Nobody's perfect, but some people aren't even
close, and that includes some of the most beloved figures in all of history. Sure, they look great at first glance, but
a closer look reveals that these respected historical figures were actually terrible
people. Screen legend John Wayne's reputation as an
upstanding man's man gets tainted real fast once you hear his views on anyone who wasn't
white. In a 1971 interview with Playboy, he actually
said, "I believe in white supremacy until the blacks
are educated to a point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions
of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people." Wayne also railed against black people getting
too many opportunities, complaining that Hollywood studios were, quote, "taking their tokenism
a little too far." The actor also had a problem with Native Americans. In that same Playboy interview, he said that
white people grabbing America from the Native Americans was good. As he put it, "There were great numbers of people who needed
new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves." "There shouldn't be so much whining and bellyaching." Comic book artist Bob Kane is known as the
creator of Batman, alongside co-creator Bill Finger. While the Caped Crusader debuted in 1939,
Finger had to watch as his more influential friend took all the credit, belittled Finger's
own claims of creatorship, and left him to die in obscurity. "You can take almost any Batman book of the
shelf and open to the title page: Batman created by Bob Kane." It's true that Kane came up with the concept
for a character called Bat-Man, but his version would wear a red suit, have wavy blonde hair,
and fly around using a pair of bat wings. But Kane also conscripted Bill Finger to flesh
out the character. Finger then created the Batman costume we
know today, removed the character's superpowers, and made him a detective. Finger also created Catwoman, Robin, and the
Joker to boot. Kane, meanwhile, used his own creative powers
to invent ways to secure a contract with DC that forbade the company from crediting his
friend. While Kane would make money off Batman from
day one, Finger wouldn't get a creator credit until 2015. Unfortunately, Finger died in 1974. "And for that, there is no forgiveness for
Bob Kane." While there are plenty of presidents who cheated
on their wives, John F. Kennedy is probably the most famous for it. He slept with movie stars and secretaries,
and it was absolutely terrible for the pain it caused his wife. Jackie Kennedy is famous for being the picture-perfect
first lady and the ever-dutiful spouse. But Jackie was aware of many of Jack's affairs. In fact, she considered divorce at least twice. The first time was in 1956 when JFK left his
pregnant wife at home to go on a Mediterranean cruise. When she gave birth to a stillborn daughter,
he couldn't even cut his vacation short and come home to her. But every time she thought of ending it, her
family talked her out of it. JFK might have been a great president, but
he wasn't exactly the best husband. South Carolina native Strom Thurmond was the
longest serving senator in U.S. history. But even though plenty of his constituents
loved him, he had some terrible views about race. When Thurmond ran for president in 1948 on
a state's rights and segregationist platform, he managed to get over a million votes. And he continued his fight against equality
when he got to the Senate. In 1957 President Eisenhower proposed some
basic civil rights laws, but Thurmond filibustered against them for over 24 hours, still the
longest speech in Senate history. But what makes Thurmond much worse than almost
any other racist was that he was also a hypocrite. When he was 22, he impregnated a 16-year-old
black domestic worker. He completely ignored his daughter, Essie
Mae Washington-Williams, until she was 16, after which he started giving her money from
time to time. This was partly to keep her quiet, as he knew
exposure could ruin his political career. Nelson Mandela's marriage with his wife Winnie
survived nearly three decades of his imprisonment, but it fell apart in 1996 when it was revealed
that she cheated on him with her younger bodyguard. Winnie was a fighter like her husband and
earned herself the title "mother of the nation." But she was involved in some seriously controversial
activities. If she suspected someone of being a traitor
to the cause, she might order a "necklacing": putting a gasoline-soaked car tire around
someone's neck and lighting it on fire. Winnie Mandela was eventually convicted of
kidnapping, assault, and fraud. And when she became part of the government
as a deputy minister, she ended up getting fired for insubordination. "He needed the blood of those who loved him"
is what Pablo Picasso's granddaughter Marina once said about her artist grandfather. One of the most famous artists who ever lived,
Picasso completely changed what modern art could be. But as he scaled these dizzying heights, he
displayed a distinct penchant for misogyny. Picasso himself wasn't shy about these views. He's on record as calling women "machines
for suffering." He ensured his children and their wives depended
on him for money. When Marina's parents broke up, he kept her
and her alcoholic mother in poverty to teach them a lesson. Being one of Picasso's women also meant watching
as he slept with hundreds of people. He once said he thought women were either
goddesses or doormats, but he often only treated them more like the latter. It's borderline blasphemous to criticize Mother
Teresa. Did anyone in history do more to help the
poor and the sick? Turns out, maybe she wasn't that great after
all. As reported by the Times of India, Mother
Teresa's true motives were less about helping people and more about boosting the numbers
for her own religion. Mother Teresa's mission buildings, despite
having tons of charitable donations at their disposal, rarely actually helped poor, sick
people become healthy. In fact, most of these places, according to
a 2013 paper published in Studies in Religion, were dirty, short on doctors, low on food,
and largely bereft of painkillers. Nevertheless, Teresa found the suffering beautiful. We know this because she said it to writer
Christopher Hitchens. "There is something beautiful in seeing the
poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ's Passion. The world gains much from their suffering." Naturally, this didn't apply to Teresa herself,
who, according to Hitchens, would regularly get care at far more reputable hospitals. "She's forever on some scumbag's Learjet going
around cashing in on everyone else's belief that she's a saint." But Teresa's true goal was to use her charitable
efforts to convert people to Roman Catholicism. She truly felt that the poor, the sick, and
the suffering were akin to Jesus. If they suffered as He did, in her mind, that
would bring them closer to Him. It would seem she skipped the parts in the
Bible where Jesus actually healed sick people.
