Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, popularly known as Fidel Castro, was a Cuban politician who first served as the Prime Minister of Cuba from 1595 – 1976 and later its president from 1979 – 2008. By serving as the head of state for 47 years, Castro became the longest-serving leader in the 20 th and 21 st centuries, excepting the royals. In contrast, ten people served as the president of the United States in the same time period. This paper is a term project proposal that addresses the different aspects of Fidel Castro. It will review different aspects, from public opinion on his leadership style to his character traits, like his famous beard and ever-present cigar, among others.
For instance, it was surprising to learn that despite his modern vilification by media outlets and politicians alike, there was a time that Castro was regarded as an American hero. This happened after the Cuban Revolution after Castro brought down Fulgencio Batista. Popular hosts for different American Tv shows, like Ed Sullivan and Jack Paar, respectively traveled to Matanzas and Havana, Cuba, to interview him for their shows (Walker, 2016). At the time, it was also common for reporters to refer to him as Dr. Castro after the Cuban honorific for a lawyer.
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Like other revolutionaries (Abraham Lincoln and Karl Marx), Fidel Castro was also known for his beard and wore it like a badge of honor. However, Castro, in his autobiography, explained that he skipped shaving the beard for productivity reasons (Ramonet & Castro, 2008). By his calculation, saving the 15 minutes a day spent shaving would count for a gain of 10 days where one can do whatever they liked. Castro was also known for the ubiquitous cigar that protruded from his mouth for decades. Fidel Castro is credited for his contribution to developing the most famous brands of cigars in the world for over two decades. Allegedly, both his beard and cigars were targeted in the CIA's numerous assassination plots.
Finally, as the most controversial and revolutionary politician, international opinion on Castro's leadership style is highly polarized. On one side, Castro is viewed as a hero and a champion for anti-imperialism and socialism. This side reveres Castro for his contributions in advancing the economic and social justice of Cuba while keeping the country's independence from the influence of outsiders, like the US government and its interests. On the other side, Castro's critics describe him and his leadership style as tyrannical with numerous human rights violations and impoverishing his country's economy.
In conclusion, this paper has briefly reviewed the different aspects of Fidel Castro, from an American hero to the tyrant he currently portrayed in mass media and by politicians. This, however, is a proposal document and, therefore, neither describes Fidel Castro deeply nor exhaustively discusses his different aspects. What it achieves it gives a brief introduction to the infamous revolutionary as a proposal for the final term paper.
References
Ramonet, I., & Castro, F. (2008). Fidel Castro: My Life: A Spoken Autobiography . Simon and Schuster.
Walker, J. (2016). When Fidel Castro Went on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show . Reason.com. Retrieved 13 September 2020, from https://reason.com/2016/11/28/when-castro-went-on-the-tonight-show-and/.
