History is chock full o' interesting and colorful figures; some were great, some were not, and some were certifiably insane. However, some insane historical figures made for "good copy" (as my Dad used to say in newspaper parlance). Idi Amin of Uganda was just such a figure.
Amin was trained by the British at a time when the British retained Uganda as a piece of their empire. When the British pulled out, they essentially made Amin their choice to lead the nascent republic. Surely with his background, the British surmised, he would make a fine leader of a nation emerging from colonialism, right? Hmmm....
Amin went on to run Uganda like Josef Stalin with syphilis. Actually, Amin could well have had syphilis. But that's not relevant. What is relevant is that Idi Amin insisted as being known as:
His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea, and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General, The Last King of Scotland, and Uganda in Particular.
Wow! That's some title. Amin was so fond of Scottish culture that he frequently wore kilts and named his sons Campbell, McLaren, McKenzie and Mackintosh. And lest I remind all of you, Idi Amin was Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes in the Sea. It is for this reason that Idi Amin is our Despotic, Genocidal Historical Figure of the Week.
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