Strongman Aleksandr Lukashenko, President of Belarus: No wonder Trump likes this guy!

 

Headline:  New York Times, 8/15/2025

Ivan Nechepurenko reports:

Mr. Lukashenko took power in 1994 and has won seven increasingly dubious elections, most recently in January. Over this time, Western policymakers have veered between isolating the strongman ruler and cooperating with him. A master at silencing dissent at home, Mr. Lukashenko, leading a country with just 9 million people, over and over has successfully danced between Russia and the West, often pitting the two against each other.  [emphasis added]

According to Merriam-Webster, the first-known use of 'strongman' as in one who leads or controls by force of will and character or by military methods, occurred in 1859.

Other coinages from the same year include:

1. anti-university
2. artificial selection
3. clubby
4. heavyset
5. living fossil
6. rogues' gallery
7. unfocused