Throughout history, there are leaders whose grand ambitions and promises have ended in spectacular failure.
For example, King John of England (1199-1216) promised his people good governance, to curb his own abuses of feudal rights and rule with justice for his subjects.
But, John had no real intention of abiding by the charter and immediately began scheming to have it annulled. This bad faith plunged the country into a civil war known as the First Barons' War. England's notorious monarch died in the midst of this chaos, having lost a vital war that gave rise to the cornerstone of modern liberty.
As if mimicking John, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1215-1250), who promised the people a Crusade which he claimed was divine, by repeatedly taking a sacred vow to lead a Crusade to the Holy Land at the Pope's request, was another example of spectacular failure.
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Unfortunately, while Frederick eventually traveled to the Holy Land and negotiated control of Jerusalem, he had long since broken his vows. He was excommunicated not once but twice for his delays and perceived insubordination. His endless conflicts with the papacy was said to have drained imperial resources, resulting in the failure of his most crucial political promises.
Then, there was Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991), who promised Russians prosperity.
He said his programs of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) would bring efficiency to the socialist system and prosperity to the Soviet people.
However, his half-measures and compromised approach to reform left the Soviet economy in a chaotic "no man's land". The resulting hyperinflation and food shortages led to a catastrophic drop in living standards, and the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, leaving him as a leader without a country.
Kaiser Wilhelm II (1888-1918) promised to Germans a glory never seen before, that he would lead Germany to its "place in the sun" as a dominant world power, rivaling and even challenging the British Empire.
Mortal man, Wilhelm's aggressive and erratic foreign policy created a system of opposing alliances that isolated Germany. His promise of "unlimited support" to the Austro-Hungarian cause triggered World War I, a conflict in which he proved to be an ineffective, indecisive leader. His promises of glory ended in Germany's humiliating defeat and his own forced abdication and exile.
Wang Mang, Emperor of the Xin Dynasty (China, 9-23 AD) promised Utopian Equality, there would be a return to the idealized "well-field system" of communal land ownership, abolition of slavery, price controls on grain and silk, and the cancellation of all private debts.
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But his edicts were indeed Utopian as they were unenforceable and created total economic paralysis.
Merchants stopped trading, landlords hid their land, and peasants were said to have faced starvation as price controls led to shortages.
Simultaneously, massive flooding of the Yellow River devastated crops.
