31an expression to use for what's happening. Critics accused her of doing little to stop the
04:35military's violent persecution of the Rohingya minority. Some critics even accused her of defending
04:40her military's actions, which the UN has called a possible genocide. Her international support collapsed
04:46almost overnight. In a cruel twist of fate, Suu Kyi was eventually overthrown by the same military she
04:50once opposed. She remains in custody today.
04:53The Nobel laureate's been in jail since she was ousted in a coup in 2021.
04:586. Aaron Burr
05:00Aaron Burr is mostly remembered for shooting Alexander Hamilton. That gunshot, though,
05:04was just the starting pistol on the downfall of the Vice President of the United States.
05:08Hamilton gambled on the fact that Burr would not shoot to kill. Hamilton knew that if Burr did shoot
05:16to kill, that Burr would be branded as a murderer and it would ruin his career.
05:22After his term as Jefferson's VP, Burr headed west and cooked up a scheme somewhere between a land
05:27grab and a full-blown rebellion. The details are murky, but he was accused of trying to raise an army,
05:31take land from Spain, and maybe even carve out his own little country. He was arrested and tried
05:36for treason, barely escaping conviction. The scandal tanked his reputation. His name became
05:40synonymous with betrayal. In American history, Burr is second only to Benedict Arnold, the
05:45Revolutionary War general who literally switched sides.
05:48Before them are captured documents that reveal the most notorious act of treason in American history.
05:55A plot to sell out West Point in upstate New York, America's most important fort to the British.
06:01Stunningly, the plot was hatched by West Point's commander and the war's greatest hero,
06:10General Benedict Arnold. Number five, Richard Nixon.
06:14He won the presidency in a landslide, one of the most one-sided in US history.
06:18He was one of America's most successful presidents on the international stage,
06:23lauded as a world statesman who thawed the Cold War.
06:26He was re-elected in one of the biggest landslides in American history, capturing 49 out of 50 states.
06:35But Richard Nixon's paranoia and deep-seated insecurity led him to overreach, and to record
06:40the whole thing. Nixon had a long, complicated political career, rising from modest beginnings
06:44to the highest office in the land. But his legacy was sealed by Watergate, a political scandal
06:49involving a break-in at Democratic headquarters and a sweeping cover-up.
06:52We have a mystery story out of Washington. Five people have been arrested and charged with
06:57breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the middle of the night.
07:00As evidence mounted, the Senate uncovered the existence of secret White House tapes.
07:04When the Supreme Court granted access to the Justice Department, Nixon's presidency unraveled.
07:09Facing near-certain impeachment, he became the first US president to resign. Once seen as a
07:14political mastermind, Nixon's name became synonymous with scandal and a presidency in flames.
07:19Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow.
07:244. Charles I of England
07:26Some leaders fall into ignominy. Charles I fell from his throne almost directly into his coffin.
07:31As king of England, Charles believed in the divine right of kings.
07:34Charles distrusted parliaments absolutely and had governed the country for long periods
07:39without recourse to one. He ruled by God's will, he said. The people had no divine
07:44right to self-governance through parliament. Toss in some Catholic versus Protestant internecine
07:48conflict and you have all the ingredients to a revolution.
07:51One thing was furthest from his mind, that less than eight years later,
07:56he too would one day stand on trial for his life in that very same place.
08:02His reign sparked a civil war, divided the country, ending with him on trial for treason against England.
08:07Unsurprisingly, the king was swiftly found guilty. In 1649, Charles became the first European
08:12monarch to be publicly executed. Charles died bravely on the scaffold, impeccable courage,
08:18but that's no more than would be expected from any gentleman facing the bloc.
08:22His royal head rolled and the monarchy itself was abolished. For a few short years,
08:26England tried its hand at being a republic.
08:293. Aisin Jodo Puyi
08:31China's last emperor He was born into royalty, elevated to emperor of
08:35China at just two years old. But dramatic events sweeping China are about to change little
08:40Puyi's life forever. By the time he died, Puyi was just a gardener in a Beijing courtyard. The
08:45last emperor of China, he ruled the Qing dynasty in name only. By the time he was six, the Xinhai
08:50revolution was in full force, ending the monarchy through his forced abdication. But his story just
08:55gets worse and worse. In 1932, he allied himself with the Japanese, becoming their puppet ruler in
09:00Manchuria. Puyi's investiture is held at a government office. Though it's a far cry from the splendor of the
09:07forbidden city, the grandiose ceremony makes Puyi more comfortable with his decision to side with
09:14the Japanese. After World War II, he was captured by the Soviets, repatriated to China, and re-educated
09:20by the Communist Party. Once the sun of heaven, he spent his final years psychologically broken,
09:25a symbol of the humility instilled by the communist regime.
09:28I was the number one prisoner of my palaces. Today, I enjoy real freedom and equality.
09:37I can go anywhere. Something I never dreamt possible in the first 50 years of my life.
09:44Number two, Crassus. He was the richest man in Rome, but all his money couldn't buy him glory.
09:49Crassus, a key player in the first triumvirate alongside Caesar and Pompey, wanted a legacy to
09:54match his fortune. He set his sights on the Parthian Empire, believing it would be easy to conquer.
09:59It wasn't. He led his army across the desert, hoping to plunder Parthia's cities.
10:03Instead, he found 10,000 Parthian cavalry troops waiting at Karai. Exhausted and dehydrated,
10:08his legions were annihilated. Crassus tried to negotiate a peace. He was murdered for his efforts
10:13in one final humiliation. Thousands of his men fled into the desert and died. Thousands more were
10:18enslaved. Crassus' legacy became that of a man whose arrogance cost his men everything.
10:23Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about
10:28our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
10:33If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
10:39Number one, Napoleon Bonaparte. He crowned himself emperor, reshaped Europe,
10:43and wrote his name into history with cannon fire. Instrumental to Napoleon's success was his skill as a
10:48leader. He didn't just inspire people. He made them feel that they were taking part in history.
10:54Napoleon Bonaparte rose from obscure Corsican roots to become one of the most powerful men in
10:58the history of the world. But power has a shelf life, especially when poisoned by unchecked ambition.
11:04As he would say in later life, men are only great through the monuments they leave behind.
11:11After years of dominance, Napoleon's luck ran out thanks to a brutal Russian winter.
11:15His disastrous campaign was followed by complete defeat at Leipzig. He was exiled to Elba. From
11:20there, he eventually orchestrated an escape and another bite at the dictatorial apple.
11:24Then came Waterloo, where his final attempt to reclaim glory was crushed for good.
11:28Sent to the island of St. Helena, he died mostly alone, far from the empire he once ruled.
11:33His strategic vision, timing, and his consummate grasp of every one of the variables which influenced the
11:40behavior of a vast army have made him a legendary figure. History is replete with arrogant fools
11:46who fell from their lofty perches into permanent ignominy. Did any fall off our list? Let us know in
11:51the comments. Pétain had saved France once on a First World War battlefield, but when his countrymen
11:57turned to him to save them again as head of government during World War II, he failed spectacularly.
Recommended
12:52
|
Up next
31:42
11:51
32:47
10:28
28:30
18:15
13:23
27:35
10:56
26:40
12:00
12:45