Especially the October Revolution and the aftermath.

Stalin truly did not care although there were a few who were able to escape his mentally deranged actions.

He is shrewd and cunning but that is not the same as intelligent. His narcissism and ego make him dangerous. Musk is also an egomaniac but if he learns to control himself as the peer behind Trump that would make him worse by an order of magnitude.

I am reminded of the movie Elizabeth. Walsingham says to Norfolk (iirc) “…you were the most powerful man in England. You could have been greater still but you did not have the courage to be loyal.”

Of course, the wild card in this mess is Vance. None of the other Republicans are any threat to Trump.

I would posit that Vance is ambition driven which applies to Trump and Musk as well. That being said Vance is also a fervent religionist. This is lacking in Trump’s case and, I would bet, in Musk’s as well. This side of Vance makes him, in the perfect circumstances, uniquely dangerous.

So many decades later, historians are still only able to speculate about why they ruthlessly imprisoned and executed people who'd devoted themselves entirely to these leaders. One thing seems clear: Strongmen in general have severe personality disorders and paranoia seems to be a nearly universal component.