<span>He definitely wasn't a failure: he captained what became arguably the most famous voyage in the history of seafaring. True, he wasn't the first European to visit America (the Vikings were), but his journey opened up the East and the West and ushered in the modern era. That isn't something a failure could do.
But he certainly wasn't a hero, either. He was a ruthless and cruel man who inflicted unspeakable tortures upon innocent natives after he arrived in America.
He was neither a failure, nor a hero. He was a very succesful man who was also a horrible person.</span>
