LESSER KNOWN DICTATORS

Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

Modern Dictator Way Crazier Than You Thought Possible

Well, who are we to mock someone based on his religion? There are probably noncrazy Voodoo practitioners, just like with any other faith. And sure, maybe he made the people recite a bastardized version of the Lord's Prayer with his own name inserted ("Our Doc, who art in the National Palace for life ...), but he's surely not the first dictator to do that.

But after a heart attack plunged him into a nine-hour coma in 1959 that left him with massive brain damage, things kind of went downhill. He demanded that his temporary successor, Clement Barbot, be arrested, but when they couldn't find Barbot, Papa Doc's people told him that they believed he had transformed into a large black dog.

Understandably, Papa Doc ordered the deaths of all black dogs, because as we have mentioned, he was fucking insane. Eventually Barbot was caught and executed, and Papa Doc kept his head. You know, for Voodoo.

In 1961, he ordered new elections despite the fact that his "term" wasn't up until 1963. The move completely baffled everybody until the results of the election, which saw Papa Doc win with 100 percent of the votes. Evidently he just wanted to make sure everyone understood that he just didn't give a fuck.

What happened to him?

Papa Doc eventually died in 1971 of natural causes, but not before telling the world that he alone was responsible for John F. Kennedy's assassination by way of a Voodoo curse. He even sent someone to Kennedy's grave to collect the air around it so he could use it in a spell to control Kennedy's soul. By all accounts, Voodoo is kind of awesome.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking.