The 5 Biggest Bad-Asses In American (Drunk) History

As a student in Canada, I was not exposed to a ton(ne) of American history (more of it than you got of Canadian history, probably!), so for me, Drunk History has not just been entertaining: it's taught me a lot about the country I now call home. Of course, the value of any facts I've gleaned from the show's run to date are probably not enough to help me pass a sixth-grade History quiz, never mind a citizenship test. But the show's formula -- highlights of American history as chosen and related by drunks -- has meant that I've gotten a pretty good primer in this nation's proud lineage of fucking bad-asses. So in honor -- no "u" -- of Bad-Ass Week, I'm counting down the baddest-ass bad-asses in Drunk History history.

5. Billy The Kid

Sticking up for the underdog is one of my most beloved American values even if a lot of the time the underdog is only stuck up for in theory. If you can do that to the extent that you're "beloved by the Hispanic community" and get away with shooting dudes in saloons just for being annoying, you're doing it right.

4. Stetson Kennedy

Using a beloved character like Superman who represents all American ideals (though I'm required by law to note that he was co-created by a Canadian) to take down a stain on the nation like the KKK is just the kind of American ingenuity we should all applaud. Also, Jason Ritter is cute.

3. Clarence Darrow

Maybe the fear and suspicion of science haven't died down as much as we might have liked them to since THE NINETEEN TWENTIES, but at least Clarence Darrow was fighting the good fight on behalf of actual knowledge.

2. Claudette Colvin

What's cooler than being Rosa Parks? Rosa Parksing before Rosa Parks even did it.

1. Teddy Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt is such a bad-ass that...well, I don't want to ruin the clip. But he's definitely your most bad-ass president by kiiiiiiind of a wide margin.