favorite dictator/authoritarian ruler by decade?

[Dr. MB]

For every decade from the 1900's on pick one authoritarian leader as your "favorite". It could be anyone from a monarch with influential power to a military junta leader to a General Secretary to whatever, you name it. No repeats.

1900s:
1910s:
1920s:
1930s:
1940s:
1950s:
1960s:
1970s:
1980s:
1990s:
2000s:
2010s:
2020s:

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

1900s: Albert B. Cummins
1910s: Beryl F. Carroll
1920s: Nathan E. Kendall
1930s: Nelson G. Kraschel
1940s: George A. Wilson
1950s: Herschel C. Loveless
1960s: Harold Hughes
1970s: Robert D. Ray
1980s: Robert D. Ray
1990s: Tom Vilsack
2000s: Tom Vilsack
2010s: Chet Culver
2020s: Kim Reynolds

Screw the no repeats rule, I'm not endorsing Branstad if I don't have to.

[Upper Canada Tory]

Imagine having a favourite dictator.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

1940s: A lesser Axis leader, like Quisling? I dunno.
1950s: Enver Hoxha
1960s: Macias Nguema
1970s: Idi Amin
1980s: Muammar Qaddafi
1990s: The military junta in Burma
2000s: Dick Cheney
2010s: Putin
2020s: TRUMP

[OSR stands with Israel]

1940s: A lesser Axis leader, like Quisling? I dunno.
1950s: Mao?
1960s: Macias Nguema
1970s: Idi Amin
1980s: Muammar Qaddafi
1990s: The military junta in Burma
2000s: Dick Cheney
2010s: Putin
2020s: TRUMP

Why?

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

1940s: A lesser Axis leader, like Quisling? I dunno.
1950s: Mao?
1960s: Macias Nguema
1970s: Idi Amin
1980s: Muammar Qaddafi
1990s: The military junta in Burma
2000s: Dick Cheney
2010s: Putin
2020s: TRUMP

Why?

Changed it to Enver Hoxha on second thought. The basic point is that they resisted US/Soviet imperialism and pursued neutrality in the early Cold War. They were commies, of course, which made them repugnant killers, but their international politicking was pretty solid.

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

1900s: Abdul Hamid II
1910s: Louis Borno
1920s: Carlos Ibanez del Campo
1930s: Getúlio Vargas
1940s: Juan Perón
1950s: Marcos Perez Jiménez
1960s: Juan Velasco Alvarado
1970s: Muammar al-Gaddafi
1980s: Daniel Ortega
1990s: Paul Kagame
2000s: Hu Jintao
2010s: Viktor Orbán
2020s: Nayib Bukele

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

This question if easy if you're Catholic, because you can just say "the pope" for every decade

[First1There]

1900s: Abdul Hamid II
1910s: Louis Borno
1920s: Carlos Ibanez del Campo
1930s: Getúlio Vargas
1940s: Juan Perón
1950s: Marcos Perez Jiménez
1960s: Juan Velasco Alvarado
1970s: Muammar al-Gaddafi
1980s: Daniel Ortega
1990s: Paul Kagame
2000s: Hu Jintao
2010s: Viktor Orbán
2020s: Nayib Bukele

Abdul Hamid!?? You mean like this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamidian_massacres

[wnwnwn]

1950s: Marcos Perez Jiménez
1960s: Juan Velasco Alvarado
2010s: Viktor Orbán
2020s: Nayib Bukele

Are you sure that you are not an old working class latino male?

This reminds me of my grandfather: he liked Odria, Velasco and Fujimori.

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

1900s: Abdul Hamid II
1910s: Louis Borno
1920s: Carlos Ibanez del Campo
1930s: Getúlio Vargas
1940s: Juan Perón
1950s: Marcos Perez Jiménez
1960s: Juan Velasco Alvarado
1970s: Muammar al-Gaddafi
1980s: Daniel Ortega
1990s: Paul Kagame
2000s: Hu Jintao
2010s: Viktor Orbán
2020s: Nayib Bukele

Abdul Hamid!?? You mean like this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamidian_massacres

It's because of this:
In the opinion of F. A. K. Yasamee:

He was a striking amalgam of determination and timidity, of insight and fantasy, held together by immense practical caution and an instinct for the fundamentals of power. He was frequently underestimated. Judged on his record, he was a formidable domestic politician and an effective diplomat.

[Blow by blow, the passion dies]

1950s: Marcos Perez Jiménez
1960s: Juan Velasco Alvarado
2010s: Viktor Orbán
2020s: Nayib Bukele

Are you sure that you are not an old working class latino male?

This reminds me of my grandfather: he liked Odria, Velasco and Fujimori.

I'm an economically interventionist conservative and Brazilian nationalist, in the tradition of Vargas and the 1964 junta. My grand-uncle does like Vargas though.

[All Along The Watchtower]

1900s: God
1910s: Lord
1920s: Jesus
1930s: Christ
1940s: King of Kings
1950s: Lord of Lords
1960s: Jehovah
1970s: Yahweh
1980s: Adonai
1990s: Mr. God
2000s: Our Lord In Heaven
2010s: The Lord of All Creation
2020s: Joe “Brandon” Biden

[Kleine Scheiße]

I should preface this by saying that there are few on this list for whom I have any respect; and that a number of these were chosen with a healthy degree of reluctance -- this is, naturally, a difficult question to answer, especially given that my historical knowledge about some of these people is rather lacking. Nevertheless:

1900s: Rafael Reyes, I guess
1910s: Yuan Shikai, I guess
1920s: Vladimir Lenin
1930s: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
1940s: Josip Broz Tito
1950s: Sukarno
1960s: Park Chung Hee, maybe Ho Chi Minh
1970s: Fidel Castro, I guess, maybe Ali Soilih
1980s: Thomas Sankara, maybe Samuel Doe
1990s: Muammar Gaddafi, I guess
2000s: Hu Jintao
2010s: Phil Scott
2020s, so far: J. B. Pritzker

[LostFellow]

1940s: A lesser Axis leader, like Quisling? I dunno.
1950s: Mao?
1960s: Macias Nguema
1970s: Idi Amin
1980s: Muammar Qaddafi
1990s: The military junta in Burma
2000s: Dick Cheney
2010s: Putin
2020s: TRUMP

Why?

Changed it to Enver Hoxha on second thought. The basic point is that they resisted US/Soviet imperialism and pursued neutrality in the early Cold War. They were commies, of course, which made them repugnant killers, but their international politicking was pretty solid.

The Sino-Soviet split didn't occur until the 60s, and the PRC and USSR were pretty lockstep in foreign policy in the 50s---why else do you think China intervened in the Korean War? And if anything, I'd argue that the Sino-Soviet split was particularly bad in its early conception; Soviet backed North Vietnam was far better than Mao-era backing of the the Khmer Rouge, and in hindsight, all factions who backed Pakistan (the US and China) in the Bangladesh Liberation War make a huge mistake. PRC neutrality imo was only "good" starting in the Deng-era (which eventually lead to rapprochement with Gorbachev but that's a different topic).

The correct answer for the 50s is Sukarno or Nasser, but that's from a lefty perspective.

[PSOL]

Mao didn’t back the Khmer Rouge against the Vietnamese as he was already dead by then and neither Sukarno or Nasser (in Egypt, not Lebanon or Syria) were dictators

[LostFellow]

Mao didn’t back the Khmer Rouge against the Vietnamese as he was already dead by then and neither Sukarno or Nasser (in Egypt, not Lebanon or Syria) were dictators

Mao himself and his policies were instrumental in funding the Khmer Rouge uprising through the 70s--over 90% of the aid they received was from China at the time, and the Cambodian Genocide was literally based on Mao-era policies and assisted by CCP officials. There is no reason to think that if Mao lived longer he wouldn't have definitely supported Cambodia over Vietnam in 1978, and my original comment is on the general comparison of the USSR backing (North) Vietnam and the PRC backing (Khmer Rouge-faction) Cambodia during the whole relevant period from the 50s to the 80s.

The gang of four and Deng continued the backing of Cambodia over Soviet-influenced Vietnam, but I'm inclined to believe that the failure of this is what led China to a relative thaw in aggressive foreign policy afterwards. Will admit my historical understanding here is not close to perfect though.

Of course, this is completely irrelevant if you want to believe the weird conspiracy that post-Mao China only wanted to support Cambodia over Vietnam in 1978 to get-in with the US (since Deng is an "impure capitalist" or something), despite this view completely ignoring history before 1978 and the PRC literally backing recognizing the Khmer Rouge first and the US literally trying (in maybe not the most productive ways) to stop the Khmer Rouge takeover in the early 70s.

Sukarno after 1959 was definitely authoritarian (title asks "dictator/authoritarian"), and so was Nasser. I never claimed they were dictators.

[Dr. Cynic]

Imagine having a favourite dictator.

Some people are born pathetic.

[NYDem]

1910s: Zog I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, Bey of Mati.
1920s: Zog I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
1930s: Zog I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
1940s: Zog I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
1950s: Zog I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
1960s: Zog I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
1970s: Leka I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
1980s: Leka I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
1990s: Leka I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
2000s: Leka I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
2010s: Leka I, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.
2020s: Leka II, By the grace of the powers and the will of the people, King of the Albanians.

If King Zog has a billion fans, then I am one of them. If King Zog has one hundred fans, then I am one of them. If King Zog has only one fan then that is me. If King Zog has no fans, then that means I must be with him in Jannah. If the world is against King Zog, then I am against the world.

[All Along The Watchtower]

^RETVRN—ALBANIAN MONARCHY

[Joe Biden 2024]

1900s: John Henry Eden
1910s: The White Witch
1920s: Jake Featherston
1930s: Buzz Windrip
1940s: Red Skull
1950s: Sauron
1960s: Shaddam Corrino IV
1970s: Darkseid
1980s: Emperor Palpatine
1990s: Aerys Targaryen, the Second of His Name, the King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm
2000s: Lord Voldemort
2010s: Fire Lord Ozai
2020s: Coriolanus Snow

[Benjamin Frank 2.0]

Josip Broz (Marshall) Tito wasn't bad from the 1940s until his death in that he:
1.Resisted Soviet control of Yugoslavia
2.Experimented with worker managed if not worker owned businesses under communism.
3.Prevented the breakup of Yugoslavia which, as we saw, resulted in wars and attempted genocides.

Certainly he was no saint, but he was about as bengin a dictator as can be expected.


Nikita Khrushchev for the 1950s was nowhere near as good as Tito, but he was much better than Stalin before him and Brezhnev after him.