A great example of why America is in social and political decline. The base nihilism of the con man figure is now the quintessential American aspiration.
Truly, a man that died penniless while spouting rather fanciful and discredited claims of superweapons (earthquake machines, intercontinental death rays, for two) is clearly the man to emulate.
Yes. Who would want to be the genius who discovered a revolutionary paradigm in energy transmission and created numerous world-changing inventions when you could be the rich asshole who ripped him off?
And also who claimed to have invented a telephone that talked to the dead[0], btw.