[[File:Backrdv12n2.jpg|thumb|A propaganda poster shows the cult of personality of [[Karl Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels]], [[Lenin]] and [[Stalin]]]]
A '''cult of personality''' refers to a situation in which an individual, often a dictator of a country, uses propaganda and media tools excessively to create a strongly positive image of himself, often with unquestioning praise. People who have created a cult of personality include [[Kim Jong Il]], [[Mao Tse Tung]], [[Saddam Hussein]], [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Lenin]], [[Josef Stalin]], [[Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini]] and , [[Fidel Castro]] and [[Richard Dawkins' cult of personality|Richard Dawkins]].
Whilst rarer in democratic societies, there are examples of a personality cult being built around certain western political leaders including [[John F. Kennedy]], [[Margaret Thatcher]], [[Ronald Reagan]], and most recently [[Barack Obama]].
"Cult of Personality" was also a song by [[New York]] band [[Living Colour]] that won the 1989 [[Grammy]] for Best [[Hard Rock]] Performance. The song makes references to Stalin and [[Benito Mussolini]]. The song is featured in the popular [[video game]] ''[[Guitar Hero|Guitar Hero 3]]''.
==See also==
* [[Hollywood values]]
* [[Dictatorship]]
** [[Dictator]]
** [[List of dictators]]
** [[Friendly dictator]]
** [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Chairman Mao]], [[Kim Jong-Il]], [[Pol Pot]]
** [[Dictatorship of the proletariat]]
** [[List of Communist States]]
** [[List of Socialist States]]
** [[Death toll of communism]]
** [[Coup d'état]]
* Cult of personality
* [[Single-party state]]
* [[Mobocracy]], [[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]], [[Anti-Semitism]], [[Communist Racism]], [[Genocide]], [[Holocaust]]
* [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] ([[Nazi]])
* [[National Socialism]] - the Nazis were elitist [[Police state]] [[liberals]] not [[conservative]]s
* [[Big government]] [[Welfare state]] leads to [[Nanny state]], leads to [[Police state]]: [[Globalist]]-[[Statist]]-[[Socialist]]-[[Communist]]
* [[Liberal totalitarianism]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Political Terms]]