A Brief History of American Demagoguery

This found-footage video looks at the demagogic aspirations of Huey Long, Father Charles Coughlin, Joseph McCarthy, and George Wallace, concluding with Donald Trump. American history is filled with such characters. In the past, they have all been defeated by stronger democratic forces that refused to acquiesce to authoritarianism. Today the future of this authoritarian urge as represented by Trump and the MAGA movement is uncertain.    

"Beginning in 2020, in response to the cultural and political upheavals that were playing out in the United States, I started making a series of videos to help me understand and cope with what was going on around me. To date, five videos have been made under the heading, Imperfect Union Productions. They are Rage, 2020; Gaea’s Lament, For Love of Guns, Isn’t It a Pity—all 2022; and A Brief History of American Demagoguery, 2024. This blatant incursion into political messaging is unusual for me, but I found the current situation so abhorrent, and I felt so powerless that I needed to do something even if my outrage found no audience beyond myself. These five videos are the result."

-Doug Hall