As of this writing, the United States of America is busy in the process of voting in who will be their next president. Both side are saying the other side will destroy the country and, for them, they claim that a vote for the opposing side will essentially destroy democracy or whatnot. While it is wholly possible that one candidate may be better than the other, I personally don’t think or, at the very least, hope getting one specific person into the White House will be the utter destruction of the country.
However, the recent election fever and how people proclaiming the other side is the devil has got me thinking about a lot of fictional leaders. Not those who grabbed power through force or anything crude like that. Rather, these are leaders who managed to ascend to their high post by guile and deception and, most importantly, actually getting voted into their position!
If you saw the original Star Wars in 1977, you would’ve thought Darth Vader was the big bad of the franchise. After all, he was the one aboard the Death Star ordering the destruction of Alderaan. Turns out he wasn’t as he was just the student of the real big bad of the Star Wars Original Trilogy, Emperor Palpatine.
However, Emperor Palpatine didn’t start out as the dictator of the galaxy far, far away. Initially, he was just Senator Palpatine of Naboo. While already in a position of power, he wasn’t satisfied with his position. He engineered the Trade Federation blockade of Naboo which eventually led to him becoming voted by the Galactic Federation to the position of Supreme Chancellor. Still working behind the scenes, Palpatine created another crisis known as the Clone Wars, leading to the Senate granting him emergency powers, which is another reason to hate Jar Jar Binks.
In order to secure his leadership, Palpatine then announces his plan to reorganize the Galactic Republic to the Galactic Empire, granting him unlimited power in the political sphere. This is also when he issues Order 66, leading to the execution of the Jedi Knight Order as they were the only other organization powerful enough to stand up to the new dictatorship.
I’ve already written a piece on how Lex Luthor, one of DC Comics greatest villains, became President of the United States. This is still something a lot of non-comic book readers cannot fathom. How can Superman‘s most notable archenemy, trick an entire country to vote for him? Well, it is important to note that, at that time, he wasn’t known to be a villain by the general population. This was after the Crisis of Infinite Earths event which led to all of DC Comics’ franchises getting rebooted. Some character histories changed, such as Superman’s adoptive Earth parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, living throughout most of Clark Kent’s adulthood.
Lex Luthor’s history was also changed after the Crisis of Infinite Earths. Instead of just a scientific genius, he was rewritten to be the most evil of persons of the late ’80s: a wealthy businessman. The general public saw Lex Luthor as a billionaire who employed hundreds of people as well as a philanthropist with a kind heart. This was basically a cover to hide his more nefarious actions while maintaining an aura of goodness to the public.
However, Lex Luthor eventually saw his shot to become the President of the United States during the No Man’s Land storyline, wherein a massive earthquake cuts off Gotham City from the rest of the United States, leading to the city’s criminal element practically taking over the city. Luthor used this to try to buy up as much land in Gotham City as, well, a crime riddled city’s property values were sure to plummet. However, the public perception of him buying up land made it look like he was giving the money to the city to rebuild! Public opinion for Luthor was more than positive and he rode that wave all the way to the Presidency.
While the previous two entries were obvious flights of fancy and obviously fictional, how Netflix‘s House of Cards‘ Frank Underwood captured the Presidency of the United States is, at the very least, right at the border of the realm of possibility. At the start of the series, Frank Underwood is already shown to be a duplicitous member of Congress but has managed to retain a relatively positive image among voters, thanks to his Southern charm and his ability to appear as if he cares for his constituents.
His thirst for power only increases throughout House of Cards’ run. He was shown to do anything to reach the Presidency. He is not beneath blackmailing his colleagues like Congressman Peter Russo and has gone so far as to murder the aforementioned Congressman as well as reporter Zoe Barnes to silence her.
His path to the Presidency was a rather convoluted one, however. He was appointed to the role of Vice President after tricking then VP Jim Matthews to take over Peter Russo’s run for Governor after his alleged suicide. He then orchestrates the impeachment of the President and Underwood succeeds in obtaining the Presidency.
However, as this list includes evil people getting voted into office, it must be noted that Frank Underwood succeeds in running for reelection for the position! Through some maneuvering, both politically as well as through some cloak and dagger mechanisms too complicated to detail here, he does get voted back into office.
BONUS: Solidus Snake
In the Metal Gear universe, Solidus Snake, the third clone of Big Boss, takes on the persona of George Sears and becomes the 43rd President of the United States. Not much is really known about his Presidency as you only encounter him during Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty as the main villain of the game.
That’s not the reason why I’m putting Solidus Snake as the Bonus entry of this list. The actual reason is, as he was only shoved into the role of President thanks the machinations of the Patriots, the shadowy organization who actually run the United States. So, while I can only presume he was elected into office, I cannot say if he was legitimately voted in. It could be the Patriots used their power to subliminally influence the general populace to elect him. Or they could have rigged the counting of the ballots to ensure his rise to power. As I cannot say if the people voted for him, I cannot say he was legitimately the 43rd President of the United States.
Are there any other villains you can think of who rose to power through a legitimate election? Let me know in the comments section below!
3rd World Geeks 