Comment by llamaimperative

> This kind of depends on the "great man" view of history where these figures have the kind of influence needed to move entire cultures.

No it doesn't it just depends on the "words the most important person in the world says matters in times of crisis" view of history.

> Some of this was probably cultural contagion from the US, but not all of it.

I don't think "all of it" is the alternative. There has clearly been a groundswell of similar sentiments across the western world, but to suppose that the question of who is the US President is literally immaterial is frankly insane.