Regis Philbin. Salary: $20 million. âWho Wants to be a Millionaireâ was a massive success in its heyday, and not having Regis yell-talk random things at us as much was also a huge success. And for that, Regis made a $20 million a year, still the highest paid game show host ever. Alex Trebek
The United States is, indeed, a republic, not a democracy. Accurately defined, a democracy is a form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly--through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums.
This is what distinguishes it from a  democracy - a republic can be a democracy or an oligarchy.    So every democracy is a republic, but not every republic is a  democracy. For example, the United States is both  a democracy and a republic. Some countries are republics, but are  not considered democracies. Examples include Nazi Germany,  the People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of  [North] Korea, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.