There was an interesting question posed to the straight dope, &quot;before World War II, who occupied the rhetorical role that Hitler occupies today?&quot; (that is, the embodiment of evil on earth).<p>Asking this question is pretty insightful; it becomes clear that Hitler fills the role now more because we need to have somebody in there than because his life was so shocking that everyone&#x27;s perspective was changed forever after it happened.<p>The answer to the question is also interesting, but a little less so -- at least for the US, it was a biblical reference, &quot;Pharaoh&quot;.