My Favourite Dictator II
May 18th, 2006 at 14:34
You might remember that a few weeks ago I revealed the favourite 20th century dictators of a couple of celebrities- well, like the best American TV executives, I’m going to drag this format out until it’s no longer funny. That’s right- I’ve e-mailed even more celebrities, and had some exciting replies!
Adam Hart-Davis
Y’know- the man from the tax return adverts, and various science and history programmes like “What the [historical era] did for us”. He’s an excellent celebrity- and he readily endorses Barometer World- claiming it has a better collection (of Barometers) than the Science Museum. So who was his favourite dictator?
“Tito; he held the fractious Balkans together for decades”
A good choice, I think. At least it wasn’t Hitler. Good justification too.
Maggie Philbin
I daresay she might be a bit to old for most readers of my blog to remember (including myself), but she used to present Saturday Morning kids show Swapshop, and is Keith Chegwin’s ex-wife. Yeah, that’s right. Now nobody can say I don’t know who Cheggers’ ex-wife’s favourite 20th century dictator is.
“My daughter Rose. She was born in 1989 and my life hasn’t been my own since then.”
An interesting twist on a mean question- clever choice, Maggie.
Jon Bentley
One of the presenters of Channel 5’s The Gadget Show. Like Maggie, he twisted my question into something that he could answer without sounding like a monster. I feel a bit guilty as he’s taken his time to give me a fascinatingly well detailed answer.
“I’m not sure what I’m doing in a survey of “Britain’s most prominent people” but thanks for the email all the same.
One’s instinctive reaction is that I dislike all dictators. However I would find them more tolerable in an industrial rather than a political context – where their subjects at least have the opportunity to leave if it all becomes too much. In business a dictator’s tyrannical means might more easily be justified by their achievements.
My first thought in terms of a favourite dictator is therefore Harley Earl, the man who created some of the most stunning American cars of the 1950s – think ‘59 Cadillac – and indeed the whole idea of automotive design. His 1938 Buick “Y-job” is generally considered the first concept car.
To get an idea of his management style here’s a quote from Stephen Bayley’s book on the man:
“Earl conducted the design process with a mixture of discretion, emotional violence and bizarrerie.” He once suggested to executives of US Steel that they should develop a transparent metal. Occasionally, upon making such outlandish suggestions, Earl would look around the room at his design team and state, “If you disagree stand up so we can all get a look at the son of a bitch.” ”
A great response- I daresay the best yet. Aside from these three who dared to give an answer, I got “out of office” autoreplies from BBC News 24 presenter Kate Silverton (away filming for Panorama, apparently- she suggests I ring her PA… and “she” gave me a number!) and BBC Weatherman Alex Deakin, who appears to be having some time off. Let’s hope he scheduled the weather to be sunny for his break.
Declan Curry, possibly the world’s most cheerful business reporter personally e-mailed me explaining that he couldn’t answer.
“Thanks for your email, and for getting in touch with me. It’s nice to hear from you.
I’m very sorry but I’m not allowed to answer any questions like this.But thank you for thinking of me – hope you’re getting better luck elsewhere.”
I think he made a smart move- “BBC Presenter loves Suharto” wouldn’t be a good headline, and “he opened up Indonesian markets!” wouldn’t be a very good defence.
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