Editing Demagogue (section)

==Famous historical demagogues==<!-- Per discussion (see talk page) this article limits the listing of demagogues to historical examples. Contemporary (e.g., current) examples of demagogues will become historical eventually. Not now. -->

===Ancient history===
====Cleon====
The Athenian leader [[Cleon]] is often cited as a demagogue because of three events described in the writings of [[Thucydides]]<ref name=Grant>Michael Grant, ''Ancient Historians'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=e4st2bdc8CQC&pg=PA98 p. 98] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118211536/https://books.google.com/books?id=e4st2bdc8CQC&pg=PA98 |date=2017-01-18 }}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=e4st2bdc8CQC&pg=PA110 pp. 110–111] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119004832/https://books.google.com/books?id=e4st2bdc8CQC&pg=PA110 |date=2017-01-19 }}. Barnes & Noble Publishing (1994). {{ISBN|1566195993}}</ref> and [[Aristophanes]].<ref name=Merry>Aristophanes, ''The Knights.'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=fBEWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA5 Here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170119004809/https://books.google.com/books?id=fBEWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA5 |date=2017-01-19 }} is an old free version translated by William Walter Merry, Clarendon Press (1902). The translator says on p. 5:<br />"The picture of Cleon the demagogue has been painted for us in the comedies of Aristophanes, and in the graver history of Thucydides. On the strength of these representations, he is commonly taken as the type of the reckless mob-orator, who trades upon popular passions to advance his own interests."</ref>

First, after a failed revolt by the city of [[Mytilene]], Cleon persuaded the Athenians to slaughter not just the Mytilenean prisoners, but every man in the city, and to sell their wives and children as slaves. The Athenians rescinded the resolution the following day when they came to their senses.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Second, after Athens had completely defeated the [[Peloponnesian League|Peloponnesian]] fleet in the [[Battle of Sphacteria]] and [[Sparta]] could only beg for peace on almost any terms, Cleon persuaded the Athenians to reject the peace offer.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Third, he taunted the Athenian generals over their failure to bring the war in Sphacteria to a rapid close, accusing them of cowardice, and declared that he could finish the job himself in 20 days, despite having no military knowledge. They gave him the job, expecting him to fail. Cleon shrank at being called to make good on his boast, and tried to get out of it, but he was forced to take the command. In fact, he succeeded—by getting the general [[Demosthenes (general)|Demosthenes]] to do it, now treating him with respect after previously slandering him behind his back. Three years later, Cleon and his Spartan counterpart [[Brasidas]] were killed at the [[Battle of Amphipolis]], enabling a restoration of peace that lasted until the outbreak of the Second [[Peloponnesian War]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Modern commentators suspect that Thucydides and Aristophanes exaggerated the vileness of Cleon's real character. Both had personal conflicts with Cleon, and ''[[The Knights]]'' is a satirical, allegorical comedy that does not even mention Cleon by name. Cleon was a tradesman—a leather-tanner. Thucydides and Aristophanes came from the upper classes, predisposed to look down on the commercial classes. Nevertheless, their portrayals define the archetypal example of the "demagogue" or "rabble-rouser".<ref name=Merry />

====Alcibiades====
[[Alcibiades]] convinced the people of [[Athens]] to attempt to conquer [[Sicily]] during the [[Peloponnesian War]], with disastrous results. He led the [[Athenian assembly]] to support making him commander by claiming victory would come easily, appealing to Athenian vanity, and appealing to action and courage over deliberation. Alcibiades's expedition might have succeeded if he had not been denied command by the political maneuvers of his rivals.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kagan|first1=Donald|title=The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0801499401|page=185|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BbJCHAOSIV4C&pg=PA185|language=en|year=1991|access-date=2020-10-25|archive-date=2021-07-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719170917/https://books.google.com/books?id=BbJCHAOSIV4C&pg=PA185|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Gaius Flaminius====
[[Gaius Flaminius (consul 223 BC)|Gaius Flaminius]] was a Roman [[consul]] most known for being defeated by [[Hannibal]] at the [[Battle of Lake Trasimene]] during the second Punic war. [[Hannibal]] was able to make pivotal decisions during this battle because he understood his opponent. Flaminius was described as a demagogue by [[Polybius]], in his book ''[[The Histories (Polybius)|The Histories]]'' "...Flaminius possessed a rare talent for the arts of demagogy..."<ref>[[Polybius]], ''The Histories''</ref> Because Flaminius was thus ill-suited, he lost 15,000 Roman lives, his own included, in the battle.

===Modern era===
<!-- DO NOT add [[:Donald Trump]] to this listing. The article talk page has several discussions on the issue. The consensus is to exclude Trump because of BLP and POV concerns. Only historical examples are listed.-->

====Adolf Hitler====
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13774, Adolf Hitler.jpg|thumb|upright|Adolf Hitler in 1927, rehearsing his oratorical gestures; photo by [[Heinrich Hoffmann (photographer)|Heinrich Hoffmann]], [[German Federal Archives|Bundesarchiv]]]]

The most famous demagogue of [[modern history]], [[Adolf Hitler]], first attempted to overthrow the Bavarian government not with popular support but by force in a failed [[Beer Hall Putsch|putsch]] in 1923. While in prison, Hitler chose a new strategy: to overthrow the government democratically, by cultivating a [[mass movement (politics)|mass movement]].<ref name="Shirer-noses" /> Even before the putsch, Hitler had rewritten the [[Nazi party]]'s platform to consciously appeal to the lower classes of Germany, appealing to their resentment of wealthier classes and calling for German unity and increased central power.<ref name="Shirer-platform" /> Hitler was delighted by the instant increase in popularity.{{r|Signer|page=143–148}}

While Hitler was in prison, the Nazi party vote had fallen to one million, and it continued to fall after Hitler was released in 1924 and began rejuvenating the party. For the next several years, Hitler and the Nazi party were generally regarded as a laughingstock in Germany, no longer taken seriously as a threat to the country. The prime minister of Bavaria lifted the region's ban on the party, saying, "The wild beast is checked. We can afford to loosen the chain."{{r|Signer|page=143–148}}

In 1929, with the start of the [[Great Depression]], Hitler's [[populism]] started to become effective. Hitler updated the Nazi party's platform to exploit the economic distress of ordinary Germans: repudiating the [[Versailles Treaty]], promising to eliminate corruption, and pledging to provide every German with a job. In 1930, the Nazi party went from 200,000 votes to 6.4 million, making it the second-largest party in Parliament. By 1932, the Nazi party had become the largest in Parliament. In early 1933, Hitler was appointed [[Chancellor of Germany|Chancellor]]. He then exploited the [[Reichstag fire]] to arrest his political opponents and consolidate his control of the army. [[Early timeline of Nazism#Nazi Revolution|Within a few years]], enjoying democratic support from the masses, Hitler took Germany from a democracy to a total dictatorship.{{r|Signer|page=143–148}}

[[File:HueyPLongGesture.jpg|thumb|upright=1.02|left|[[Huey Long]], governor of Louisiana]]

====Huey Long====

[[Huey Long]], nicknamed "The Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the [[List of Governors of Louisiana|40th governor of Louisiana]] from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the [[United States Senate]] from 1932 until [[Assassination of Huey Long|his assassination]] in 1935. He was a [[Populism|populist]] member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and rose to national prominence during the [[Great Depression]] for his vocal criticism from the [[Left-wing politics|left]] of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and his [[New Deal]]. As the political leader of [[Louisiana]], he commanded wide networks of supporters and often took forceful action. A controversial figure, Long is celebrated as a populist benefactor or conversely denounced as a fascist demagogue.

In 1928, before Long was sworn in as governor of Louisiana, he was already supervising political appointments to ensure a loyal majority for all his initiatives. As governor, he ousted public officers not personally loyal to him and took control away from state commissions to ensure that all contracts would be awarded to people in his [[political machine]]. In a confrontation over natural gas with managers of the Public Service Corporation, he told them, truthfully, "A deck has 52 cards and in Baton Rouge I hold all 52 of them and I can shuffle and deal as I please. I can have bills passed or I can kill them. I'll give you until Saturday to decide." They yielded to Long—and became part of his ever-expanding machine.{{r|Luthin|page=247–248}}

When Long became a senator in 1932, his enemy, the lieutenant governor [[Paul N. Cyr]], was sworn in as governor. Long, without authority, ordered state troopers to surround the executive mansion and arrest Cyr as an imposter. Long installed his ally [[Alvin O. King]] as governor, later replaced by [[Oscar K. Allen|O.K. Allen]], serving as stooges for Long. Thus even in Washington, with no official authority, Long retained dictatorial control over Louisiana. When the Mayor of New Orleans, [[T. Semmes Walmsley]], began to oppose Long's extraordinary power over the state, Long exploited a subservient judge to justify making an armed attack on the basis of cracking down on racketeering. At Long's order, Governor Allen declared martial law and dispatched National Guardsmen to seize the Registrar of Voters, allegedly "to prevent election frauds". Then, by stuffing ballot boxes, Long ensured victory for his candidates to Congress. Long's own racketeering operation then grew. With his "trained seal" legislature, armed militias, taxation used as a political weapon, control over elections, and weakened court authority to limit his power, Huey Long maintained control in Louisiana in a manner arguably comparable to that of a dictator.{{r|Luthin|page=258–261}}

[[File:Joseph McCarthy.jpg|thumb|upright|Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]], an American demagogue]]

====Joseph McCarthy====
[[Joseph McCarthy]] was a [[U.S. Senator]] from the state of [[Wisconsin]] from 1947 to 1957.<ref>[[Richard Rovere|Rovere, Richard]], ''Senator Joe McCarthy'', Methuen Books (1959); reprinted by the University of California Press (1996). {{ISBN|0520204727}}.</ref><ref name=Wicker>[[Tom Wicker|Wicker, Tom]], ''Shooting Star: the Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy,'' Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2006) {{ISBN|015101082X}}<br />"Joe McCarthy may have been the most destructive demagogue in American history." p. 5<br />"McCarthy's Senate colleagues voted sixty-seven to twenty-two to censure him for his reckless accusations and fabrications." back cover</ref><ref>[[Haynes Johnson|Johnson, Haynes]], ''The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism,'' Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2006). {{ISBN|015603039X}}<br />"Joe McCarthy was a demagogue, but never a real leader of the people." p. 193<br />"McCarthy represented what Richard Hofstadter called 'the paranoid style of American politics.'" pp. 193–194<br />"While he never approached the importance of a Hitler or a Stalin, McCarthy resembled those demagogic dictators by also employing the techniques of the Big Lie." p. 194</ref> Though a poor orator,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hnn.us/articles/7603.html|publisher=History News Network|title=What Qualifies as Demagoguery?|date=October 19, 2004 |access-date=2009-03-24|archive-date=2013-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725015101/http://hnn.us/articles/7603.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Eisenhower Years|publisher=Infobase Publishing|author=Mayer, Michael|year=2007|quote=Unlike most demagogues, McCarthy did not give stem-winding, highly emotional speeches. Rather, he spoke in a monotone, even as he made his most outrageous charges. The delivery lent credence to his accusations, in that they seemed to be unemotional and therefore "factual."}}</ref> McCarthy rose to national prominence during the early 1950s by proclaiming that high places in the United States federal government and military were "infested" with [[communists]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Rhetoric and Civility: Human Development, Narcissism, and the Good Audience|publisher=SUNY Press|author=Harold Barrett|year=1991|isbn=978-0791404836|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NJyRqw8JIJUC&pg=PA108 108]}}</ref> contributing to the [[Red Scare|second "Red Scare"]]. Ultimately, his inability to provide proof for his claims, as well as his public attacks on the [[United States Army]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Have_you_no_sense_of_decency.htm |title=Have You No Sense of Decency? |publisher=[[United States Senate]] |access-date=2017-01-07 |archive-date=2020-12-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203150027/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Have_you_no_sense_of_decency.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> led to the [[Army–McCarthy hearings]] in 1954, which in turn led to his [[Censure in the United States|censure]] by the Senate and fall from popularity.<ref name=Wicker />
<!-- DO NOT add [[:Donald Trump]] to this listing. The article talk page has several discussions on the issue. The consensus is to exclude Trump because of BLP and POV concerns. Only HISTORICAL examples are listed.-->

==== Donald Trump ====
Multiple sources have described [[Donald Trump]] as a demagogue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/20/president-trump-speech-inauguration|title=Trump embraces role of demagogue on divine mission to reshape America|first=David|last=Smith|work=The Guardian |date=January 20, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Merritt |first=Eli |date=29 October 2024 |title=There’s a better term for Trump than ‘fascist’ |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/29/trump-demagogue-fascist-definitions/ |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=[[Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-12/donald-trump-demagogues-american-history|title=Contributor: Trump's place in history? He is the supreme American demagogue|first=Eli|last=Merritt|date=May 12, 2021|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/13/mitt-romney-retirement-trump|title=Mitt Romney condemns 'demagogue' Trump as he announces retirement|first=Martin|last=Pengelly|work=The Guardian |date=September 13, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Donald Trump is a demagogue and a danger to democracy |url=https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article47684100.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20221208073004/https://www.sacbee.com/opinion/editorials/article47684100.html |archive-date=2022-12-08 |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=The Sacramento Bee |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4375262/history-demagogues-donald-trump/|title=What History Teaches Us About Demagogues Like The Donald|first=Zócalo Public|last=Square|date=June 20, 2016|magazine=TIME}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2024/11/07/2024-electon-donald-trump-american-demagogue/76089772007/|title=Opinion: Donald Trump is a demagogue who ran an awful campaign and won. What happens next?|first=Martin|last=Gottlieb|website=The Columbus Dispatch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Francis |date=17 September 2024 |title=Trump Has Paved the Way for Future Demagogues |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-09-17/trump-s-brand-of-authoritarianism-is-winning-converts-poll-shows |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=[[Bloomberg News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/lib-dem-leader-ed-davey-donald-trump-dangerous-us-election-win-b1192368.html|title=Trump branded 'dangerous, destructive demagogue' by Lib Dem leader|first=Rachael|last=Burford|date=November 7, 2024|website=The Standard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/31/opinion/trump-voters-liberal-civil.html|title=Opinion &#124; Here's Why We Shouldn't Demean Trump Voters|first=Nicholas|last=Kristof|work=The New York Times |date=August 31, 2024|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>