The greatest lies
ever told to humanity
Some lies are exaggerations, some are oversimplifications and others are outright falsehoods. It’s the latter that form HARI’s Greatest Lies Every Told Collection, an archive of whoppers that have left a deep imprint on society.
It’s essential to not forget these deliberate deceits—lies that have caused social upheaval, widespread suffering, and, in some cases, millions of deaths. This collection gives art buyers an opportunity to commit these lies to collective historical memory. Credits
Title
Edition
Big Tobacco’s Lie
100
Description
James W. Johnston, CEO of RJR Nabisco, submitted written testimony in a 1994 congressional hearing with an infamous quote, “Cigarette smoking is no more ‘addictive’ than coffee, tea or Twinkies.” Big tobacco was finally forced to run ads admitting the risks of smoking in 2017.
Title
Edition
Trump’s Election Lie
100
Description
Despite clearly losing the 2020 presidential election to President Biden (by a 306-232 margin in the decisive Electoral College vote), Donald Trump still falsely insists that he won and is the victim of voter fraud. This lie, supported by his followers, is fueling bitter division in American society.
Title
Edition
Cuba Missile Crisis
100
Description
In 1962 a U.S. reconnaissance plane found Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba that could reach the East Coast of the U.S., despite Soviet claims that no such weapons were installed. The lie pushed the two to the brink of nuclear war that was finally averted by diplomacy.
Title
Edition
Charles Ponzi
100
Description
A charismatic Italian immigrant, Ponzi tricked 30,000 people into investing $10 million of their money in a postage stamp scheme, promising a 50-percent return in 45 days. For much of 1920, he was the toast of Boston. Then it all unraveled. He ended up serving 10.5 years in prison.
Title
Edition
Iraqi WMDs
100
Description
In 2002, President Bush told the nation that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had chemical and biological agents, and was building nuclear bombs—weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The evidence used was false. In 2003 the U.S. launched war against Iraq that lasted eight years with great human and financial loss.
Title
Edition
Pentagon Papers
100
Description
The top-secret report, leaked by an analyst to the N.Y. Times and Washington Post, showed that the U.S. government had systematically lied about the reality that the U.S. was losing the Vietnam War. The revelations deeply damaged public trust in political institutions.
Title
Edition
The Lost Cause
100
Description
When the South lost the Civil War, white Southerners romanticized the “Old South” and the Confederate war effort, often distorting history. This led to the lie of the Lost Cause, which asserted that the fight had been honorable and righteous and not about maintaining slavery.
Title
Edition
Nazi’s "Big Lie"
100
Description
Using Jewish “betrayal” as a scapegoat for German defeat in World War I and the collapse of German society, Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda, devised “The Big Lie,” which ultimately led to the genocide of roughly six million Jews.
Title
Edition
Alan Turing and Ultra
100
Description
When Alan Turing broke the Enigma code used by Nazi Germany for military communications, the information gained was designated Ultra, from “Top Ultra Secret.” Allied intelligence used false messages about Ultra to help keep the Enigma discovery a secret, turning it into a key tactical weapon.
Title
Edition
McCarthy’s Red Scare
100
Description
From the late 1940s to early 1950s, Republican Senator Joseph R. McCarthy tried to expose communists and left-wing “loyalty risks” in the U.S. government and Hollywood, but almost all of his allegations were false. Still, more than 2,000 government staff lost their jobs as a result of his investigations.
Title
Edition
Stalin’s Great Purge
100
Description
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s unfounded conspiracy theories of a vast, anti-government network intent on his assassination led to a brutal political campaign to eliminate dissent between 1936 and 1938. About one million were killed and a million more sent to forced labor camps.
Title
Edition
Nixon and Watergate
100
Description
After the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel, Nixon denied he knew about it. “I am not a crook” he told the press. While he may not have ordered the break-in, he lied to prevent its investigation, which led to his resignation in 1974.