Brutal dictators are never toppled or never resign. They "step down".

[bluestateguy]

with all kinds of retirement perks and privileges and their political clout remains strong.

[gateley]

1. Or are slain. nt

[Cleita]

2. Most of them do end up on the wrong side of a

noose or bullet. Very few die in their beds.

[NoPasaran]

3. Ceausescu hung on to the bitter end

Followed by a speedy trial and a swift, rather sloppy execution.

[bluestateguy]

4. I was thinking of Pinochet

nt

[kenny blankenship]

7. He made a good pinata too!

Not as good as Mussolini, maybe, but still everyone got their whacks in and posed for photos. Good times.

[sofa king]

5. Maybe this a good place to make a list.

Although I'm sure there's a better one out there.

Here's a potential example: Lavrentiy Beria. The intelligence chief for Stalin, Beria was so on top of the power vacuum caused by Stalin's death that his claim that he poisoned Stalin actually holds some weight. But Beria was also a crazy, sociopathic son of a bitch*, and the Soviet Army didn't like that. So after a short while, they intervened and condemned him. For the next ten years General Georgy Zhukov was essentially the kingmaker of the Soviet Union. As the personification of the army, Zhukov insisted on staying largely out of internal politics... unless he didn't like you. One phone call to Molotov was reputedly enough to put that diplomat into retirement, instead of in charge.

* How much of a sociopathic son of a bitch was he? One day, Beria was boating with a high-ranking party member when he spotted a group of female waterskiers practicing for a state event. Beria plowed into the middle of the group, hauled one of the ladies aboard, and boated off into the sunset after pushing the party wonk over the side. Beria knew the fellow couldn't swim.

[cynatnite]

6. Never? n/t