Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies

A demagogue is a tyrant who owes his initial rise to the democratic support of the masses. Huey Long Hugo Chavez and Moqtada al-Sadr are all clear examples of this dangerous byproduct of democracy. Demagogue takes a long view of the fight to defend democracy from within from the brutal general Cleon in ancient Athens the demagogues who plagued the bloody French Revolution George W. Bushs naïve democratic experiment in Iraq and beyond. This compelling narrative weaves stories about some of historys most fascinating figures including Adolf Hitler Senator Joe McCarthy and General Douglas Macarthur and explains how humanitys urge for liberty can give rise to dark forces that threaten that very freedom. To find the solution to democracys demagogue problem the book delves into the stories of four great thinkers who all personally struggled with democracy--Plato Alexis de Tocqueville Leo Strauss and Hannah Arendt.