These infamous historical figures thought quite highly of themselves. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at historical figures with narcissistic traits that have had the worst effects on society.
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00:00That day, a new era dawned for France, with Napoleon named First Consul.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at historical figures with narcissistic traits
00:10that have had the worst effects on society.
00:13Millions of Germans saw in him the messiah he felt himself to be.
00:19Richard Nixon.
00:20He inadvertently gave the public a front row seat into his psyche.
00:23Nixon probably didn't know about Watergate in advance, but he had sanctioned break-ins
00:28and wiretaps of opponents through his notorious plumbers.
00:32While Nixon put on a front for the public, the tapes he recorded revealed other facets
00:36of his character.
00:37He had a desire to come out on top through any means possible.
00:40This is evidenced by his secretly approving a bombing campaign in Vietnam and invading
00:45Cambodia, culminating in the deaths of thousands of civilians.
00:48Now he could do so with the full might of America's power.
00:52He aimed to bludgeon the communists to the negotiating table by round-the-clock bombing
00:58of Viet Cong sanctuaries in Cambodia.
01:01Another characteristic he displayed was keeping loved ones distant, with some friends confirming
01:05they didn't address him by his first name.
01:07He also showed signs of paranoia towards the media, especially as the Watergate scandal
01:11progressed.
01:12Even after he was caught lying and resigned, he refused to admit any wrongdoing and focused
01:16on his accomplishments instead.
01:18People have got to know whether or not their president's a crook.
01:21Well, I'm not a crook.
01:23Saddam Hussein.
01:24Incessantly seeking authority and a lack of empathy for others are considered core symptoms
01:28of grandiose narcissism.
01:30While those can be applied to several different autocrats, Saddam Hussein incorporated them
01:34into his political career early on.
01:36At just 31, he became the country's second most powerful man, next to President Ahmed
01:42Hassan al-Bakr.
01:44Still little known outside Iraq, Saddam was quick to make an impression when he had the
01:49chance.
01:50He led the regime by purging the Ba'ath Party and executing over 20 men he felt opposed
01:54him.
01:55That eventually escalated into him killing anyone who dared disagree with him.
01:58I saw him throughout my teenage life as the brutal dictator that committed so many crimes
02:03against so many people in Iraq.
02:05His need for complete control didn't end there.
02:07Besides initiating the Gulf War and attempting to eradicate the Kurdish population, he's
02:11suspected of being behind the disappearances of hundreds of thousands of his own citizens.
02:17Saddam tried to homogenize the Iraqi people to create a society that was first and foremost
02:25Iraqi and not representing fragments of the population, ethnic or religious fractions.
02:35His constant abuse of power has led to one of the best examples of overt conceit in a
02:39contemporary leader.
02:40Caligula
02:41Excessive selfishness isn't a contemporary invention.
02:44If you want to be Rome's third emperor, it's Caligula who has come to stand for the corruption,
02:50horror, and excess of Imperial Rome.
02:53It's been speculated that countless figures from ancient history could have been afflicted
02:56with the personality disorder.
02:58There's no better example than Caligula, a Roman emperor whose sense of self was apparently
03:02so inflated that he planned to erect a statue of himself as Zeus.
03:06According to writings from those close to him, his rule was cruel and often violent,
03:10even supposedly forcing multiple people to end their own lives, including one of his
03:13closest allies.
03:14Caligula's time and his charge was defined by remarkable brutality, much of which was
03:21aimed at his own family.
03:23Some have claimed that he had an affinity for ostentatious spectacles, including fights
03:27between horses and humans.
03:28While it's impossible to diagnose him based on what's been left behind, he serves as proof
03:32that these signs have existed in people for millennia.
03:35It's in the story of Caligula that all the elements of tyranny as we now recognize it
03:41come together for the first time.
03:43Benito Mussolini
03:44For some, evidence of self-obsession has been obvious since childhood.
03:48Early on, the infamous Italian prime minister showcased violent tendencies by injuring his
03:52classmates.
03:53The young Mussolini showed signs of violence from a very young age.
03:57When he was just 10, he was actually expelled from school, not for some, you know, student
04:03prank, but for actually stabbing another student.
04:07From there, his poor behavior only escalated.
04:09He had an air of confidence that came through in speeches to his populace, making it easy
04:13to manipulate them into following him.
04:15His innate need for mass dominance led to him attacking several countries and aiding
04:19in the creation of fascism, one of the most insidious ideologies to have been popularized.
04:24Absolutely central to fascist ideology was the state.
04:28So it was to be a very strong state, and one which really was a totalitarian state, a totalitarian
04:35state with complete submission to the state.
04:39It also resulted in the abuse of his own people via a violent police state, which he also
04:43used to permanently silence his detractors.
04:46His grandiosity caused a domino effect that society is still dealing with to this day.
04:50He was also quite aggressive, and he often clashed with teachers and his fellow pupils,
04:55because he had this very sort of proud nature, he was quite grumpy, and he was always pretty
05:00violent.
05:01Jim Jones
05:02Being a cult figurehead requires a self-imposed superiority that is primarily found in some
05:07narcissists.
05:08While several fit the bill, one of the most infamous was Jim Jones, the perpetrator behind
05:11the People's Temple.
05:12At the time, at the height of its power, People's Temple was really looked upon as a marvelous
05:23enterprise.
05:24Convinced he was a god, he led his congregations with intense fervor.
05:28While he presented himself as a kind and accepting man, a darker side lurked just beneath the
05:32surface.
05:33His need for admiration resulted in ridiculous lies, even claims that he had healing powers.
05:37I represent divine principle, divine socialism.
05:40I will not pass away, but I shall stand throughout the endless ages of time.
05:46When skepticism arose, his true nature revealed itself.
05:49Rather than admit his faults, he whisked his remaining followers off to Guyana, using promises
05:54of a peaceful afterlife to continue exploiting them.
05:56Eventually, he spiraled, ending in the deaths of over 900 people, himself included.
06:01This time, Jones served a punch spiked with cyanide.
06:04Alexander the Great
06:05For some historical figures, certain aspects of some conditions are more obvious.
06:09Some individuals' whole lives can be summarized as one long battle for power, especially accomplished
06:13commanders like Alexander the Great.
06:16Alexander's victory sends a very strong message to the rest of the Persians.
06:21They may think this is a young general, an upstart, a child, a boy.
06:27He's a force to be reckoned with.
06:29He displayed other peculiarities from a young age, such as a desire to be more accomplished
06:33than his father and a calculating yet rash attitude.
06:36They led him to unprecedented victories on the battlefield, resulting in him leading
06:39a vast empire by his 30th birthday.
06:42One of the things that is coming out of Alexander's empire is a reframing of the sense of the
06:49globe and how large things are, and they are rewriting the way that they thought the world
06:56looked.
06:57Alexander's charisma played into his success as well, making him both a competent king
07:00and a cruel conqueror.
07:02However, his triumphs only worsened his narcissistic symptoms, and the end of his life was colored
07:06with delusions of grandeur, including a supposed belief that he was a deity.
07:10Alexander believes he's a descendant of the gods.
07:15His mother Olympias claimed that he actually was not the son of Philip, but he's the son
07:22of Zeus himself.
07:24Joseph Stalin
07:25It isn't often that dictators will be more covert in their ambitions, but the ones that
07:28do seem even more threatening.
07:30In terms of ruthlessness, bloodlust, Stalin remains one of the greatest villains of the
07:3720th century.
07:38Joseph Stalin was often portrayed as mediocre and insufficient.
07:41However, that characterization was anything but correct.
07:44He was skilled in the art of deception and manipulated his way into a leadership position
07:48within the Bolshevik movement.
07:49However, his soft-spoken demeanor couldn't mask the true monster underneath.
07:53His abject cruelty was unrelenting, and him gaining even more sway only exacerbated it.
07:57If you didn't play by his rules, you went off to a labor camp, or you were summarily
08:02executed in some fashion.
08:04Under his rule, countless people died, with his horrific gulags alone claiming at least
08:09a million lives.
08:10He was plagued with paranoia towards the end of his life, resulting in the imprisonment
08:13of several doctors, including one whose only crime was suggesting he retire.
08:17This is the enduring mystery of Stalin, the friendly uncle and the man of steel, a titan
08:25of the Second World War, and a monster of the 20th century who got away with it.
08:32Henry VIII
08:34Even those who are born into royalty can be afflicted with excessive self-adulation.
08:37He is Henry VIII, infamous even half a millennium later for his fabled charm and terrible cruelty.
08:44Henry VIII used his immense power for his own benefit countless times, including bringing
08:49about the separation of the Church of England from the wider Catholic denomination over
08:52his simple disagreement.
08:54He also ushered in a new theory that claimed that he and other monarchs were appointed
08:57by a higher power, meaning they couldn't be controlled by external forces.
09:01Henry actually elevates himself beyond kingship and proclaims that he is an emperor of his
09:08own empire.
09:09That's only the tip of the iceberg.
09:11He also struggled in his romantic relationships, often love-bombing his wives before suddenly
09:16cutting them off once the feelings had passed.
09:18That's not even mentioning his extreme reaction to rumors of their alleged adultery, leading
09:22to two of them being executed.
09:23He loved some, hated others.
09:26He even executed a few.
09:27Napoleon Bonaparte
09:28It isn't often that one has an entire ego complex named after them.
09:32Napoleon utilized his ambition to quickly rise within the ranks of the French Revolution
09:36and became revered due to his victories in battle.
09:39What was instrumental to Napoleon's success was his skill as a leader.
09:42He didn't just inspire people, he made them feel that they were taking part in history.
09:47However, it wasn't long before he was clouded with a desire for more.
09:50This led to him planning a coup and declaring himself to be the emperor of the French.
09:54He was prone to rage when things didn't go his way, causing his charming facade to drop.
09:58He could be ruthless at times, even brutal, but he was still one of the greatest men of
10:05all time.
10:06He had to wage several more wars as a way of maintaining his rule, eventually being
10:10exiled twice.
10:11His declining reputation led to the coining of a condition known as the Napoleon Complex,
10:15rewriting his legacy for centuries to come.
10:17Beneath all the propaganda and bravado of Napoleon, there remained a personality who
10:23was prone to fragility.
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10:40Adolf Hitler
10:41He's the ultimate example of what can go wrong when egotistical qualities and unfettered
10:46power combine.
10:47Adolf Hitler was a fanatical leader, a megalomaniac who led his country and many others into the
10:53abyss.
10:54Hitler displayed several traits that are consistent with certain personality disorders, including
10:58his unrepentant fanaticism about those he hated.
11:01This is further evidenced by him positing himself as infallible and causing constant
11:05infighting between those who worked for him.
11:07By keeping his subordinates in a constant state of distrust, he was able to maintain
11:11his unquestioned authority.
11:12Hitler had the willpower of a demon.
11:15If he hadn't, he would never have achieved anything.
11:18He also committed several atrocities in the name of total domination, with goals of expanding
11:22his reign across the globe.
11:24Millions of people died due to him lying about and vilifying them for his own gain, making
11:28him one of the most destructive and purely evil leaders in history.
11:40Which narcissist do you think has done the most damage?
11:42Let us know in the comments below!
12:12And as always, thanks for watching!
12:13See you next time!