10 Maddest People Ever To Be In Charge Of A Country
2. François Duvalier Thought He Could Do Magic
'Papa Doc' was the voodoo-fuelled tyrant of Haiti who used a rural militia, the Tonton Macoute, to make sure no-one ever, ever threatened his position as one of the 20th Century's most notoriously despotic nutcases.
Overseas he toadied up to whoever was in power nearby, and by promising to fight communism in Haiti he made sure the United States left him alone. This all left him free to indulge in his favourite past-time: stealing all the money in his country to enrich himself and his buddies.
Papa Doc thought he could do voodoo and claimed to have killed John F. Kennedy through the use of a curse. He heard one of his opponents, a former Tonton Macoute leader, had transformed into a black dog so he he had all Haiti's black dogs killed, suggesting he actually believed in the voodoo business.
He claimed to be Baron Samedi, voodoo spirit of death, and given how savage his militia cronies were it's easy to see why people believed him.