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History, as they say, is written by the winner…
So there’s bound to be some historical figures who have been fawned over and praised even though they really weren’t all that impressive when you delve into the details.
Well, that stops today!
People on AskReddit shared who they think are the most overrated people in history.
Let’s brush up on our history!
1. Into the Wild.
“Chris McCandless was a f**king moron who does not deserve to be romanticized.
Against all advice, he strolled out into the Alaskan wilderness with no idea what he was doing, with no map, underprepared, undersupplied and with no research into seasonal dangers, smashed up some cabins.
He shot a moose despite not being able to preserve or store the meat, thought he could teach himself to identify edible wild mushrooms, didn’t look beyond the river crossing he initially used where he would have found a hand-operated cable car half a mile away and d**d – probably from eating strange seeds – in an abandoned bus on a known hunting trail.”
2. JFK.
“John F. Kennedy.
Pill-popping, booty-slaying, trust-fund, back alley politician who conveniently only took an interest in civil rights in preparation for re-election.
He was handsome, charming, and his tragic d**th made him seem much better than he actually was.”
3. A real bullsh**ter.
“Mark Antony.
Dude literally had 7 charisma, 10 luck, and 1 intelligence.
He pretty much bullsh**ted his way into somehow being one of the most important figures in Roman History despite consistently being incompetent.”
4. Poor Sid…
“Sid Vicious.
Truly the Kardashian of punk.
No talent, just an attractive image to represent the culture.”
5. Edison.
“Thomas Alva Edison.
An absolute d**k that is remembered for things he never did.”
6. Good old Ronnie.
“Ronald Reagan.
He gets a lot praise from certain folks, but he and his administration started many of the problems that are plaguing the U.S. now.”
7. Throw out the theories.
“Freud.
So many of his theories have been thrown out by now but still he dominates so many classes and textbooks.”
8. Arrrrrrrrr!
“Black Beard.
He was just some pirate in the Caribbean that was known on the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. No remarkable fighting skills, he wasn’t anywhere near the wealthiest pirate, and no, he didn’t go into battle with a smoking/flaming beard.
And his d**th was even more unremarkable, he was lured into a trap illegally and secretly by a North Carolina lieutenant. It wasn’t even a fierce battle.
Pirates are untrained criminals, the navy were trained soldiers so they took no time in cutting his head off and tying it on a pole facing the Chesapeake Bay.”
9. French hero.
“Charles de Gaulle.
MF was an officer of the army that lost half of France in 2 weeks to the Germans in WW2. Flees like a cockroach to the UK where somehow embodies the spirit of the resistance, somehow receives the tile of General, even though his tasks were not dangerous nor fundamental.
When the allies take over France, he is not in any of the strategic discussions among generals of different armies, nonetheless he walks into Paris as their great liberator. Couple of years later gets elected president (because somehow he has managed to keep his popularity??).
While president, North African colonies declare war (and independence) from France. Many people d**, and the french economy and territories takes a huge blow. Also he managed to dismantle the oldest European university of the world (Université de Paris)…”
10. Wow.
“Ayn Rand.
Elitist prick, complete nut bag, husband a**ser, most likely committed infidelity. Moreover, her ideas are terrible. So dumb. She clearly thinks poor=dumb and useless, when she doesn’t realize how privileged education is what makes someone “productive” in the way that she imagined.
She even says it in Atlas Shrugged, John Gault and Francisco wouldn’t have become who they were if they hadn’t had that one philosophy teacher who became a short order cook because the world is so mediocre and undeserving of his genius.
And the saddest part is so many people after reading atlas shrugged are like “yeah, selfishness is the best, anyone who is poor is weak and stupid. My life is good and it’s impossible to have a good life unless you won it for yourself so I must be the best person ever and all you plebs can eat my s**t.”
Randian economics is a conflict in terms.”
11. Scammer.
“Jordan Belfort.
People praise him as this great money man and stock trader. Legit just made all his money scamming people.
People still follow him on social media and look up to this loser.”
12. “A cocky moron.”
“Robert E. Lee.
And I’m not even talking about the fact that his cause’s success meant the deliberate continuation of slavery.
I mean as a commander he was an over-aggressive, cocky moron who did more damage to his own cause then any general he faced before Grant.
Read Longstreet’s critique of him after the war, especially at Chancellorville and Gettysburg. There’s a reason he only won a single battle (Cold Harbor, which proved strategically indecisive) after Jackson d**d.”
Now we want to hear from you.
Tell us who you think is the most overrated person in history.
Do it in the comments, please!
