Three issues have conspired to cast Brigham Young in an almost monstrous mythical light. (1) The fact that he was the leader of a growing religious empire rubbed people the wrong way. (2) To a sex-crazed world, polygamy is seen as all about crazy sex. (3) LDS Church members, reacting against the slanders of the world, place the leaders upon pedestals of purity when they are not so pure. Because of this, the real Brigham Young is much different than we think.
Politics is seldom simple. But the truth usually is.