While in college in the early 1950s, students were mesmerized by the Army-McCarthy trial on the new entertainment media: television. The trial went on for weeks, and for the first time, we could observe the accusations made and the tactics used. It became a common topic of argument in the dorms and hallways of the school. I was shocked by the number of students and teachers who supported Sen. McCarthy and his cause. Though all of his allegations were eventually deemed untenable, his impact on individuals, on American society, on various government, entertainment and academic institutions was immense.

(Disclosure: As an Orientalist, my father became a person of interest and was interrogated by the so-called “un-American” committee, and was in danger of losing his faculty position as happened to some of his colleagues. [See especially the five-year ordeal of Owen Lattimore.] The policeman’s knock on the home door was of family worry for a number of years.)

In a college history class, stimulated possibly by the national and student interest in the TV show trial, we studied and discussed the political theories of Niccolo Machiavelli (“The Prince,” 16th century), of Hitler and of Joseph Goebbels (Hitler’s propaganda minister). The week-long class resulted in a condensed description of a political belief system antithetical to democratic and supportive of authoritarian practices. I list here some of the key principles derived from that class and relevant today.

The leader must: 1. Centralize and preserve power around self at all costs; 2. Set aside all ethical and moral concerns; 3. Become an arbiter of all truth and law; 4. Promote chauvinism, tribalism: an ethnocentric belief in US vs. THEM based on race, blood purity, religion, custom, tradition, politics or citizenship.

Corollaries: The leader must: A. Redirect or suppress contrary or critical information as false, fake, political bias or anti-state; B. Character assassination of opponents: attack, smear, diminish opponents by repetitive imprinting labels, (e.g. “soft on communism,” “red/pink,” “Judeo-Bolshevik threat,” “parasite,” “subhuman,” “degenerate,” “genetic inferior,” “deviant,” “crooked Hillary,” “Mexican rapists,” “Arab terrorist,” etc.); C. Consequence of supranationalism: those who do not “belong,” who are different and alien are justifiable targets of hatred, separation, physical abuse, incarceration and exportation. Devotees of the leader believe their verbal and physical attacks are encouraged and licensed (for the “good of the country”).

Some psychologists have described the personality traits of a leader. They include: a bloviated belief in his/her superior intelligence, knowledge and abilities; friendless, a need for sycophants easily discarded; a narcissistic need for recognition by mass demonstrations of approbation, of admiration, of applause; and self-promotion of achievements real or imagined.

No doubt these attributes of a leader are current today in our international and national political stage, at least in part. I will leave it to the reader to identify those who today best fit the mold.

Hubbard C. Goodrich is a Harpswell resident.