Demagogue

 WORD OF THE DAY

demagogue / noun / de-mə-ˌgäg  

Definition
1: a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power
2: a leader championing the cause of the common people in ancient times
3: to behave like a demagogue
4: to treat (something, such as an issue) in the manner of a demagogue

Examples
"Like other good Whigs, they had assumed that the people, once free of English influence, would honor and elevate the country's true patriots and natural aristocracy in ways that the English Crown had not. But when in the decades following the Revolution the people seemed to succumb to the deceit and flattery of mushroom demagogues, who were the popular counterparts of courtiers, the Federalists became bewildered and bitter."
— Gordon S. Wood, Revolutionary Characters, 2006

Before the U.S. could begin to help Haiti rebuild its ravaged democracy last week, it first had to remove a raving demagogue.
— Tim Padgett et al., Time, 15 Mar. 2004

Did You Know?
When the ancient Greeks used dēmagōgos (from dēmos, meaning "people," and agein, "to lead") they meant someone good-a leader who used outstanding oratorical skills to further the interests of the common people.
Mid-17th-century writers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Dryden-and, later, Jonathan Swift-employed the English word that way.
But, at the same time, the word took a negative turn, coming to suggest one who uses powers of persuasion to sway and mislead.
"A plausible, insignificant word, in the mouth of an expert demagogue, is a dangerous and a dreadful weapon," declared Robert South, known for his sermons, in 1716.