Forgive me if this seems too vague, but I'm looking for information on a specific presidential candidate from an American election. This current election reminded me of a presidential candidate I learned about in history class back in high school and despite my best efforts to find him on my own, I haven't found anything.

We were watching a documentary in class that documented the rise of an extremely charismatic candidate who, in the eyes of the historians featured in the video, had the potential to be a dictator. I would assume it was from the 30's or 40's, and there were a number of videos from this candidate's campaign rallies featured in the documentary so it was during a time where video technology was becoming prominent. I remember the candidate wearing a top hat and was fairly fat.

This candidate only comes to mind thanks to Donald Trump's campaign, and I was eager to learn more about this "would-be dictator." Again, I know it's a long shot but if anyone knows the name or era of this guy I would be very grateful. This has been driving me crazy so I hope someone out there knows what I'm talking about.