Who Was Mao Ze Dong - Revolutionary or Puppet

I never heard about MaoZeDong in all of my 22 years in America. In China I live in a city with a monumentous statue of Mao in the center of the city. Mao Mao Mao, Long Live Mao I can hear the children chanting in their dreams. For the image of Mao has been so passionately implanted in their skulls as a man of greatness second to none. He is the George Washington of the USA. While Chinese are critical of his policies and the Cultural Revolution, all or most are in agreement he served the country well and led them to freedom.

What, did that American just say the F word in China? Yes, Chinese believe Mao Ze Dong freed them, which he did. He freed them from a brutal and repressive fuedal society. You can talk bad about communism and you can talk bad about the Chinese government but of this fact be certain. Before the New China as they say it, before the 'Liberation of the People, the Chinese populatin lived a repressive and horrid life. Slaves to the land, the land owners without rights, women's rights, civil rights or political rights.
Now let's not debate what freedom China has now, but everyone here agrees they got more than they had and for this Mao is thanked.

To the point...

Was MaoZeDong an instrument of some higher organization maybe based in eastern europe or russia? Or...was Mao, simply a thinker who found ways to put his thoughts into action?