A Few Famous Liars
Being remembered as the one of the most well known famous liars in history is not one of the greatest honors that one can be remembered for. Some acts of deception are so great however, that their perpetrators are often remembered only for their lies regardless of their other accomplishments. Some of the most famous liars in history are remembered here for their deceit if for nothing else.
Lying Presidents
Presidents of the United States have many accomplishments, but there are two presidents that most often are remembered for their deceptions to the public more. One such president was Richard Nixon, who was implicated in a wiretapping and harassment of political opponent’s scandal. After lying about and attempting to cover-up this Watergate scandal, the famous lying president was forced to resign once the facts were made public. Another American president who is often remembered for lying was Bill Clinton. When asked under oath about the nature of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, President Clinton lied about the details. When this lie was discovered, the President became the second US president to be impeached by the House of Representatives.
Media Liar
In Colorado in 2009, Richard Heene created a fake news story involving his six year old son and an out of control homemade flying weather balloon. He allowed the public and news media to believe his son was trapped in the runaway balloon to gain fame and get his family onto a reality show. When it was discovered that the boy was hiding and the entire story was fake Heene faced criminal charges.
Military Liar
A German Baron named Munchhausen lied so repeatedly about his military exploits, going as far as making up facts like he had visited the moon, that many tall tales and stories were written about him. There has even been a movie produced about his fake exploits. Based on how famous his lies were, a physiological disorder had been named after him. Munchhausen Syndrome was named for people who feign illness to receive attention from others.
Lying Writers
Often in search of important and award winning stories, writers can compromise their beliefs and integrities in search of fame and praise. In the last several years there have been many famous writers who have been found to be fabricating their reports.
USA Today reporter Jack Kelly, who was a Pulitzer Prize nominee, resigned from the newspaper after it was discovered that he had been making up some of his stories. Janet Cooke, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter from the Washington Post was forced to resign from the Post and return the prestigious award after it was discovered that her award winning story was false and her college degree was fake. It turned out her story of an 8 year old heroin addict was completed fabricated. Jayson Blair was also removed from his post at the New York Times after it was discovered that he was lying about and plagiarizing some of his stories. Best selling writer James Frey wrote an autobiography that gained worldwide attention of the Oprah Winfrey show. Later he was accused of lying about his personal experiences and was exposed on national television.
Criminal Liar
One of the worst cases of uncovering a famous liar occurred in South Carolina. Susan Smith, the mother of two young children went on national television and lied about her children being kidnapped by an abductor. The resulting search was nationwide and involved thousands of people. The truth came out that Smith had drowned her children by driving the family car into a lake.
No matter how many positive qualities these people may have had, or the number of positive actions they may have taken, all of these people will now be remembered as famous liars.