26 May

History’s 10 Most Decadent Dictators

The world’s dictators have done horrifying things. Their people have suffered terrible abuses under their control. They have been poverty-stricken and have lived in fear. That alone is bad enough to make these men stand out in the history books as some really bad guys. But what is even worse is that many of the world’s worst dictators have lived in glorious riches while creating this suffering for others. They have spent millions on palaces, art, liquor, yachts and random material items to boost their own self-esteem.

Take a look at the horrifying reality of ten of history’s most decadent dictators:

1. Ferdinand Marcos. This man was the President of the Phillippines for more than 20 years from the mid 1960’s to the mid 1980’s.  Under his reign the people suffered serious human rights violations and political repression. His government was implicated in the assassination of a political opponent who wanted to change things in the early 1980’s. And throughout his reign he and shop-a-holic wife Imelda allegedly embezzled billions of public funds into various countries and corporations for their own personal gain.

Some of the couple’s more lavish purchases included:

• They bought The Herald Centre in New York as well as the Crown Building.
• They purchased original art created by Michaelangelo and Botticelli.
• 800+ handbags and 1000+ pairs of shoes that had to be left behind when the couple fled the presidential palace.

2. Idi Amin. If you have seen the film The Last King of Scotland then you know how terrifying this Ugandan president was during his reign throughout the 1970’s. He massacred countless people, targeting various ethnic groups, intellectuals, students and anyone who opposed his reign.

Some examples of Idi Amin’s decadence include:

• Amin had 5 wives, thirty mistresses and dozens of children. He spent extraordinary amounts of money on all of these people.
• He named himself The Uncrowned King of Scotland and would lavish all guests with what he considered to be a true Scottish entertainment experience. He also surrounded himself with bagpipe playing bodyguards.

3. Joseph Stalin. We all know from the history books that the 30+ years that Stalin led the Soviet Union were not pleasant years for the people who lived there. For example there was The Great Purge of the 1930’s in which he lead mass political repression and persecution targeting peasants and others.

In the meantime, Stalin was living a nice life with decadence that included:

• Travel via an armour-plated private train
• Expensive and extensive bodyguards around him
• Fancy palaces
• Pricey liquor and cigars

4. Kim Jong-il. This current leader of North Korea inherited his power from his father. His political career frequently makes headlines for its atrocities. A recent example was the 2009 decision to detain and imprison two American journalists who allegedly crossed into North Korea without permission, sentencing them to a dozen years of hard labor although extensive discussion with the American president did result in their eventual release.

Kim Jong-il has been splurging decadently since he took over leadership in the mid-1990’s. Some of his indulgences include:

• 17 palaces
• Hundreds of cars
• A collection of 20,000+ video tapes
• Six figures annually spent on cognac
• Travel luxuries such as having live lobsters airlifted daily to his private train (yes, he travels in the same style as Joseph Stalin did!)

5. Mobutu Sese Seko. Seko was the terrifying president of Democratic Republic of Congo for more than thirty years ending in the late 1990’s. He started his career by executing political rivals and anyone else who challenged his rule and things just got worse in his country from there. During his entire reign he was stealing money from the country and putting it into Swiss bank accounts for himself.

Some of Seko’s decadent tastes included:

• Multiple palaces
• A taste for pink champagne
• Enjoyment of yachts
• Large shopping trips in Paris
• 1000+ expensive dresses for one of his wives

6. Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. This “King of Kings” was the Shah of Persia and ruler of Iran from 1941 until 1979. He started off seeming like a good guy, launching The White Revolution, which was designed to create great reform including extending suffrage to women however its failure ultimately led to great problems in the country. The period was followed by severe political repression.

What was Pahlavi enjoying during this time that he was supposedly allying himself with the peasants?

• A collection of sports cars
• Custom models of brands like Porsche for his son
• Serving exotic breast of peacock to dignitaries right outside of the area’s poor villages

7. Nicolae Ceausescu. The ruler of Romania for fifteen years beginning in 1974, Ceausescu was politically inspired by North Korea and the People’s Republic of China. His leadership ultimately ended in execution.

Before he died, he enjoyed a lavish life that included:

• 15 palaces, including the 1,100-room, 480-chandelier Palace of the Parliament which required that tens of thousands of homes be demolished to make room for the palace
• A large collection of cars and yachts
• A fine art collection
• Expensive suits
• The ostentatious use of a kingly scepter

8. Saddam Hussein. None of us are unfamiliar with Iraq’s president from 1979 – 2003. But did you know how much he loved the good life?

Some of Hussein’s shocking indulgences include:

• A private zoo with exotic animals at his son’s residence
• A collection of 1200 luxury cars
• Gold-plated bathroom fittings

9. Saparmurat Niyazov. Niyazov was the president of Turkmenistan from 1990 – 2006. He was grossly repressive in his dictatorship and super egotistical, going so far as to rename the months of the year after members of his own family! He reportedly stole billions and exported the money out during his reign.

Some of his signs of decadence include:

• £6 million revolving gold-plated statue of himself in the country’s capital
• A flamboyant Presidential palace

10. Suharto. Perhaps you’ve noticed a theme in the long reign of the world’s dictators that lasts decades. Suharto is no exception, ruling Indonesia for more than thirty years until the late 1990’s. During that time he reportedly embezzled more money than any other leader in history.

Suharto’s decadence included:

• Buying a majority stake in Lamborghini for his son
• Shopping sprees for his daughter including flights to the US where she would spend 6 figures at a time

Have we missed a particularly decadent dictator?