What all political dictators or future enemies of the US lived in the US before they went off to become dictators or enemies?
Charles Taylor of Liberia
Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam
Anyone else?
According to his Wikipedia article Joachim Ribbentrop worked as a journalist in NYC and Boston before World War I. He also lived in Canada, France and the UK.
Was about to say that I thought Castro did a stint as a minor league ball-player, but a quick Google search corrected me: Was Fidel Castro Given a Tryout by the Washington Senators? | Snopes.com
If you believe his Hawaiian birth certificate to be real, then apparently Obama: Can the US Constitution Survive Dictator Obama? | Canada Free Press
And I guess Bill Gates is an up-and-comer as well:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/HowTo:Become_a_Dictator
I feel like the answer to the OQ should be a pretty long list, but I’m having trouble finding any more legitimate answers (mainly because of the commonality of the words in the search criteria).
Noriega had some training in the U.S., according to Wikipedia.
I find the name of this website rather confusing.
Papa Doc studied, ironically, public health at the Univ. of Michigan.
Syngman Rhee did his bachelor’s and doctoral education in the US.
Slobodan Milosevic made several trips to New York as a banker.
Slightly off-topic, but several Khmer Rouge leaders studied in Paris.
No kidding.
Since you specify dictators (who are not enemies), Nguyễn Văn Thiệu.
On that note, Alberto Fujimori spent some post-dictatoring time in Japan.
[Moderator Note]
Sinisterniik, political jabs are not permitted in GQ. No warning issued, but don’t do this again.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Lev Davidovich Trotsky lived in New York for a time.
Sorry! I didn’t think I was. I was trying to poke fun at the Birthers, not Obama anywho.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna lost power and went into exile in the United States after losing Texas. He eventually returned to Mexico, regained power, and was President during Mexico’s war against the United States.
Strangely, that isn’t mentioned in the brochure. I’m gonna ask my friend at the SPH if she knew that.
Albert Norden, head of propaganda for East Germany, spent WW2 in the Big Apple, where he soaked up all the info he could about Capitalism so he could use it against the West.
Park Chung Hee Park Chung Hee - Wikipedia was dictator of South Korea through the 60s & 70s.
While he never lived in the US as a civilian, he did spend some time in Oklahoma attending US Army schools.
I’m gonna bet that virtually every non-Communist dictator during the Cold War spent at least a short stint in the US getting trained by us in how to best retain power & foil the Commie’s plots. As did most of each dictators’ inner circle.
Hussein Mohamed Farrah Aidid
Lived in the US from 17 to 30, graduated High School in California, served as a United States Marine, became a US citizen.
Succeeded his father in command of the forces his father had led against US troops.
His title may have been “President”, and he may have been friendlier towards the US than his predecessor or rivals, but I think he fits the category.
Ugh! Most Canadians would find it utterly embarrassing. Still trying to figure out if it’s a legit Poe or poor satire.
Sayyid Qutb - on whose ideology Muslim Brotherhood and especially Al Queda are founded - became radicalized after and arguably because of his two-year sojourn in the United States.