# What famous figures were you most surprised to discover were huge assholes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109 "2009-04-06T05:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/201 "2009-04-11T11:15:38Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > If by “men” you mean Germans, then yes. On the other hand, the British Army learnt its lessons in 1916-17, and in 1918, the Hundred Days Campaign was the most decisive and continious series of victories in the history of the British Army. Exactly. It seems to be forgotten that haig commanded the army that won the war. (with assistance of course) ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/202 "2009-04-11T11:17:55Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > What’s the source for the “lack of reinforcements prolonged the war” argument? Seems it could be argued that Haig having fewer men meant that much less cannon fodder sacrificed to no end. > > I’m not sure what to believe about Lloyd George and the convoy system. I’ve seen both ends of the argument (the Royal Navy leaders were holding back and LG prodded them into instituting the convoy system more rapidly than they wanted to, vs. LG grandstanding over something that was about to happen even without his input. Read “Castles of Steel” by Massie. Jellicoe already had the system drawn up - and it was complex. Lloyd George came in and blew his stack and when it became successful he claimed he did the lot. ( I am a Jellicoe suporter btw) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/203 "2009-04-11T15:59:42Z")
Bing Crosby. I always loved _White Christmas_ (the movie and the song), and listening to him sing Christmas songs-which I still do. And yet, the guy was a total asshole to his children from his first marriage to Dixie Lee-emotionally, psychologically, and physically abusive. (Beating his sons with a belt). His son Phillip denied the allegations-however, the other three, however, confirmed them. Two of his sons, Lindsay and Dennis, suffered from substance abuse and depression-both them of them ended up committing suicide. (It isn’t known, however, if he acted the same way towards the children from his second marriage) And while I wouldn’t call him an asshole, it was a let down to find out that Nat King Cole was a big time womanizer, and at the very least, a dick for cheating on his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/204 "2009-04-11T16:32:25Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Read “Castles of Steel” by Massie. Jellicoe already had the system drawn up - and it was complex. Lloyd George came in and blew his stack and when it became successful he claimed he did the lot. > > ( I am a Jellicoe suporter btw) The Massie book is the source I’m familiar with that praises Jellicoe and essentially dismisses Lloyd George as a significant factor in introducing the convoy system. Other sources, however cite Navy leaders’ resistance to convoys and LG’s intervention as being critical (I’m thinking it was a WWI history by S.L.A. Marshall where I first saw this interpretation). [Here’s another account](http://books.google.com/books?id=ou0xv02KAFkC&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=lloyd+george+convoy+world+war+I&source=bl&ots=DyA3TAOzDr&sig=_RZIlGZoYltXL9gfESwwXFMqAEY&hl=en&ei=YcPgSbOuHsmclQfZ1vTfDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#PPA54,M1) which cites sluggishness by Navy leaders, helpful pressure by LG and the initiative of junior Navy officers as factors in introducing the successful convoy system. You do get a very sympathetic picture of Jellicoe from Massie’s book, but also a sense of how cautious and conservative the man was (overall, a good thing for the British/Allies). ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/205 "2009-04-12T02:52:09Z")
John Nash the mathematician. I know that some people were aware all along that he was a giant asshole, but my first exposure to him was through the movie _A Beautiful Mind_, which makes him out to be not an asshole at all except where is his struggling with his perceptions of reality. Then I read the book. Frankly, there are few assholes that can top the level of interpersonal assholishness that John Nash achieved. He had an affair with a young single woman and got her pregnant. He encouraged her to have the child, but then refused to spend a penny to support her or his son, despite the fact that he visited the child regularly. Eventually, she was unable to keep the child and had to give him up to foster care. With his wife, he was hardly better. Once at a party, he threw her to the ground in front of all their friends, stepped on her neck, and laughed like it was some huge joke. He was seriously a psychopath. Schizophrenia actually improved his personality. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/206 "2009-04-12T16:57:10Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Alexander Hamilton. I don’t get that vibe from Alexander Hamilton at all. As perhaps the most brilliant, ambitious and productive of America’s founding fathers, Hamilton had to suffer many (in comparison to him) fools. The “fools”—Jefferson, Madison, Adams, et al—were, in my opinion, the petty, often hypocritical a-holes in their unrelenting trashing of Hamilton. While certainly no wilting flower, Al, stayed above the political fray most of the time. He repented completely for his single documented marital indiscretion—leaving a widow who cherished and championed him always, until the day she died, many decades after his death. He was an exceptionally good friend and confidant to great people who didn’t make friends easily (e.g. George Washington). He was one of the few important men of his day to truly abhor and denounce slavery. He was a man of outstanding character and honor: though he feared for his beloved son’s life, Alexander did not attempt to convince Phillip to back out of a duel because it wouldn’t be an honorable thing to do (in the context of their time and place), but he advised him to waste his shot, by shooting above opponents’ head. The opponent didn’t follow suit—Phillip was killed. A few years later, Al himself refused to back away from his challenge, but instead, decided to waste his shot above his opponents’ head, as he advised Phillip to do. We know what Burr did. Hamilton talked the talk and walked the walk. He’s the founding father who should have been president. A-hole? Not even close. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/207 "2009-04-12T21:07:25Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Nehru, was a big womaniser, spent too much time with other peoples wives, including Lady Mountbatten. An alternative narrative says he was gay and, even, having an affair with \*Lord \* Mountbatten. Google ain’t giving me much though. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/208 "2009-04-13T22:20:20Z")
I actually was surprised to hear awhile back that [this guy](http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Music/wireStory?id=7325229) was such a jerk. I’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/209 "2009-04-13T23:15:07Z")
I hear that President Harry Truman used to kick dogs that annoyed him. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/210 "2009-04-14T00:04:22Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I hear that President Harry Truman used to kick dogs that annoyed him. Which wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t specifically kicked them through goalposts on the White House lawn. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/211 "2009-04-14T00:41:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Which wouldn’t have been so bad if he hadn’t specifically kicked them through goalposts on the White House lawn. It did, however, lead to that great country & western song, “Drop Kick Me, Truman, Through the Goal Posts of the Rose Garden.” ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/212 "2009-04-14T01:35:22Z")
**Zoe** , you might do a bit of reading about Teresa- her “saintliness” is open to debate. She believed in the sanctity of suffering as a way to become closer to God, and therefore did little or nothing to relieve the suffering of her “patients” while she herself was treated by the finest medical teams available. She also did not appear to spend the lavish sums that were donated to her ministry _on that ministry_, although her travel around the world was always first class… ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/213 "2009-04-14T23:33:26Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > This comes down to how you define “modern” antisemitism which is a matter of semantics. (antisemantics?) [Nice callback](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=2793704&postcount=11). Has it really been six years? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/214 "2009-04-22T18:58:59Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I stopped reading Orson Scott Card when I read his thoughts on homosexuals. He’s now [joined the Board of Directors](http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/04/21/10865) for the National Organization for Marriage (the group that brought us the “Gathering Storm” video). ---
**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:** [April 22, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/215 "2009-04-22T19:03:56Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > He’s now [joined the Board of Directors](http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/04/21/10865) for the National Organization for Marriage (the group that brought us the “Gathering Storm” video). He should have joined as a writer…Card, regardless of his opinions on this, could have farted a better commercial than the one they aired… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/216 "2009-04-22T19:07:25Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > He’s now [joined the Board of Directors](http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2009/04/21/10865) for the National Organization for Marriage (the group that brought us the “Gathering Storm” video). Not that I ever liked his books anyway, but I just Googled for some of his political views and… wow, he’s a fucking idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/217 "2009-04-22T21:57:48Z")
I wish I could remember where, but I read a few years ago that it was an “open secret” (like Kennedy’s womanizing) that Dwight Eisenhower turned mean when he drank, which was often, and was much disliked by a lot of his family. I wasn’t alive during the Eisenhower or Kennedy years, so how much was “open” and how much was “secret” isn’t something I really know. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/218 "2009-04-22T23:00:28Z")
> [@Number](#): > > [Nice callback](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=2793704&postcount=11). > > Has it really been six years? I’m glad that this thread was bumped because otherwise I would have missed this. Wow. Time flies. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/219 "2009-04-22T23:09:10Z")
Since it’s been bumped anyway I’ll add Blake Lewis of _American Idol_ fame. I actually liked him on the show but I was surprised to hear a radio interview in which he absolutely trashed Sanjaya. (You can hear it[here](http://www.rickey.org/?p=7492)among other places [I think- I haven’t actually tried that link].) He called him talentless, disrespectful, stated he was only let on the show to boost ratings, a brat without a father figure, and bragged about having once locked him in his room when they were on tour. Now, even if all of these things were true (and I’ll admit I’m pretty far from a fanjaya- seems like a nice enough kid with a pleasant enough voice for community theater but WAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY over his head in a nationally televised talent comp against people who’ve been singing for years) it’s unprofessional to mention it. Sanjaya’s a teenager- it’s hardly surprising if he let fame go to his head- and Sanjaya’s not responsible for any decision to let him on the show or fan votes keeping him on the show, and it makes Lewis look like a dick. (Made me kind of glad his record label dropped him.) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109/220 "2009-04-23T05:08:07Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > > [@Guinastasia](#): > > > > Chuck Berry-I believe, he had a urine fetish, and was something of a slut. > > The urine fetish makes him peculiar, and his sluttiness is pretty typical of his gender, but how does either make him an asshole? The first time I questioned my admiration of Chuck Berry was when I saw an interview during which he said that he didn’t “believe in” rape. After all (according to Mr Berry), the woman would just need to keep moving around to avoid penetration. :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-figures-were-you-most-surprised-to-discover-were-huge-assholes/492109.md?page=12)