Young Sheldon's Mortal Enemies List Mirrors Richard Nixon's Real-Life Enemies List

Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) of "The Big Bang Theory" isn't always the nicest person in the world. He certainly seems to hold grudges and make enemies easily. Some have even gone so far as to call him a bully. In a Reddit thread in the r/bigbangtheory subreddit, u/Yablonsky started a conversation with the title "Sheldon Cooper is a Narcissistic Bully" arguing that "He always has to have EVERYTHING his way and he will bully you to get his way."

That one Reddit user is far from being the only person to point this out about Sheldon. In an article for Reel Rundown, Monica Lammers makes the argument that Sheldon suffers from a number of personality disorders, including Narcissistic Personality Disorder, pointing to the symptoms of NPD such as arrogance and the feeling that the person is owed something by the world. She goes on to explain, "Sheldon Cooper's NPD tendencies are clear in that he feels he is superior to others in many different ways, especially intellectually. He looks down on many people and feels he deserves to be recognized for his cognitive abilities." It is true that he looks down on others for not being as smart as him, particularly Penny because of her job as a waitress or Howard because he's an engineer and doesn't have a PhD.

One of the examples of Sheldon's bullying tendencies is his notorious enemies list that he keeps. It doesn't take much to make Sheldon's enemies list, much like a certain other famous person who once kept such a list.

According to the Nixon Library, former US President Richard Nixon kept his own list of his enemies, made up mostly of members of press, political opponents, and union officials. According to EnemiesList.info, which houses an annotated version of the list, the Senate Watergate Committee released Nixon's enemies list to the public on June 27, 1973, first his top 20 list of people who were considered especially heinous by Nixon, and a second list of 200 "Political Opponents." The two lists make up what's known as Nixon's First Enemies List, with a second one coming to light later in 1973. Some of the notable entries on his list include Paul Newman, Daniel Schorr of CBS, and Arnold M. Picker of United Artists.

The simple fact that Sheldon Cooper keeps his own enemies list seems to suggest that it might have been inspired by Nixon's enemies list. Some of the names on Sheldon's list seem to make sense, such as Billy Sparks, who supposedly put dog poop on the handles of his bicycle when he was growing up. Although, as u/neigh102 pointed out in the r/YoungSheldon subreddit, Billy Sparks hardly seems like a bully in the prequel series "Young Sheldon." Some of the other enemies on his list are a little pettier, such as Joel Schumacher who Sheldon blames for ruining the Batman franchise or "Star Trek: The Next Generation" actor Brent Spiner for taking Sheldon's mint-in-package Wesley Crusher figure out of its package. Wil Wheaton himself, who played Wesley Crusher, went on and off the list over the seasons of the show as Sheldon became friends with the actor. Between Sheldon Cooper and Richard Nixon, it's hard to say whose list is pettier.