#8: Ross Perot — The “Plain-Spoken” Billionaire (1992)
Buying prime-time infomercials to explain the national debt, Perot pitched himself as an unvarnished businessman stepping in to clean up Washington. His campaign unravelled under scrutiny, revealing a deeply paranoid leadership style and a history of utilizing corporate intelligence gatherers. His sudden exit and re-entry into the race ultimately exposed his non-politician image as a carefully constructed media illusion.
