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Has there ever been a person try to run for President that had a criminal background? In the US or other countries? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 years ago by Don_Dickle@lemmy.world to c/askhistorians@lemmy.world

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[–] sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works 33 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Eugene Debs, probably the most well known socialist in US history, ran for president while in prison.

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 years ago

Dude was pure beast mode, living his beliefs

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

It’s hard to believe he was a Wisconsin senator.

What happened, Wisconsin?

[–] norimee@lemmy.world 27 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Adolf Hitler was in prison for treason for a failed coup d'état.

See any parallels to recent history??

[+] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

[deleted]

[–] norimee@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

You mean, he got a slap on the wrist...

The lay judges were fanatically pro-Nazi and had to be dissuaded by the presiding Judge, Georg Neithardt, from acquitting Hitler outright. Hitler and Hess were both sentenced to five years in "Festungshaft" ('fortress confinement') for treason. Festungshaft was the mildest of the three types of jail sentence available in German law at the time; it excluded forced labour, provided reasonably comfortable cells, and allowed the prisoner to receive visitors almost daily for many hours. This was the customary sentence for those whom the judge believed to have had honourable but misguided motives, and it did not carry the stigma of a sentence of Gefängnis (common prison) or Zuchthaus (disciplinary prison). In the end, Hitler served just over eight months of this sentence before his early release for good behaviour.

[–] dotslashme 1 points 2 years ago

They did, but the punishment he received was not really fitting the crime of treason.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/beer-hall-putsch-munich-putsch#trial-3

[–] herrvogel@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

Erdoğan had been in prison and had a political ban.

In Turkey a political ban means you can't get elected, but it does not stop you from being the leader of a political party. In the 2002 elections Erdoğan was very much the face of the party and the campaign. He was the man. But he wasn't allowed to run for PM, so the party ran with a proxy instead. That proxy PM served only long enough to lift Erdoğan's ban and do some fucked up retroactive election bullshittery to get Erdoğan officially elected as a representative in the parliament months after the general elections. The main opposition, in their infinite wisdom, helped them cook up a bullshit reason to do a repeat of the last general election in a small town, and allowed Erdoğan to run in place of another rep that had been in those same ballots earlier. The proxy PM then resigned and left his seat to Erdoğan, who was now an officially elected representative.

[–] nokturne213@sopuli.xyz 6 points 2 years ago

Joe Exotic

[–] Kaboom@reddthat.com 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Well George Washington commited Treason among other things.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I was thinking about Napoleon, but yeah that works better. Wasn't much electing, B just walked back and was like yo, I am le back < - surely those were the words he used to convince everyone to not kill him.

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

"Soldiers, if there is one among you who wants to kill his general, his Emperor, here I am!" - the actual (translated) words he used

Mad charisma to walk up and say that line to an army that's been ordered to kill you and have it actually work.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Some mag say a man with the height of his balls was natural.

As a 5'11 man, I never experienced the BS a 5'4 man has, but you'll be damned if he doesn't get an extra beer if I have the money. It saying he deserves it, but I'd probably ask his opinion, and that would deserve compensation

[–] robolemmy@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

Lyndon LaRouche

[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 years ago

Not sure but Berlusconi in Italy maybe ??

[–] finickydesert@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

In the US actually yes, they did succeed though, but other countries have ranging from Nelson Mandela to Hitler