Cross-post from another subreddit on Thomas Paine, which is worth reading. From user the Castruccio_of_Lucca:
Thomas Paine. He was not well-educated, but he didn't think he needed to be since he had the power of Reason. He published a series of pamphlets during the American Revolution which consisted mainly of platitudes and regurgitated concepts taken from superior thinkers, topped off with condescending appeals to "Common Sense" and violent rhetoric against its supposed enemies. They were not taken seriously by the philosophers or political theorists of the day, but they nonetheless made Paine wildly popular among the general literate population.
After the Revolutionary War began, he went to France, where he immediately began criticizing their form of government despite not speaking a word of their language. When he was imprisoned during the Reign of Terror, he came to believe that George Washington had convinced Robespierre to imprison him, and promptly denounced Washington as a traitor to Liberty. Unsurprisingly, this caused Paine's reputation in the United States to sour; but not because Paine was a smug, self-important jackass--oh no. His reputation suffered because he was a Martyr for Reason and the Americans had become reactionary.
He initially supported Napoleon's military rule, and even encouraged him to invade England and overthrow its government. When Napoleon didn't take his advice and began to actually rule like the Praetorian he clearly was, Paine denounced him as "the completest charlatan that ever existed." So now he had worn out his welcome in the United States, France, and Great Britain. But none of that was his fault. Nothing was ever his fault. He was a Martyr for Reason!
After a completely frivolous and mismatched "debate" with Edmund Burke in the form of an indirect exchanging of polemics (Reflections on the Revolution in France vs. Rights of Man), an exchange which Paine was completely unprepared for, as he did not really understand the position of his opponent, he was allowed to return to the United States thanks to a special invitation from Thomas Jefferson. There he died, and only a handful of people came to his funeral.
Poor Thomas Paine. The only reasonable man on Earth, destined always to be maligned and taken out of context.