The political theories of Vladimir Lenin have long outlived him, and have even gone on to outlive the Marxist state he help to found; the Soviet Union. The name Lenin still reverberates around the world, and yet “Lenin” is not even his real name. He was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, the name Lenin was just the […]
The man that the world knows as Winston Churchill looms large on the stage of world history. Like some sort of colossus from antiquity, Churchill strides between two major epochs in the world, one foot planted in the glory days of the British Empire when the sun never set on history’s largest known conglomeration of
For a champion of the poor, Mao Zedong was born to a wealthy aristocratic family in Shaoshan, Hunan China. As an adolescent, he once had to defend his father’s farm from starving peasants during a famine, who wished to seize his father’s land and steal his grain. This same Mao would later promote a policy
The drama of the life of the second president of the United States has been stirringly chronicled both in print and on television. Yet the life of John Adams is so rich in history, emotion, power, and tragedy that no medium can entirely contain its essence. Reading the story of his life is to be
What American president would not relish the thought of his time in office bearing the description “Era of Good Feeling”? That was the title given to the time when President James Monroe occupied the White House. Monroe was a Virginian, like better-known Founding Father Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. But his destiny
Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara has long been revered as a hero by countless teenagers with an ax to grind. You can see them wearing his t-shirts with the iconic image of Che with long unkempt hair stylishly sticking out of a jauntily slanted beret on his head. For many, he is the standard bearer of
Before Woodrow Wilson was president of the United States, he was the president of Princeton University and the only occupant of the White House to hold a PhD. But before he became a university professor, he was a twelve-year old boy who didn’t know how to read. The reformer who challenged the corrupt party bosses
There can be no doubt that Joseph Stalin is one of the most notorious and controversial figures in history. He presents a puzzling paradox for both psychologists and sociologists; he was simultaneously revered, feared, loved, and hated during his lifetime. So much has been written about the life of Joseph Stalin and yet upon closer
The list of American war heroes who went on to become presidents includes men as little remembered as Zachary Taylor and as famous as Dwight D. Eisenhower. While venerable though these men are and significant their place in American history, they cannot equal the status of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general who rose
Old Hickory. King Mob. The Peoples President. King Andrew I. The nicknames by which the seventh president is known reflect the different facets of his complicated nature. He believed in the rights of the common man because he came from humble beginnings and distrusted the vested institutions of power. The first American president born to
