# Insane Leaders **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 12, 2006, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-leaders/376170 "2006-10-12T10:17:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-leaders/376170/21 "2006-10-13T11:13:18Z")
If we’re definately counting deceased rulers, then England’s George III would count. (Hmmm…maybe we should split this into categories: “Living Rulers,” “Historical Rulers,” and “Syphilitics”) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2006, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-leaders/376170/22 "2006-10-13T13:00:35Z")
I’m a conservative, and I quite liked the guy, but… Reagan? Sane and reasonably bright, but definitely doddery during his presidency. The Alzheimers announcement certainly came as no surprise. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-leaders/376170/23 "2006-10-14T04:41:43Z")
Leonid Brezhnev was definitely senile towards the end. Dunno if that was Alzheimer’s, stroke-related dementia, or what, but there’s a new [film](http://ads-rm.looksmart.com/imp?z=6&Z=728x90&s=42075&t=3) which addresses the question. What’s the consensus on Pol Pot? Was his nuttiness merely the extra-creamy, smooth, power-grabbing dictatorial kind, or the 100% peanut extra-chunky batshit-insane, Rousseau-influenced, Kurtz-gone-upriver sort of crazy? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-leaders/376170/24 "2006-10-14T04:51:39Z")
Nobody can beat [King Carlos II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_II_of_Spain) of Spain. I first came across this guy in a passing mention in a history book in high school. But it was his [picture](http://casl.umd.umich.edu/hum/spanishco/10.Reyes_Catolicos_CarlosII/images/050CarlosII.Hechizad.51174c.jpg) that made me do some research on my own. Turns out, he was severely inbred and suffered from all kinds of physical and mental disorders. He was completely unfit to rule and his reign was disastrous - nevertheless they still painted a bunch of formal portraits of him. Since these formal portraits were intended to make the person in question as good as possible, we can reasonably assume that Carlos actually looked a lot weirder in real life than he does in the portrait. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-leaders/376170/25 "2006-10-14T06:01:56Z")
Well, what if you’re being led by a man that admits God inflences his decisions, and compels him to control The historical lands of the Bible. Here in America we call that a Candidate. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-leaders/376170/26 "2006-10-14T15:46:56Z")
Heh. This is not to the point of the thread, but I just started reading _Quicksilver_ (the 1st book of the Baroque Cycle) this morning, and in the very first chapter, one of the characters has a conversation with a very young Ben Franklin and “Carlos the Sufferer” is mentioned, in relation to the War of the Spanish Succession. I’d read this thread yesterday and the Wikipedia link for Carlos II, and less than 24 hours later I come across that. Not important or anything, just weirdly synchronicitous… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insane-leaders/376170.md?page=1)