History Creator / GoreVidal

** IHaveNoSon: Burden's father, a veteran of [[TheAmericanCivilWar Chickamauga]], disowned him for leaving the People's Party to run as a Democrat.

** HistoricalHeroUpgrade: From a Western perspective, Darius, Xerxes and Persian culture as a whole gets this. Shown to be decidedly more complex and interesting than more famous versions [[note]]*cough* ''Film/300'' *cough*[[/note]] would allow.

** ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: For Cyrus Spitama, the narrator of the book, and who ''is'' highly biased, Greeks have this as a natural condition, noting that many of its former leaders first court Persia's support but later spit on its mercy.

** CrossoverCosmology: Vidal in his introduction noted that the Fourth Century BC had the likes of Zoroaster, Gautam Buddha, Vardhaman Mahavir, Confucius and Socrates existing as near-contemporaries but separated by great distances and that it was ''plausible'' for a single man who lived long to have met all these people in theory, though in practice the distances and modes of travel made such far reaching contact impossible. For RuleOfCool he enforced this trope to create a realistic version of this meeting.

* CrossoverCosmology: Vidal in his introduction noted that the Fourth Century BC had the likes of Zoroaster, Gautam Buddha, Vardhaman Mahavir, Confucius and Socrates existing as near-contemporaries but separated by great distances and that it was ''plausible'' for a single man who lived long to have met all these people in theory, though in practice the distances and modes of travel made such far reaching contact impossible. For RuleOfCool he enforced this trope to create a realistic version of this meeting.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: For Cyrus Spitama, the narrator of the book, and who ''is'' highly biased, Greeks have this as a natural condition, noting that many of its former leaders first court Persia's support but later spit on its mercy.
* CloserToEarth: Confucius is shown this way, and indeed he defines his worldview in like manner. He's also shown to be a...
* CoolTeacher: Very cool indeed.
* {{Deconstruction}}: The book takes a hard look at a lot of the recieved ideas of the Ancient World.
** Persia, pre-Alexander is shown to be a vast multi-cultural Empire whose political support is courted by several Greek city states, including Athens and several deposed politicians and Greek Tyrants come to Persia when they retire or defeated, that it becomes almost a RunningGag.
** The book also describes the presence of democractic communities in Ancient India, in Vaishali.
** The book also examines different belief systems and presents a less HollywoodHistory version of it, with Buddhism and the Buddha shown to be indifferent to human suffering as a whole and which he affirms as an ideal to aspire to.
* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: From a Western perspective, Darius, Xerxes and Persian culture as a whole gets this.
* InThePastEveryoneWillBeFamous
* TheUsurper: [[spoiler: The book reveals Darius to be one. Taking the famous alternative theory that the false kind Mardos was in fact the true king and the former killed him, and likely Cambyses, to become King. This in fact gives Xerxes, his son, much angst. It also subverts this greatly, since Darius is shown to be a very wise, good king indeed.]]
* ValuesDissonance: This is a running theme of the book, the fact that different cultures, even in the ancient world have different ways of grappling at the world and looking at the problems of creation. Cyrus Spitama, the grandson of Zoroaster despite his own religious beliefs, travels across the world and encounters different beliefs and ideas and notes similarities and points of difference.
* WomenAreWiser: The book plays with this trope in many ways, with Cyrus' mother, Atossa, Darius' wife and Xerxes' mother and Aspasia all playing major, uncredited, behind-the-scenes roles in the many political struggles that define history.

** HistoricalHeroDowngrade: Gore Vidal doesn't believe in heroes or villains, with even Historical Domain bad guys like Aaron Burr revealed to be a more complex and likable figure than his notoriety would allow, showing the context of the actions that would define him and largely putting the entire generation of the founders into perspective.

** HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Gore Vidal doesn't believe in heroes or villains, with even Historical Domain bad guys like Aaron Burr revealed to be a more complex and likable figure than his notoriety would allow, showing the context of the actions that would define him and largely putting the entire generation of the founders into perspective.

** ReligionIsWrong: ''Julian'' focuses on the eponymous Emperor's (failed) attempt to stem the rising tide of Christianity in Rome. (Vidal himself is a lifelong atheist.)

** HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Gore Vidal doesn't believe in heroes or villains, with even HistoricalDomain bad guys like Aaron Burr revealed to be a more complex and likable figure than his notoriety would allow, showing the context of the actions that would define him and largely putting the entire generation of the founders into perspective.

** HistoricalHeroUpgrade / HistoricalVillainDowngrade: Gore Vidal doesn't believe in heroes or villains, with even HistoricalDomain bad guys like Aaron Burr revealed to be a more complex and likable figure than his notoriety would allow, showing the context of the actions that would define him and largely putting the entire generation of the founders into perspective.

** TheCasanova: John Hay, Lincoln's aide and confidante, is a self-styled one.

** {{Eagleland}}

->''Write something, even if it's just a suicide note.''

** ThanatosGambit: In the novel ''Burr'', it is strongly suggested (citing actual historical evidence) that AlexanderHamilton took pains to ensure that if he were killed in the duel, he would ruin Burr's political career in the process and disgrace him forever.

Vidal was politically active throughout TheFifties and [[TheSixties Sixties]], appearing on television as a spokesman for the "New Left" and sharing a panel with his [[{{Archenemy}} ideological opposite]] William F. Buckley Jr. This arrangement didn't last long, as their exchanges became [[BloodOnTheDebateFloor increasingly heated]] until Buckley threatened to punch him in the face on-air.

** DeadpanSnarker: When EleanorRoosevelt returns from seeing the doctor, [[FranklinDRoosevelt FDR]] wheels past and jokingly asks "What did he have to say about that big ass of yours?" Without pausing, Eleanor replies "I'm afraid ''you'' weren't mentioned."

** DeadpanSnarker: When Eleanor Roosevelt returns from seeing the doctor, [[FranklinDRoosevelt FDR]] wheels past and jokingly asks "What did he have to say about that big ass of yours?" Without pausing, Eleanor replies "I'm afraid ''you'' weren't mentioned."

Vidal was politically active throughout TheFifties and [[TheSixties Sixties]], appearing on television as a spokesman for the "New Left" and sharing a panel with his [[{{Archenemy}} ideological opposite]] William F. Buckley Jr. This arrangement didn't last long, as their exchanges became [[VolleyingInsults increasingly heated]] until Buckley threatened to smack him in the face on-air.

->''"These are my only friends -- ''(gestures at a copy of [[ParodyNames TOME]])'' -- grown-up nerds like Gore Vidal. And even'' he's ''kissed more boys than I ever will!''"
-->--'''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Lisa Simpson]]'''

* InsistentTerminology: Historical scholarship = "[[WrittenByTheWinners Agreed-upon facts]]".
* OldShame: ''Any'' film of his work. Thus far, the only adaptation to be made his way is ''The Best Man'' (1964) starring Henry Fonda.
** ''Myra Breckinridge'' was such a phenomenal bomb that the ''book'' stopped selling for a decade. Director Michael Sarne later got a job as a waiter in a pizza place, which according to Vidal "proves that God exists and there is such a thing as [[LaserGuidedKarma Divine Symmetry]]."
** He sued to have his name taken off of ''Caligula''. The cut reviewed by Creator/RogerEbert claimed to be "[[HalfTruth Adapted from]] an Original Screenplay by Gore Vidal".
* ReligionIsWrong
* SophisticatedAsHell

Gore Vidal (1925-2012) was a novelist, essayist, and playwright whose career spanned sixty years, beginning in the years immediately following WorldWarII and continuing into the early phase of the [[TurnOfTheMillennium new millennium]]. In the world of literature, he was best known for his breakthrough work ''The City and the Pillar'', the first post-war novel to feature a [[{{UsefulNotes/Homosexual}} homosexual]] protagonist who isn't [[BuryYourGays bumped off]] at the end of the story. A quarter-century later, Vidal began penning a series of historical novels based on the formulative years of the United States, including a third-person account of [[AbrahamLincoln President Lincoln]] which met with high accolades.

!!Tropes
* AmbiguouslyJewish: He had speculated that the Vidals might be Jewish in origin. "Vidal" is the translation of the Hebrew Chayim or Hayim ("Life" in Hebrew); many Jews assumed it as their family name to avoid persecution.
* BiTheWay
* BigScrewedUpFamily: Lampshaded this by calling divorce a Gore family tradition.
-->"...The Marriages of My Family proved a reliable, unbreakable prophylactic."
* BloodOnTheDebateFloor: Calling William F. Buckley a "[[GodwinsLaw crypto-Nazi]]" on live TV during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which nearly resulted in the two men coming to blows.
** Happened again with Norman Mailer, who [[UseYourHead headbutted]] him backstage at ''The Dick Cavett Show'' after Vidal compared him to UsefulNotes/CharlesManson.
* BourgeoisBohemian
* BrutalHonesty
* GrumpyOldMan: As any interviewer will attest.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: A French reviewer, apropos an autobiography of Anaïs Nin, dismissed him as "a talentless gigolo." Gore threatened to bring suit only because she implied he "had no talent as a gigolo."

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk:
-->"I'm exactly as I appear. There is no warm, lovable person inside. Beneath my cold exterior, once you break the ice, you find cold water."

* WithFriendsLikeThese: Despite numerous public feuds, he and Mailer remained amicable.
* WordOfGay: Gore Vidal intended Messala in ''Film/BenHur'' to be Ben Hur's spurned [[HoYay lover]], thus explaining his hatred for him later on. Stephen Boyd (the actor who played Messala) was let in on the secret, but Charlton Heston was deliberately kept in the dark.

** Happened again with Norman Mailer, who [[UseYourHead headbutted]] him backstage at ''The Dick Cavett Show'' after Vidal compared him to CharlesManson.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: With Norman Mailer, who [[UseYourHead headbutted]] him backstage at ''The Dick Cavett Show'' after Vidal compared him to CharlesManson. Despite numerous public feuds, the pair remained amicable.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: With Norman Mailer, who [[UseYourHead headbutted]] him backstage at ''The Dick Cavett Show''. Despite numerous public feuds, the pair remained amicable.

* WordOfGay: Gore Vidal intended Messala in ''BenHur'' to be Ben Hur's spurned [[HoYay lover]], thus explaining his hatred for him later on. Stephen Boyd (the actor who played Messala) was let in on the secret, but Charlton Heston was deliberately kept in the dark.

** He sued to have his name taken off of ''Caligula''. The cut reviewed by RogerEbert claimed to be "[[HalfTruth Adapted from]] an Original Screenplay by Gore Vidal".

** ''Myra Brekinridge'' was such a phenomenal bomb that the ''book'' stopped selling for a decade. Director Michael Sarne later got a job as a waiter in a pizza place, which according to Vidal "proves that God exists and there is such a thing as [[LaserGuidedKarma Divine Symmetry]]."

* ''Myra Brekinridge'' (1968)

** UnusualEuphemism: ''Myron'', the follow-up book ''Myra Brekinridge''. In the original version of the book, Vidal replaces all the swear words with the names of Supreme Court Justices who had just voted in favour of some pro-censorship measure or other. So we have Burger = bugger, Father Hill = tit, Rehnquist = dick and so on (This was done to avert the book's censorship.)