What do you guys think of Getúlio Vargas?

32 comments

1. Who?

2. Who?

3. I have no idea who that is.

4. Never heard of him, sorry.

5. I’ve never heard of him.

6. Never heard of them

7. Was he a racecar driver?

8. He isn’t well known, as evidenced by all the “who?” comments. I learned about him in a college class but can’t say I remember a lot about him. My memory of reading about him is that he was more-or-less an authoritarian moderate, wanting to limit fascism and communism. And he seems to have been a somewhat odd and idiosyncratic person. But I haven’t seriously studied Brazilian history for about twenty years, so my memory about it isn’t that great.

9. who the fook is that guy

10. I’m fairly sure most Americans are going to be unfamiliar with a Brazilian politician who died in the 1950’s.

11. he seems alright

12. Who? Never heard of them

13. I had to look up the name.

    Bolsonaro is the only Brazilian president I’ve ever known the name of and only because of his extremely controversial leadership.

    We do not learn much about South American political leaders in school here, nor does our news cover the every day events of Ecuador, Peru, or Paraguay. Having any knowledge or information about politics in South America takes a personal interest in the topic. It is not something we just learn about through exposure.

14. Great guy, saw him the other day with his kids at the park. Looked like he was having a good time

15. I think he has a good chance at winning the title this year.

16. No clue who that is, and I’m not really interested either.

17. I came here to say “who?” but now I feel bad about it.

18. Oh we haaaaaaa— jk we don’t know him.

19. Most Americans are very ignorant about Latin American history. Based on what I’ve read of him it sounds like he was complicated, but tried to do well by o povo brasileiro.

20. Pretty hard to find Americans who know him to be honest, but personally I think of him as a Brazilian Perón (whom I dislike), who was much better than Perón. I guess I’d say my opinion of him is so-so. Some things he did like introducing the secret ballot and enfranchising women are good improvements but he did end up destroying institutions, which are bigger than just one person…

21. Hoo?

22. Who?

23. Who?

24. I heard the name while studying comparative politics. I know absolutely nothing about him today.

25. I am one of probably a 0.01% of Americans who has even heard of him. I took a Brazilian history class, which is the only reason I know about him. I found to be a fascinating and complex figure who seemed to move across the political spectrum over the course of his career. I’ve never heard of any other president who’d committed suicide to prevent a coup. But that’s just my opinion. There’s no such thing as an “American opinion” on the guy because he is almost entirely unknown here.

26. We don’t

27. I’m an American and I’m doing an exchange semester Fundação Getulio Vargas in SP and while I know of him, I don’t know much about his presidency or history.

28. Who

29. Does he play shortstop for the White Sox?

30. I think Tyson Fury will put him down in the fifth round

31. Who?

32. You’ll be hard pressed to find an American who knows who that is.

    Why would we know about a Brazilian president from the 50s?