Best* dictator** of the 20th century

[dead0man]

The lack of a Hoxha option leads me to believe that this poll is revisionist nonsense.

Why is Smith on here? I mean when Malan, Verwoerd, Vorster and Botha didn't make the cut.

Doesn't include Hitler, joke poll.

It's not (and wasn't supposed to be) an all inclusive list, hence the "other" option.  Feel more than welcome to add anybody you think should be on it.

[Velasco]

King Hussein is not a dictator by virtue of being a hereditary monarch.

...and an autocratic ruler.

Furthermore, the Soviet premiers that came after Brezhnev were the heads of non-democratic governments but I'm not sure I'd call them dictators. Andropov, Chernenko and Gorbachev didn't seize power.

Nor did Stalin neither the successive presidents of the Argentinian military Junta after Videla. Seizing power is not what define a dictator. Furthermore, Sandinistas seized power from Somoza, the dictator of Nicaragua. By no means you can define Daniel Ortega as a dictator in the 80's, neither he is a dictatorial ruler in the present day, regardless corruption and several shenanigans. Anyway, this poll is indeed a joke including the man who abolished army in Costa Rica and excluding the most relevant dictators in the 20th century: Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and Mao.

[Beet]

I'm pretty sure the best dictator was Jean-Dominique Bauby. He dictated the entire book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, by blinking his left eyelid 200,000 times after a stroke that left him paralyzed. Take that, Adolf.

[morgieb]

As my flag on another forum indicates, I'm a big fan of the Kim's

Seriously, I dunno about most of this list, but Gorby seems like a good guy.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Minh, Tito, Castro, King Hussein, and Gorbachev seem at least genuinely interested in the well being of their people, even if they were awful dictators?

[morgieb]

I'll also say Smith > Mugabe.