The television series Biography stated : " Mao turned China from a feudal backwater into one of the most powerful countries in the World ... The Chinese system he overthrew was backward and corrupt ; few would argue the fact that he dragged China into the 20th century . But at a cost in human lives that is staggering . " In the book '' China in the 21st Century : What Everyone Needs to Know '' published in 2010 , Professor Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom of the University of California , Irvine compares China 's relationship to Mao Zedong to Americans ' remembrance of Andrew Jackson : both countries regard the leaders in a positive light , despite their respective roles in devastating policies . Jackson forcibly moved Native Americans , resulting in thousands of deaths , while Mao was at the helm during the violent years of the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward : Though admittedly far from perfect , the comparison is based on the fact that Jackson is remembered both as someone who played a significant role in the development of a political organization ( the Democratic Party ) that still has many partisans , and as someone responsible for brutal policies toward Native Americans that are now referred to as genocidal
forcibly moved Native Americans
Trail of Tears
Mao Zedong