Dictators/Leaders With Most/Least Personal Magnetism

[mofford]

Originally Posted by Veritas Vincit

Ted may have been living more off the charisma of his brothers though than his own. It'd be difficult to overstate the near mythical appeal of the Kennedy brothers on a certain generation of American liberal.

I agree Ted was second rate compared to John and Robert, but still had skills and influence to be the leading senator from the Northeast, why the people of Mass gave him a pass on Mary Jo, I know not, lol. Maybe they just felt sorry for him knowing the family weakness, they can't navigate machinery, be it a car, boat, plane, even things with no motor, like a pair of ski's.


I really enjoyed Tony T's post on Trujillo. Another happy ending with him dying in a shoot out, he deserved it for all the torture he metered out, like the man he kidnapped and boiled alive for giving an unflattering speech about him in the US. He could have used some of the diplomacy talents Ceausescu had, but really, life under Ceausescu was much worse I think, than living under Trujillo. By the 1980's, the Chow had borrowed a large sum of money from the IMF to build an oil refinery that ended up operating at 10% capacity. To pay back the loans, the Chow cut off the heat and electricity for all but 2 hours a day in the mornings, and exported all the food, leaving people to live on starvation rations and work 70 hours a week. He built a ostentatious palace ridiculous in size and scale, in the capitol while at the same time, forcing homeowners in large sections of the city to tear down their own homes (at the owners expense) for his landscaping projects.

At least Trujillo seemed to care enough about the Dominican Republic to invest some of his fortune in keeping up with infrastructure projects and creating jobs. Trujillo created national parks where logging was banned, he built roads, schools, hospitals in the border regions with Haiti and modernized rural areas. He supported citizens in the border region whom were being overrun with Haitian immigrants. There were reports of cattle theft and other harassment of the local Dominican ranchers and concern that if immigration was not stopped, Haiti could eventually attempt to make land claims in international courts. One also has to remember that 100 years prior, Haiti had invaded and ruled the Dominican Republic for several decades. I'm sure the occupation was not nice, and Haitians tend to kill white people, such was the case with French immigrants that came to Haiti after slavery had been abolished. Certainly it would have been better if Trujillo had not slaughtered them, and drove them back across the border, but he did the Parsley test to make sure they were Haitian blacks, not Dominican blacks.


If Trujillo was really that racist against blacks, why did he invite so many black American baseball players to the Dominican Republic? He treated them very well, they received good pay for playing on first-class, un-segregated teams. The great Negro league star Satchel Paige pitched for Los Dragones of Ciudad Trujillo, a team organized by Trujillo. He also accepted thousands of Jewish immigrants and declared war on Germany, so he must not have believed in the stuff the Nazi's were selling.

Granted the lighted Trujillo wall decorations which people were required to display in their homes was a bit much, but at least they had money for electricity. Also, the neon God & Trujillo signs in public areas, at least he put God's name first, I think this shows great restraint on his part. The suit and tie thing, and shoe rental requirements in the capitol city... this probably did wonders in keeping vagrants and panhandlers to a minimum, California should try that.

Yes, Trujillo was an ass, but I'd rather live under his rule than just about any communist leader in history, with the exception of Tito whom I think would be a small step up from Trujillo. I would much prefer Franco over Trujillo.

The Venezuelan president that was car bombed by Trujillo kinda deserved it, he and Castro planned and carried out an invasion of the Dominican Republic and it failed. You can't **** off a strong man like Trujillo in such a bold way and expect him not to come for you.

[TonyT]

Originally Posted by msgsing

One of the people who made Hitler into the stereotypical Nazi demagogue was his personal photographer Heinrich Hoffman. Hoffman made a series of photos of Hitler in various poses made to demonstrate a powerful public speaker. Hitler chose selected poses that he thought put him in a good light. Practice makes perfect.

The Hoffman photographs are actually more significant than most people even realize. They are a physical representation of the influence of one man, rarely discussed, whose impact on Hitler's development as a public speaker cannot be overstated. That man's name was Erik Jan Hanussen.

Hanussen was a well known hypnotist/clairvoyant in Germany who rose to fame in the late 1920's, putting on performances which were wildly popular throughout the country. Hitler became an admirer of Hanussen and wrote him, asking for a meeting. This sparked a professional relationship between the two that lasted into the early 1930's with Hanussen taking on the role of teacher to Hitler on how to essentially hypnotize an audience through the use of facial expressions, voice tone, eye contact, and hand gestures. Hanussen advised Hitler to try and give his major addresses at night when audiences would be more relaxed and psychologically open to his words. Hanussen stressed the importance of setting a tone and building drama by using lighting, music, flags, and processions. But most critical was the use of his hand gestures. Hanussen taught him how the hands could communicate emotions to a crowd just as effectively as words alone. The position of the hands, open or closed, raised or below the shoulders, all conveyed things such as unity, agreement, and directness. He told Hitler that the most powerful of gestures was the raised, clenched first, paying close attention to keep his fingers locked and the thumb outside. Lastly, Hanussen emphasized the need to use both hands whenever possible because that gave the hand movements the most intensity. And that is where the Hoffman photos enter into the story. Hitler commissioned them specifically so he could have a visual record of the types of gestures Hanussen suggested he use. He could then study them, determine which he felt were most impactful, then incorporate those into his public speeches.

Most people have only seen snippets of Hitler speaking before an audience and many of these hand gestures are evident in them. But it is only through watching one of his speeches from beginning to end that you see how well he learned from Hanussen. They all follow a very specific pattern, with Hitler starting off in a low tone of voice, slowly, hesitantly, almost as if he was nervous. Then his voice got stronger, more confident, and the hands started to come into play. And from there it just kept building and building until the audience was completely captivated by him. Even outside observers, many of whom were not fans of Hitler, remarked on this phenomena. William Shirer, author of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" stated that he had heard "many of Hitler's speeches and perceived the magic of his spoken words. I saw him hold huge audiences in his spell. Only Winston Churchill in England was his equal".

Unfortunately for Erik Jan Hanussen, his position as a close Hitler confidante came to an abrupt end in 1933 after several stories were published which alleged that Hanussen was not Danish as he claimed, but was Jewish, which in fact he was. On March 24, 1933, Hanussen (real name Herschmann-Chaim Steinschneider) was shot and killed by SA stormtroopers and his body dumped in a forest.

[jbgusa]

Originally Posted by Veritas Vincit

Ted may have been living more off the charisma of his brothers though than his own. It'd be difficult to overstate the near mythical appeal of the Kennedy brothers on a certain generation of American liberal.

Ted had veered firmly into the 60's counterculture by then. In many ways Chappaquiddick and Altamont were a fitting end to the 60's though most sociologists end the 60's in 1972. The day before Ted's negligent homicide of Mary Jo, the setting was a regatta on a gloriously hot summer day. Ted is next seen, in the rain, at the courthouse for his arraignment. That rain characterized the rest of the summer (think Woodstock) and was the ample, dreary setting for the dystopia the hippie movement and counterculture led us in to.

John and Bob had, in addition to charisma, a constructive program for the U.S. By 1980 Ted couldn't verbalize why he wanted to be President.