They blew it.

[Doctor Phibes]

@renauda said in They blew it.:

I know this is all in fun but I nominate Nicholas II. He could have prevented most
If not all of what ensued.

Oh, if we're going down that road, then Lord North and George III.

[Renauda]

@doctor-phibes

Well there’s that too. I forgot about that in all the current concern about Putin attacking Ukraine - an act, when it happens, whose origins will undoubtedly be traced back to Nicholas’ already dubious imperial legacy.

[89th]

Can we nominate ourselves? Asking for a friend.

[Klaus]

Anakin Skywalker.

[George K]

@george-k said in They blew it.:

Nominations for historical figures who could have been remembered as great but who blew it in horrific fashion.

Other replies:

Judas

Hindenburg. What he's remembered for literally went up in flames

Charles Lindbergh

OJ Simpson

Henry VIII

Napoleon

[89th]

Trump.

He could've been known as the guy from Home Alone 2, but no.... instead he's remembered as the guy with a failed steaks company.

[jon-nyc]

Mike Pence.

[Ivorythumper]

@george-k

Other replies:

Judas

Many have mused on this— that there might have been a St Judas Iscariot.

I’m agnostic.

[Doctor Phibes]

@klaus said in They blew it.:

Anakin Skywalker.

I was going to say George Lucas.

[Klaus]

Jesus.

He had a really good start. But I like people who weren't crucified.

[Renauda]

@klaus said in They blew it.:

Jesus.

He had a really good start. But I like people who weren't crucified.

So I take it then that you don’t like Brian either.

[Horace]

@klaus said in They blew it.:

Jesus.

He had a really good start. But I like people who weren't crucified.

Winners don’t get crucified, full stop.

[Mik]

Hitler, FTW. Had it made, if he had just forgotten about the master race, Jews and conquest.

[jon-nyc]

He might have been fine if he simply didn't invade the Soviet Union.

[Klaus]

@jon-nyc said in They blew it.:

He might have been fine if he simply didn't invade the Soviet Union.

But Lebensraum!

[Doctor Phibes]

@mik said in They blew it.:

Hitler, FTW. Had it made, if he had just forgotten about the master race, Jews and conquest.

Yeah, he'd have been a rather average portrait painter and multiple winner of Charlie Chaplin lookalike competitions.

[Mik]

On his trajectory, invading the USSR was inevitable. He just did it five or ten years too early.

[Jolly]

If Hitler had waited five years, Stalin would have had Germany for lunch.

Hitler's mistake was declaring war on the U.S.