Usurpers
FDR came damn close to becoming a king. He was 62 when he won the 1944 election. Had he been healthier, serving a fourth term and who knows how many more, God knows what we'd be looking at for a government now. And it was obvious from his actions that he really liked the idea of an all-powerful centralized government. For the good of the people, of course.
In the 2008 election, it became frighteningly obvious how vulnerable Americans are to the concept of turning our lives over to a Man On A White Horse. I once dubbed this dazzled hero-worship "Fueherlust."