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Psychopaths are undoubtedly a dangerous breed but never more so than when they are in charge of a country. In an ideal world it would be nice to think that past kings, presidents, prime ministers and dictators weren’t criminally insane and pathologically corrupt, but history has proven otherwise. It’s said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so with that in mind let’s take a peek at ten of the most deranged and dangerous men who have ever sat on a throne, controlled armies, and altered the course of history on a diabolical whim.
Henry VIII
The ginger loverman with a gammy leg wasn’t just a royal womanizer who got married six times and fathered countless bastards, he also had two of his wives (Anne Boleyn and Kathryn Howard) beheaded after accusing them of having affairs. The overweight and balding lothario also ordered the execution of countless others, including his own servants, military advisors, assorted noblemen, advisors, and of course, Catholics. In fact it’s been suggested that an estimated 72,000 heads rolled during ‘fat Harry’s’ bloodthirsty reign. Yet the Welsh psycho's outrageous behavior doesn’t just start and stop with killing people. Although he later accused Anne Boleyn of witchcraft and sleeping with anything in a pair of Tudor tights, he had previously loved the Scarlet Jezebel so much he booted the Catholic Church out of the country and appointed himself Supreme Head of the newly appointed Church of England, just so he could get a divorce from his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Boleyn. Obviously being excommunicated by the Pope and triggering the bloody English reformation in order to get laid, suggests we’re dealing with a disturbed individual, and it comes as no surprise that when assessed by Professor Kevin Dutton against a ‘psychopathic spectrum,’ the King, who divorced wife number four, Anne of Cleaves, for being “too ugly”, scored an impressive 174 against a ‘starting’ psychopath score of 168.
Vlad the Impaler
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia was an industrial strength psychopath, responsible for carnage and slaughter on an epic scale. So terrible were ‘Vlad the Impaler’s’ deeds that horror writer Bram Stoker based Dracula on him. Ironically, the famous literary vampire’s evil ways pale into insignificance when compared with the rivers of blood that the sadistic tyrant from Transylvania caused to flow. Lording over an area that encompasses much of modern-day Romania, Vlad ruled his subjects with an iron fist and an even sharper stake. The mustached monster enjoyed nothing more than skinning, boiling, decapitating, blinding and roasting his victims, of whom there were thousands. He was also partial to cutting off people’s ears, noses, limbs, and sexual organs. Yet what Vlad loved more than anything else was to impale people, hence his nickname. Driving a stake through a victim’s buttocks until it protruded out of their mouth was as gruesome and hideous as it sounds. Even worse, Vlad had his stakes oiled and smoothed to ensure the victim would ensure a terribly slow and excruciatingly painful death. The psychopathic prince is said to have killed tens of thousands of people in a single day using this method. Disturbingly enough, Prince Charles of England is actually a descendant of Vlad and would definitely have a viable ‘stake’ in being the new King of Romainia if the country’s monarchial system was ever restored.
Idi Amin
The last 25 years of Idi Amin’s life were spent in disgraced exile in Saudi Arabia, and when you consider the terrible and bloody eight year reign associated with the Ugandan dictator’s name, it’s safe to say he got off lightly. Not only was Idi’s barbaric regime blamed for the mass execution and tribal purge of over 500,000 people, the six foot plus psychopath's personal appetite for carnage and sex was legendary. Idi was rumored to have kept the heads of his most despised enemies in the fridge and then of course there are those pesky rumors of cannibalism that just refuse to lay down and die. Forcing political prisoners to kill each other with sledgehammers and fathering over 60 children with different women was all in a day’s work for this dictator. However, it’s Idi’s obsession of going by the catchy title of, “His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular,” which poignantly indicates above all else just what a true blue, howling at the moon nut-job unfortunate Uganda had on their hands between 1971-1979. Idi seized power via a military coup and his rule by force and fear brought nothing but bloodshed, tragedy and economic ruin to the country he professed to love. Like all psychopaths Amin possessed no redeeming qualities but alas, only the good die young, and the man who would be “King of Scotland” lived until 2003 before he finally shuffled off this mortal coil aged 78.
Pol Pot
Without any knowledge of his life, the very name Pol Pot seems to scream “Dangerous psycho alert!” And so it should. In Cambodia between 1975 and 1979, Pot and his dreaded Khmer Rouge claimed the lives of over one million people. If you weren’t executed under Pot’s medieval regime, the chances are disease or starvation would finish you off. As we know, psychos can be both remarkably charming and terribly ruthless. Pot was both. The product of both a Buddhist and Roman Catholic education, Pol later became a Marxist and with the help of his fierce and committed followers, he finally overthrew the US backed Cambodian government and initiated his vision of an agrarian utopia. Cities were emptied, money was abolished, private property was reclaimed, religion was outlawed and intellectuals or anyone who dared to voice an opinion were routinely rounded up and killed. In its place rural collectives were set up which were radical, socialist, and also criminally responsible for the deaths of thousands of men, women and children. Pot and the Khmer Rouge were finally kicked back into the jungle in 1979 after Vietnam invaded. Pot officially retired as leader in the late 1980s and died in April 1998. He was never held responsible for his catalogue of crimes and in an interview towards the end of his life, the aging tyrant responsible for the genocide caused by a toxic cocktail of Maoism and nationalism simply said, "My conscience is clear.” However, the hand of history begs to differ.
Joseph Stalin
He may have played a large part in ridding the world of fellow psychopath Adolph Hitler and turning the USSR into a superpower, but let’s not beat around the bush, Stalin was a monster. His totalitarian and unforgiving regime of purges, mind control, and gulags suggested that under his rule, the Soviet Union became a deadly product of it’s leader’s pathology. Psychopaths are estimated to account for four percent of the population, and during Stalin’s time as top boy, the judicial system, police force, media, army and educational establishments seemed to account for Soviet Russia’s entire quota. Tens of millions of caring and fully developed people from all walks of life were accused of lacking ideological purity and deviating from communist principles by Stalin and his Bolshevik cronies before being routinely slaughtered with as much thought as lighting a cigarette. During Stalin’s “Great Terror”, killing and repression was everywhere and his 1937 purge, where millions were executed and sent to labour camps without trial, stands as one of the bleakest episodes in Russia’s history. The son of an alcoholic cobbler who became little more than a power crazed gangster with a withered arm, club foot, and a pox scarred face, has a lot to answer for when the sun rises on Judgement day.
Emperor Caligula
When a man declares himself a god and takes advice from his horse, it’s probably wise to give him a wide berth. When that same dude also happens to be a Roman Emperor it’s probably best to run as fast as you can and don’t look back. Born Gaius, the ancient nutter was only later given the nickname Caligula which means “Little Boot” or “Bootikins” because of his fondness for dressing up as a legionary as a child and parading about his father Germanicus’s military camps. When he first became Emperor at the tender age of 24, the ancient Romans loved Calligula because he gave them “bread and circuses” and flamboyant psychopaths were usually well received in the “eternal city,” as were rulers who abolished taxes. Yet after the first seven months of his rule it all went pear-shaped in a big way. After falling seriously ill, the Caligula that returned was either a different man or he finally felt secure enough in to finally show his true colors. Either way, a dangerous psychopath who worshipped cruelty, perversion and death and insisted on being treated like a god was now in charge of a super power. “Bootikins” had big issues. Just how big can be garnered by the fact that he made it a crime, punishable by death, if any member of the public happened to look down upon him, or mention goats in his presence. The fact that he wanted to erect a series of statues of himself in synagogues, slept with his three sisters, and called off an invasion of Britain at the last minute just so his troops could gather sea shells, meant this particular nut job had to go before he caused some real damage. Calligula was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard after only five years of rule at the age of 29. History has not been kind.
Genghis Khan
Genghis is the chosen pet name for big dogs with bad temperaments the world over, and there’s a reason for that. The bloodthirsty heathen that was Khan is rumored to have killed 1,748,000 people in a single hour. Now while that’s undoubtedly an exaggeration of sorts, there can be no doubt that the little father of Mongolia enjoyed immersing himself wholeheartedly in death and destruction on a psychopathic scale. To effectively gauge the scale of Khan’s appetite for slaughter and rape. It was estimated in 2003 that as many as 16 million people (0.5 percent of the global population) were descendants of Khan. Which isn’t surprising when you consider the romantic barbarian was fond of saying, “Happiness is to kill the foe, ride his horses, watch his wife and daughters weep, and seize them to your bosom.” Khan’s real name was the lot less catchier ‘Temujin’, but after uniting the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia and establishing a Mongol Empire that occupied most of Central Asia and China through a terrible campaign which involved the wholesale massacres of civilian populations, he was forever known as the “Universal Ruler” which translates as Genghis Khan. As well as leaving behind a mountain of human skulls, Khan’s legacy is also a very environmentally aware one. In fact he has been branded the greenest invader in history. Because he butchered some 40 million people, their unburied and rotting corpses caused forests to grow once again on huge tracts of cultivated land. This removed nigh on 700 million tons of carbon from the atmosphere, which is about the same amount produced each year from the global use of petrol. Ecologists have cited it as the first ever example of manmade global cooling, but it’s doubtful if Khan will be receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for his endeavors any time soon.
Chairman Mao
Mao Zedong was yet another Marxist with a taste for carnage. The little peasant teacher who believed that, “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun," was responsible for founding the People’s Republic of China which sought to reshape Chinese society in accord with Mao’s unique vision. The only problem is when your vision involves organizing farmers into collectives, complete state control, and the ruthless suppression of any dissident voices, you’re going to upset a few apple-carts. Mao’s ‘Great Leap Forward’ of 1958 didn’t lead to the long hoped for mass mobilization of labour or any great increase in agricultural and industrial production. Rather it led to a marked decline in output, widespread famine and millions of deaths. What’s a psycho to do hey? Well, eight years later Zedong tried to win back public favor with his ‘Cultural Revolution.’ Which spelt ‘BAD LUCK’ if you were considered one of China’s ‘impure elements.’ In the name of the ‘revolutionary spirit’ one-and-a-half million people were killed as the country’s cultural heritage was on the receiving end of one hell of a kicking. With anarchy threatening, Mao sent in the troops to quell any uprising and tell everyone just who the boss was. Mao died on 9 September 1976 and he is now widely regarded as one of the most important individuals to have played a part on the world stage. His supporters, and there are many, praise him for turning China into a world power. Under his leadership, China’s population swelled from 550 to over 900 million, but Mao’s apologists tend to gloss over that fact that during his time in power, 40-70 million men, women and children died through forced labour, starvation and execution.
Kim Jong - il
According to North Korean folklore, when the man the people fondly referred to as “Dear Leader” was born, a bright star lit up the heavens, winter became spring and a double rainbow miraculously appeared. In reality little Kim was born in Siberia where his father was hiding from the Japanese. Yet for 17 years an alcoholic James Bond obsessive with a speech impediment who cared nothing for the common folk was allowed to lord it over an entire country that became the world’s fifth-largest military and nuclear power. While the rest of Korea starved, Kim boasted a wine cellar which housed over 10,000 bottles and his fondness for lobsters was legendary. Measuring at five feet, three inches, Kim was a small man who disliked other small people, but his ego was of course, huge. According to the state, Kim was the best golfer in history who once knocked up an impressive 11 hole-in-ones on an 18-hole course. The renaissance man was also said to have written six operas in two years. A true psycho’s boast if there ever was one. Whilst Kim pranced about in his favored four-inch platform heels and Khaki jumpsuits, famine ravaged North Korea, but that was OK because the little man had four billion dollars tucked away in European banks, just in case the people decided enough was enough and it was time for the little man to go. Apparently Kim never needed to defecate, which would explain why this particular power-crazed tyrant was full of crap to the very end.
Adolph Hitler
Probably the most famous nutter in history, Hitler’s psychotic ways didn’t just damage a country they damaged an entire world. From an early age, Hitler’s grand obsession with himself was apparent. The failed artist carried enough spite, resentment and envy around with him to fill a football team of psychopaths. Anyone who writes a book and call it “My Struggle” (Mien Kampf) has obviously spent a lifetime courting delusions of grandeur. Yet when those delusions became a reality, the little Austrian with a strange mustache was given carte blanche to enact his terrible fantasies of power and superiority on a grand scale. Millions died in the horror and hell that the Nazis and their Fuhrer created, and the world has yet to recover. Hitler’s regime was one of bureaucratic carnage, where a human life was worth less than a number in a ledger. Anyone who opposed the Nazis or failed to live up to the “ideals” which governed their doctrine of hate, were humiliated, degraded and destroyed in a systematic, sterile and callous fashion. The Nazis didn’t just want to destroy the body, they wanted to destroy the soul. Hitler’s Nuremberg speeches can be likened to a portrait of a psychopath in full flight, as the whole of Germany was hypnotized by this manic creature who spoke seductively to the basest instincts in humanity. For their misplaced loyalty, the German people were repaid with death and derision by the man whom they believed to be their savior. As Berlin burned and his people were being killed in a war they had already lost, Hitler refused to discuss surrender terms with the Allies. Instead, safe and secure in his bunker, Hitler failed to answer for his crimes and simply shot himself instead. In the end, the craven coward escaped the courts of man, but his trial in the court of history has been eternally damming, ensuring that Hitler’s reign will never be perceived in accord with his dying wish as, “Six years of struggle, which in spite of all reverses will go down in history as the most glorious and most courageous manifestation of a people's will to live.” 
