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Dictators rarely leave their childhoods untouched. To strengthen their grip on power, many rewrote their early lives to appear humble, heroic, or even divine. These myths often portrayed them as poor shepherds, orphaned laborers, or gifted prodigies born to lead. In reality, their childhoods were frequently far more ordinary—or conveniently forgotten altogether…
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10 Times Dictators Tried to Rewrite Their Own Childhoods
Jamie Frater
08:19
Dictators rarely leave their childhoods untouched. To strengthen their grip on power, many rewrote their early lives to appear humble, heroic, or even divine. These myths often portrayed them as poor shepherds, orphaned laborers, or gifted prodigies born to lead. In reality, their childhoods were frequently far more ordinary—or conveniently forgotten altogether…
