# People Whose Reputations Changed the Most From a Single Act or Event
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 4, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518 "2005-11-04T18:50:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/1 "2005-11-04T18:50:53Z")
I was just reading through the “Best Comedy Scenes” thread when someone mentioned the **OJ Simpson** scene in _Naked Gun_.
I think that he is the perfect example of the thread title. If he had somehow died the day before he _allegedly_ killed his wife and her acquaintance, our view of him would almost the opposite. Prior to that, he was a beloved celebrity. He was one of the greatest football players. He acted in movies, did commercials, and announced games from the sidelines. He always had a smile on his face and I can’t think of anyone who disliked him. After the fact, we learned that he was a physical abuser. But if had died the previous day, I’m pretty sure that none of us would’ve heard about these details.
Can we name any others? This would also include people who moved in the opposite direction (from bad to good).
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### Author:  [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/2 "2005-11-04T19:16:04Z")
Wasn’t Rudy Guillani pretty much dimissed as a viable politician and seen as lackluster at most as a leader… then 9/11 happened.
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### Author:  [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/3 "2005-11-04T19:20:18Z")
Howard Dean. As far as I can tell, prior to his screaming above a loud crowd with a microphone was right near his face, he was regarded as a pretty serious politician. Never mind the fact that he did the right thing at the time, public perception was changed.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/4 "2005-11-04T19:46:59Z")
John Wilkes Booth?
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/5 "2005-11-04T19:52:36Z")
Richard Nixon
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/6 "2005-11-04T20:10:46Z")
For good to bad, I’ll second Booth’s nomination. That assassination pretty much ruined his career.
For the other way, I’d guess George Washington crossing the Delaware. If that doesn’t pay off, the war is probably lost and he’d be remembered as a traitor to the crown.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/7 "2005-11-04T20:12:02Z")
Michael Jackson & Woody Allen.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/8 "2005-11-04T20:13:04Z")
And the most recent good-to-bad candidate is Tom Cruise.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/9 "2005-11-04T20:14:56Z")
Clinton really screwed the pooch with that Lewisnky nonsense. It was hard to take him seriously after that.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/10 "2005-11-04T20:19:38Z")
Fatty Arbuckle. He was a major star until the Virginia Rappe incident. Even though he was probably not guilty (and a jury found him so), his career was gone, and most people remember him for the scandal, not his films.
John Garfield. The Red Scare got him blacklisted, and he died before it went away. He was a major star of the time, but is now forgotten.
John Profumo in the UK: A Minister of State for War and well-respected politician, he became a disgrace when they discovered he was having an affair. With a woman who was also sleeping with a Russian intelligence officer. Who was told to find out about British military plans (there’s no evidence he told her anything about them, but that didn’t matter). Profumo was later knighted for charitable work, but is known primarily for the scandal, which helped bring down the government the next year.
(It’s usually easier for a reputation to be ruined this way than for it to be enhanced.)
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### Author:  [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/11 "2005-11-04T20:22:36Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> Clinton really screwed the pooch with that Lewisnky nonsense. It was hard to take him seriously after that.
Hey! She’s not a bombshell…but a pooch?!
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/12 "2005-11-04T21:43:16Z")
Paul Reubens
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### Author:  [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)
#### Post date: [November 4, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/13 "2005-11-04T22:52:00Z")
Bad (or at least forgotten) to good : Bob Geldof
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/14 "2005-11-05T00:11:18Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> Clinton really screwed the pooch with that Lewisnky nonsense. It was hard to take him seriously after that.
I should probably start a thread about this, but this mis-use of the phrase “screwed the pooch”, “fucked the dog”, “making puppies”, etc. bugs me. “Screwing the pooch” means you are doing nothing of any real use, usually on company time (and usually starting around 3 pm Friday afternoon.) It doesn’t mean screwed up or made a mistake.
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### Author:  [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/15 "2005-11-05T00:44:33Z")
Tom Hanks: Philadelphia
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### Author:  [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/16 "2005-11-05T00:52:39Z")
> [@featherlou](#):
>
> I should probably start a thread about this, but this mis-use of the phrase “screwed the pooch”, “fucked the dog”, “making puppies”, etc. bugs me. “Screwing the pooch” means you are doing nothing of any real use, usually on company time (and usually starting around 3 pm Friday afternoon.) It doesn’t mean screwed up or made a mistake.
Sorry, but every web site definition I can find for Screwed the Pooch says the same as this [one.](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&hs=AIW&lr=&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&oi=defmore&defl=en&q=define:Screwed+the+Pooch)
Do you have a cite?
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### Author:  [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/17 "2005-11-05T00:59:09Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> Michael Jackson & Woody Allen.
Was there really just one single event that pushed MJ over from “good” to “bad” though? I thought people had been finding him quite odd for awhile, and all the kiddie diddling charges just added to it. But it wasn’t as if those charges had come out around the time of “Thriller” or anything, when he was really popular. Right?
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### Author:  [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/18 "2005-11-05T01:04:15Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> Michael Jackson & Woody Allen.
Was there really just one single event that pushed MJ over from “good” to “bad” though? I thought people had been finding him quite odd for awhile, and all the kiddie diddling charges just added to it. But it wasn’t as if those charges had come out around the time of “Thriller” or anything, when he was really popular. Right?
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### Author:  [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/19 "2005-11-05T01:15:56Z")
Napoleon and Waterloo
Gary Hart and the Monkey Business on his trip to Bimini being published by the Maimi Herald
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy on the Chappaquiddick incident.
Hinckley, Chapman and Oswald
Peter Frampton in concert at Winterland.
(NB I know the vast majority of Frampton Comes Alive was recorded on 24-track at San Francisco’s Winterland, but there were some tracks recorded on 16-track at other venues - so I hope that isn’t quite cheating)
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### Author:  [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-whose-reputations-changed-the-most-from-a-single-act-or-event/329518/20 "2005-11-05T01:39:47Z")
Paul Reubens, aka PeeWee Herman
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