History Main / Cincinnatus

* Juan Carlos I of Spain. He was handpicked by the infamous dictator UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco to succeed him. During Franco's rule, he seemed to be a loyal supporter and destined to continue Franco's policies. All the insiders believed it would be business as usual after Franco was dead. Once Franco was in the ground and Juan had become King of Spain and received the absolute power of his predecessor, he voluntarily used that power to turn Spain into a constitutional monarchy with a Westminster-style Parliament, knowingly and willingly reducing himself to a figurehead in the process. And ''then'', he personally browbeat into submission the officers who attempted [[TheCoup a coup]] to return to the good old Franco days. He was almost universally popular throughout much of his reign, but he ultimately stepped down in 2014 mostly due to age, but also because some people were outraged that he had gone big-game hunting -- pretty much the first "scandal" of his entire reign.
** Franco can also be counted as this. While he ruled Spain as dictator after the war until his death, rather than continuing the dictatorship afterwards, he willingly gave the reins of power back to the monarchy.

* In the last days of World War II, when the last defenses of Berlin were collapsing, [[YouAreInCommandNow Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Dönitz as the next head of state]], who was one of the few remaining high-ranking officers who still had his trust and who was still relatively safe in his faraway naval base in Northern Germany, where Allied troops had not arrived yet. When Goebbels killed himself a day after Hitler, Dönitz was effectively the only remainder of a German political leadership and took it on himself to form a new government. Accepting that the war was lost, he spent the following days withdrawing the remaining troops to the west and surrendering to the Americans and British, to be safe from the Soviets and to coordinate a fast and orderly surrender. However, he let the surrender be stalled to allow more refugees and dispersed units to escape the Red Army to territory under the control of the Western Allies. By his own claims, the night Hitler's right-hand Himmler (who was the leader of the SS units and had tried to [[TheQuisling make a deal with the British on his own]]) visited him to talk about the future leadership of Germany was the only time he had a loaded gun in an open drawer of his desk, but fortunately Himmler accepted that he would not be the new leader and also would not get any position of power under Dönitz and gave up on his designs to become the head of postwar Germany without a fight.
* The Marquis de Lafayette -- helped win the American Revolutionary War, first disarmed the nobles during the (first) French Revolution, then was imprisoned, denounced Napoleon, turned down becoming the governor of the Louisiana territory, helped the revolution of 1830, turned down the title of dictator to bring a more moderate king to the throne. Fittingly, he too was a founding member of Cincinnati.
* UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte was originally supposed to be this, but it was subverted -- he led a coup against the horribly inefficient semi-democratic government in 1799, then stepped back a little to have a new constitution for France drawn up. According to the Constitution of the Year VII, which was approved in an overwhelming referendum, he became First Consul of France, essentially dictator. However, he was still fully expected to step down -- and, at this point, perhaps even intended to, though his term was all of ten years, more than enough time. Two years later, however, another referendum and the Constitution of the Year X made Napoleon Consul for Life as recognition for restoring order to France and ending the Revolutionary Wars. Since he pretty much had all the power he could wish for at this point, he wasn't all too keen on becoming hereditary Emperor of the French in 1804.

There is an emergency, threatening the entire kingdom. Even the king admits he is not capable of dealing with it, so he finds his wisest and most able knight and grants that knight total power over the kingdom. Why? Because the king knows this knight is a man of honor and also loves his family more than he loves power. He will use this power only when it is needed, and no longer. And he's right. Once the kingdom is saved, that knight abdicates his power and goes home to his family.

** Named for Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, a legendary Roman general, who, sometime after he retired to his farm, was given total power in Rome to fight off an invasion. Cincinnatus' status as a ''dictator'' afforded him six months of total power over Rome by Roman law. His fame comes from the fact that he repulsed the invasion and conquered the invaders in ''sixteen days'', then handed power right back to Rome even though he was legally entitled to continue ruling for the rest of his "term" as ''dictator''. The city of Cincinnati in the USA's state of Ohio is partly named for him, and then there's the Society of the Cincinnati (see below). A year later, Cincinnatus was appointed dictator for a second time, due to an alleged plot by Spurius Maelius to seize power and name himself king. This term was even shorter, as Maelius refused to answer a summons from Cincinnatus to defend himself against the allegations, and was killed by Roman soldiers. Cincinnatus immediately resigned and went back to his farm. There was an added reason for why this became so remarkable: when Cincinnatus took up the dictatorship, the Roman Republic was only fifty years old and many in the Senate did not remember the revolt against Tarquin. That a Roman citizen could be invested with such power and then willingly give it up demonstrated the durability of the principles and revolutionary spirit of the Republic's founding.
*** Cincinnatus set a precedent, in that all ''dictatores'' were expected to give back their power to the Senate as soon as they completed the task they had been appointed to fulfill. Most did just that, with the few exceptions being detailed below and having good reasons for it.
** Exploited by Augustus, who made sure to abstain from all the flashy titles, while [[JustTheFirstCitizen keeping the less impressive-sounding ones]] (and all the power that came with them). For most of the time, Augustus's strategy was to get the Roman Senate to grant him new titles such as ''tribunicia potestas'', since he was governor of lots of frontier provinces and therefore [[MillionMookMarch loads and loads of legions]], since most of the Roman Army was in the outer provinces. One of the ways he ensured his power was to use his legions to threaten the Senate to give him governorship of even more provinces so that he'd get control of even more legions.

** President UsefulNotes/JamesKPolk lived before the two-term limit was imposed, but he didn't run for a second term in 1848, saying that there was no need as he'd already accomplished everything he wanted to in his first term (so much the better; he died three months after leaving office). UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes also declined to run for a second term in 1880, keeping a promise he'd made shortly after being elected in highly suspicious circumstances (he won by ''one'' electoral vote, with three states' electoral vote allocations being heavily disputed, and had lost the popular vote[[note]]That said, his opposition was alleged to have engaged in voter suppression (including from the likes of TheKlan) and the ''federal Army'' had to ensure that e.g. African Americans could exercise their right to vote (and in many places the Army could ''not'' ensure this as their forces were spread too thin). Suffice to say, this election left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Americans for decades to come -- and it happened in the year of the centennial of independence[[/note]]). UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge also declined to run again in 1928 despite having served for just under six years as President (similarly to Johnson, except that Coolidge had no term limits). All other one-term presidents (besides those who died in their first term) ran for a second term and either lost the election or were passed over by their party.

** Franco can also be counted as this. While he ruled Spain as dictator after the war until his death, rather than continuing the dictatorship afterwards he willingly gave the reins of power back to the monarchy.

* Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (lit. "Father of Turks") was an officer in the Turkish military who parlayed his victories against Allied forces (especially at Gallipoli) and during the course of Turkey's post-war border clashes with The Entente (chiefly France, but also Britain) and her somewhat ruthless no-holds-barred war with Greece (which involved cheery ethnic cleansing like that seen in Smyrna) he became Turkey's Generalissimo. After the wars were concluded he made the country semi-democratic, making himself the first Prime Minister and first Speaker of Parliament -- but he gave up those titles in just a few years. Though he remained President (a ceremonial role) for the rest of his life, his role in politics was limited to a sort of 'oversight' function (to root out unconstitutional or corrupt politicians) that the Turkish Military continues to oversee to this day in the spirit of 'Kemalism'. The military has executed five coups to this end (1960, '71, '81,'97, and the failed 2016 coup), but they've always handed all power back to democratically-elected representatives within a few years and the idea of the military actually running the country would be unthinkable. Turkish votes very nearly made Atatürk the "Man of the Century" in a [[http://www.time.com/time/time100/time100poll.html Time poll]] for the same title.

** In "Death in Heaven"', it's revealed that in the event of a worldwide invasion, one person may be elected as President of Earth by the UN and all the world's armed forces. Three guess who all the nations choose, and the first two don't count. Obviously, the Doctor doesn't like being President of Earth any more than he liked being President of Gallifrey, and wants to get rid of the responsibility ASAP. However, he'll still take advantage of the position in order to get {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s to do what he wants. And to ride the CoolPlane.
** In a non-political example, the Doctor's status as a time-traveller and occasional {{Chessmaster}} means that he could easily get the timeline to do what he wants, and manipulate people and even planets long-term. However, he firmly believes that WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility and his companions provide helpful {{Morality Chain}}s to stop him from believing that AGodAmI. On the very rare occasions that he slips up... well, it's ''really'' not good.

-->-- '''Worf''', ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "Tacking into the Wind"

* The page quote comes from Worf in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', who, after killing Chancellor Gowron (who had been misusing his power and throwing away the war effort for his own political gain) in a death duel, had become Chancellor [[KlingonPromotion through right of combat]]. As the other Klingons in the room start to hail Worf as the new Chancellor, Worf stops them and immediately abdicates power to General Martok, who he saw as the best military leader.

Subtrope of ReluctantRuler. Compare TheLastDJ (the character has the same integrity but often far less power or freedom), AbdicateTheThrone (giving up power born into), TheCreon (who will do anything to avoid being in charge) and TheCaligula (treating their people badly). Contrast RegentForLife, UnfitForGreatness. See also IWillFightNoMoreForever. And yes, the city of [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Cincinnati]] is named after the [[TropeNamer trope-naming general]].

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Ned's ancestor Lord Cregan Stark, who was the Hand for a few days more than a century before the series began, was an example. At the end of the Targaryen civil war known as "The Dance of the Dragons" Cregan arrived in King's Landing just after Aegon II had been poisoned, meaning the throne passed to their nephew Aegon III, son of the claimant Cregan had been supporting. Cregan was named Hand by Aegon III and responded by punishing those responsible for Aegon II's death, feeling a King's murder must be punished even if it was a tyrant he was fighting against. Cregan's actions enabled a relatively stable reign for Aegon III, though the day after finishing the trials Cregan resigned the Handship and returned to the North, having been granted many rewards, and in exchange for pardoning Lord Corlys Velaryon, he married Alysanne Blackwood.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** This can be how the position of Hand of the King operates: the king technically retains his authority, but for practical purposes, it's given to the Hand. This was why Robert Baratheon made Ned Stark his Hand, because he himself is a terrible ruler, and Ned definitely fits the [[HonorBeforeReason honorable criteria]]. Lord Tywin Lannister also effectively ran the kingdom for years, while the actual king indulged his madness and things only truly went to shit after Tywin retires as Hand, leaving Areys to do things on his own whim. The commoners have an appropriate saying in-universe about this: ''The king shits, and the Hand wipes.''
** Also done by Ned's ancestor Lord Cregan Stark, who was the Hand for a days more than a century before the series began. At the end of the Targaryen civil war known as "The Dance of the Dragons" Cregan arrived in King's Landing just after Aegon II had been poisoned, meaning the throne passed to their nephew Aegon III, son of the claimant Cregan had been supporting. Cregan was named Hand by Aegon III and responded by punishing those responsible for Aegon II's death, feeling a King's murder must be punished even if it was a tyrant he was fighting against. Cregan's actions enabled a relatively stable reign for Aegon III, though the day after finishing the trials Cregan resigned the Handship and returned to the North, having been granted many rewards, and in exchange for pardoning Lord Corlys Velaryon, he married Alysanne Blackwood.

** This can be how the position of Hand of the King operates: the king technically retains his authority, but for practical purposes, it's given to the Hand. This was why Robert Baratheon made Ned Stark his Hand, because he himself is a terrible ruler, and Ned definitely fits the [[HonorBeforeReason honorable criteria]]. Lord Tywin Lannister also effectively ran the kingdom for years, while the actual king indulged his madness and things only truly went to shit after Aerys fired Tywin, though he's not particularly honorable. The commoners have an appropriate saying in-universe about this: ''The king shits, and the Hand wipes.''

Subtrope of ReluctantRuler. Compare TheLastDJ (the character has the same integrity but often far less power or freedom) and AbdicateTheThrone (giving up power you're born into). Also compare TheCreon, who will do anything to avoid being in charge. Contrast RegentForLife, UnfitForGreatness. See also IWillFightNoMoreForever. And yes, the city of [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Cincinnati]] is named after the trope-naming general.

** Which would not be the last time the universe had an evil Cincinnatus. Thanos's goal in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' is to collect all six infinity stones and use them to eliminate half of all life. He claims that when he's done this he'll rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. [[spoiler:He succeeds and keeps to his word. In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', he's shown to have retired on a ParadisePlanet and has destroyed the infinity stones. The Avengers are shocked he isn't out trying to rebuild his forces or conquer more worlds]].

:: In the novelization of ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', "Cinncinatus" is the title of the chapter when Wonder Woman flies to the Fortress of Solitude and convinces Superman to come out of retirement.

The TropeNamer is Roman general [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Quinctius_Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus]], who led Rome under the title of ''Dictator'' ("He who dictates") against an invasion. At the time, a dictator was simply a military leader given control over the country during war times but was expected to return power to the monarchy once the crisis was averted, as Cincinnatus had famously done. It was only centuries later with Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (or just Sulla for short), after the title of dictator had not been used for over a hundred years, that a Roman official attempted to abuse the dictatorship for his own gain, leading the word to pick up a decidedly negative connotation. Even Sulla, while abusing his dictatorial power in many ways and having arranged to not have a time limit on his dictatorship, still stepped down after a year. The first ''successful'' attempt to defy this tradition came without the actual ([[JustTheFirstCitizen specific]]) title of dictator and resulted in the creation of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire.

** Which would not be the last time the universe had an evil Cincinnatus. Thanos's goal in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' is to collect all six infinity stones and use them to eliminate half of all life. He claims that when he's done this he'll rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. [[spoiler:He succeeds and keeps to his word. In the next film, he's shown to have retired on a ParadisePlanet and has destroyed the infinity stones. The Avengers are shocked he isn't out trying to rebuild his forces or conquer more worlds]].

Yes, the city of [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Cincinnati]] is named after the trope-naming general. Subtrope of ReluctantRuler. Compare TheLastDJ (the character has the same integrity but often far less power or freedom) and AbdicateTheThrone (giving up power you're born into). Also compare TheCreon, who will do anything to avoid being in charge. Contrast RegentForLife, UnfitForGreatness. See also IWillFightNoMoreForever.

Subtrope of ReluctantRuler.

Compare TheLastDJ (the character has the same integrity but often far less power or freedom) and AbdicateTheThrone (giving up power you're born into). Also compare TheCreon, who will do anything to avoid being in charge. Contrast RegentForLife, UnfitForGreatness. See also IWillFightNoMoreForever. And yes, the city of [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Cincinnati]] is named after the trope-naming general.

** [[ThePaladin The Knights of the Cross]] can be this trope. The Knights of the Cross wield three Holy Swords who have in their hilt one of Nails that was driven through Jesus Christ.[[note]]Respectively each of the swords represents one of the following Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love. Each Sword is considered like a Supernatural Nuke on the battlefield against the forces of darkness.[[/note]] Being a Knight is, as they say, a Calling. However, it isn't a lifetime commitment with retirement only by a wooden box. The Knight can retire at any time. According to their long-lived nemesis, most Knights in human history are men or women who picked up a Sword for one mission and when the mission was over let the Sword be assigned to another when it was needed. The Knight was simply in the Right Place, at the Right Time to make a difference.[[note]]According to the Author, at one point in history George Washington once wielded the Sword of Hope for a time during the Seven Year's War and then set it down.[[/note]]

*** Not that he exactly retired to the simple life of a humble farmer. The "home" he had built for his retirement was a massive palace-fortress on the shores of the Adriatic, within walking distance of Salona -- one of the largest cities in the empire. As much for his own safety as for his comfort, no doubt; despite being a "retired" emperor, the risk of assassination would still have been high. His "garden" would have been located within its walls.

There is an emergency, threatening the entire kingdom. Even the king admits he is not capable of dealing with it, so he finds his wisest and most able knight and grants that knight total power over the kingdom. Why? Because the king knows this knight is a man of honor and also loves his family more than he loves power. He will use this power only for when it is needed, and no longer. And he's right. Once the kingdom is saved, that knight abdicates his power and goes home to his family.

The TropeNamer is Roman general [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Quinctius_Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus]], who led Rome under the title of ''Dictator'' ("He who dictates") against an invasion. At the time, a dictator was simply a military leader given control over the country during war times but was expected to return power to the monarchy once the crisis was averted, as Cincinnatus had famously done. It was only centuries later with Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (or just Sulla for short), after the title of dictator had not been used for over a hundred years, that a Roman official attempted to abuse the dictatorship for his own gain, leading the word to pick up a decidedly negative connotation. Even Sulla, while abusing his dictatorial power in many ways and having arranged to not have a time limit on his dictatorship, still stepped down after a year. The first ''successful'' attempt to defy this tradition came without the actual ([[JustTheFirstCitizen specific]]) title of dictator, and resulted in the creation of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire.

When played more cynically, it may overlap with HonorBeforeReason. It can also overlap with ShortLivedLeadership, and has heavy overlap with GracefullyDemoted.

* Lord Gekkei from ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'' leads the revolts against the KnightTemplar King of Hou, but doesn't take over as temporary ruler until the ''kirin'' of Hou is reborn and then able to choose a new king. The noblemen have to insist a ''lot'' to convince him to start re-organizing the ravished lands as de-facto ruler.

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/2893059 The Savior Fables]]'' see Emma Swan (''Series/OnceUponATime'') learn that, as the new adopted guardian of Literature/HarryPotter, she must also act as regent for the three noble houses that Harry is heir to; specifically, the Houses of Potter, Slytherin and Peverell. Fortunately, she has the aid of the Scamander brothers and Goldstein sisters (still alive and young thanks to a gift of the Elixir of Life from the Flamels) to understand her full duties (as well as learning that she also has magic), and all parties are agreed that she will pass on her duties to Harry as he gets old enough to deal with them.
* ''Fanfic/SupremeChancellorObiWanKenobi'': Obi-Wan is thrust into the position by a senator who is exhausted with the now ten-year-long Clone Wars and finally says enough is enough, and knows from their past experience with Obi-Wan that he is perfect for the role because he loathes the politics but is up to the duty. HilarityEnsues as Obi-Wan struggles with a job he detests but lives up to.

* Discussed in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', where Harvey Dent explicitly compares Batman to the Roman elected dictators and instantly gets called out by Rachel, who says that such a system eventually led to powerful men appointing ''themselves'' dictators and eventually Julius Caesar and the death of anything resembling representative government in Rome. Later in the movie, [[spoiler:Batman hands the power to tap into peoples' cell phones to Lucius Fox, knowing that his objections to the methodology would mean that it was ONLY used in a dire emergency. Sure enough, after the Joker is apprehended, Fox types his name into the computer that did the spying, just like Bruce told him to, and the whole thing self-destructs.]]

** Which would not be the last time the universe had an evil Cincinnatus. Thanos's goal in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' is to collect all six infinity stones and use them to eliminate half of all life. He claims that when he's done this he'll rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. [[spoiler:He succeeds and keeps to his word. In the next film he's shown to have retired on a ParadisePlanet and has destroyed the infinity stones. The Avengers are shocked he isn't out trying to rebuild his forces or conquer more worlds]].

** This is part of [[ManipulativeBastard Senator Palpatine's]] plan to ascend to full on EvilOverlord status. By manufacturing a conflict around Naboo and stymieing Chancellor Valorum's ability to do anything about it, he is able to push Queen Amidala into the no-confidence vote that put him, as the most capable emergency ruler, into the top spot. Around this time (it's unclear whether it is before or after the Naboo blockade) he arranges for the creation of a Grand Army and simultaneously uses the fallout from the failed blockade to stir Separatist agendas. Pushing both of these together results in the Clone Wars, a galactic incident which requires continued stable and capable leadership. Having upheld this trope to the Senate, emergency powers are granted, until eventually he is able to wipe out the one threat to his rule, the Jedi Order. Then comes TheEmpire, and STILL he is treated as this trope!
** Meanwhile, the Jedi while ruling their own, tend to act as advisors rather than rule themselves. When they start to grow wary of Palpatine, Ki-Adi-Mundi suggests removing him from office. Mace points out that the Jedi would have to take control of the Republic to ensure peace. Yoda is clearly ''not'' happy about the situation. In [[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]], they had to do this when a previous Chancellor grew too corrupt. They did eventually return power to the people. The Jedi were again forced to remove the leader of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances when its leader Daala turned into a full blown tyrant, returning power to the civilian government once the immediate crisis had abated.

** [[ThePaladin The Knights of the Cross]] can be this trope. The Knights of the Cross wield three Holy Swords who have in their hilt one of Nails that was driven through Jesus Christ.[[note]]Respectively each of the swords represents one of the following Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love. Each Sword is considered like a Supernatural Nuke on the battlefield against the forces of darkness.[[/note]] Being a Knight is, as they say, a Calling. However, it isn't a lifetime commitment with retirement only by a wooden box. The Knight can retire at any time. According to their long lived nemesis, most Knights in human history are men or women who picked up a Sword for one mission and when the mission was over let the Sword be assigned to another when it was needed. The Knight was simply in the Right Place, at the Right Time to make a difference.[[note]]According to the Author, at one point in history George Washington once wielded the Sword of Hope for a time during the Seven Year's War and then set it down.[[/note]]

* In the Creator/TomClancy books, Literature/JackRyan is appointed Vice President, and soon after becomes President after Durling and most of the Congress are assassinated. He served out the remainder of Durling's term [[note]]who, in turn, was serving out Fowler's, after he resigned between ''Debt of Honor'' and ''Executive Orders''[[/note]] and was then reelected to a full term of his own. Halfway through his term, though, he resigned. Both to allow his best friend, Robby Jackson, to become the nation's first black President, and because he's accomplished all he wanted to do in office and wants to retire. After Jackson's own assassination, Ryan is approached about running again but he declines, both for the same reasons that he left office in the first place and because he's been honestly heartbroken at his best friend's death and can't bring himself to go back to the position that was indirectly responsible. In ''Locked On'', he runs again for President, disgusted with the way Ed Kealty had been running the country. [[spoiler:And ultimately wins by a narrow margin, in spite of some DirtyPool by his opponent.]]

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': The novel ''Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu'' sees Monk temporarily reinstated to run the San Francisco Police Department's homicide division during a police strike, with three other eccentric or hotheaded detectives who've been kicked off the force (all of whom have handlers of their own) to be his squad. The squad continues operating even after a police officer is killed, which prompts the striking cops to return to duty to catch the killer. Once the cop's killer is caught, the police union use this as a bargaining chip with City Hall to get their demands, and the strike ends, upon which Monk's unit is disbanded. Monk reluctantly concedes, while Natalie makes the acquaintance of the other detectives' minders.

** This can be how the position of Hand of the King operates: the king technically retains his authority, but for practical purposes it's given to the Hand. This was why Robert Baratheon made Ned Stark his Hand, because he himself is a terrible ruler, and Ned definitely fits the [[HonorBeforeReason honorable criteria]]. Lord Tywin Lannister also effectively ran the kingdom for years, while the actual king indulged his madness and things only truly went to shit after Aerys fired Tywin, though he's not particularly honorable. The commoners have an appropriate saying in-universe about this: ''The king shits, and the Hand wipes.''
** Also done by Ned's ancestor Lord Cregan Stark, who was the Hand for a days more than a century before the series began. At the end of the Targaryen civil war known as "The Dance of the Dragons" Cregan arrived in King's Landing just after Aegon II had been poisoned, meaning the throne passed to their nephew Aegon III, son of the claimant Cregan had been supporting. Cregan was named Hand by Aegon III and responded by punishing those responsible for Aegon II's death, feeling a King's murder must be punished even if it was a tyrant he was fighting against. Cregan's actions enabled a relatively stable reign for Aegon III, though the day after finishing the trials Cregan resigned the Handship and returned to the North, having been granted many rewards, and in exchange for pardoning Lord Corlys Velaryon he married Alysanne Blackwood.

* In ''Literature/TheWarlordChronicles'', rather than being a King, [[Myth/KingArthur Arthur]] is a warlord sworn to safeguard the realm and the throne until his nephew Mordred comes of age and becomes King. Arthur is just fine with this, since he [[IJustWantToBeNormal just wants to live a normal life]] and is happy to step aside. [[spoiler:The series takes a dark route with this. Although most of the world's misery is caused by the overly ambitious types like Cerdic, Sansum, Lancelot, and multiple other kings and princes, the fact that Arthur never takes the throne for himself (even after seeing how AxCrazy Mordred is) undoes all of his efforts]].

* In ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'', Dylan finally manages to re-create the [[TheFederation Commonwealth]] (although ''much'' smaller than the original one, which spanned three galaxies). The representatives of the various member worlds immediately try to get him to run for a Triumvir position (which wouldn't leave him as a sole ruler, but, still, his popularity is at all-time high). Dylan refuses, saying he never wanted to be anything more than a High Guardsman. He later ends up regretting his decision, when the new leaders start making stupid decisions, and other characters point out several times that he had his chance to make sure things would go right this time and gave it up. Even earlier, when he finds a space station full of Nova bombs, capable of making stars explode, Tyr points out that Dylan could have his Commonwealth back... today. Dylan immediately rejects the idea, pointing out it would be nothing more than a dictatorship held in check only through fear.

** In "Death in Heaven"', it's revealed that in the event of a worldwide invasion, one person may be elected as President of Earth by the UN and all the world's armed forces. Three guess who all the nations choose, and the first two don't count. Obviously, the Doctor doesn't like being President of Earth any more than he liked being President of Galifrey, and wants to get rid of the responsibility ASAP. However, he'll still take advantage of the position in order to get {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s to do what he wants. And to ride the CoolPlane.
** In a non-political example, the Doctor's status as a time-traveller and occasional {{Chessmaster}} means that he could easily get the timeline to do what he wants, and manipulate people and even planets long-term. However, he firmly believes that WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility, and his companions provide helpful {{Morality Chain}}s to stop him from believing that AGodAmI. On the very rare occasions that he slips up... well, it's ''really'' not good.

* Mark Anthony promised to follow the example of Cincinnatus when his term as Consul ended in ''Series/{{Rome}}'', while negotiating with Caesar's killers to preserve all their titles (and legitimizing Ceasar's will as not that of a tyrant). Unsurprisingly he never planned or had to abide by it after a certain famous speech at Caesar's funeral changed the political landscape to his favour.

* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', when [[TheWisePrince Gerard]] comes of age, his advisor [[WanderingMinstrel Leon]] willingly abdicates the throne of Maar Sul to him. However, some people, most notably [[spoiler:[[TheEvilPrince Geraden]]]], see Leon as an usurper who only abdicated the throne in order to control the throne from behind the scenes.

* The quarian ship Captains and fleet Admiralty in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' franchise exist to be this. The Migrant Fleet technically exists under a state of emergency martial law (as it has been for centuries) but in practice most decisions are handled by an elected civilian council, both on the level of individual ships and on the level of entire sectors of the fleet in a federal-type government known as the Conclave. However, the Admiralty can invoke a deliberate override of anything the Conclave chooses as an exercise of emergency powers, but are required to resign from their positions immediately after the emergency has passed, or face arrest and prosecution if they refuse to do so. This helps keep the otherwise unrestricted exercise of power in check. So far, the Admiralty override has only been invoked four times in the three centuries of the fleet's existence.
* The [[EmergencyAuthority Galactic Custodian]] from ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'', elected to protect all life in the galaxy from a class X-3 ApocalypseHow, is granted great but temporary powers in the [[FictionalUnitedNations Galactic Community]]. Such a custodian can attemt to hold onto the great powers granted to them for extended periods of time, attempt to reform the Galactic Community into a Galactic Imperium, peacefully turn in their title at the end of their term... Or vote to end their term early if the ApocalypseHow is defeated before the end of their mandate. Doing this even grants the player the Modern Cincinnatus [[AchievementSystem Achievement]].

** ''[[VideoGame/SuikodenTactics Suikoden Tactics/Rhapsodia]]'', however, has Lino indicating that he plans to name Hero 4 as his permanent successor. [[spoiler:Neither of them realize that [[LukeIAmYourFather the hero is actually Lino's son]], who was presumed to have died at sea as a young child, and thus was always supposed to be his successor.]]

* ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron'': Orion Pax takes command of the scattered Autobot forces following the apparent death of Zeta Prime, becoming Optimus Prime. One ForeverWar later, and in the finale of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise2015'' he's finally able to turn over stewardship of Cybertron to a interim council (until proper elections can be held) and simply be Orion Pax again.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', [[FutureBadass Ben 10,000]] (an alternate one, different from the one shown in the [[WesternAnimation/Ben10 Original Series]]) mentions that he was President of Earth just long enough to [[NoodleIncident defeat the third Vilgaxian Invasion]]. Gwen was more skilled at the day-to-day duties, and is supposedly a shoo-in for a second term.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Gauntlet of Fire", Spike manages to successfully win the title of Dragon Lord, making him one of the most politically powerful characters in the show. He uses this ultimate authority to give all of one (relatively unimportant) order [[note]]that being to order a dragon who has often bullied him to go back home, and give a hug to every dragon he meets on the way[[/note]] before abdicating and passing the title over to the previous Dragon Lord's daughter, who he had befriended. In fact, he initially showed up to the event to ''ask permission to leave'' because participation was mandatory, only deciding to stay upon realizing that a jerk could gain with the position and the power it confers if he didn't at least try to participate.

** Exploited by Augustus, who made sure to abstain from all the flashy titles, while [[JustTheFirstCitizen keeping the less impressive-sounding ones]] (and all the power that came with them). For most of the time, Augustus's strategy was to get the Roman Senate to grant him new titles such as ''tribunicia potestas'', since he was governor of lots of frontier provinces and therefore [[MillionMookMarch loads and loads of legions]], since most of the Roman Army was in the outer provinces. One of the ways he ensured his power was to use his legions to threaten the Senate to give him governorship of even more provinces, so that he'd get control of even more legions.

** Scipio Africanus. While he never actually had absolute power, it is arguable that he could have—he was a FourStarBadass who actually defeated Hannibal and ended the Second Punic War, thus gaining more prestige then any Roman had ever had. Instead of attempting to take power, he retired to his villa to get away from the {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s of the Senate.

** It's easy to forget due to the long line of historians with Southern sympathies smearing his presidency (which is currently [[DatedHistory reevaluated by historians]] as [[VindicatedByHistory decent and even great in fields like race relations]]), but UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant had a PopularityPolynomial going on during his own lifetime. He was immensely popular from emerging as a commander in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar to the end of his first term (his 1872 bid for reelection succeeded with only token opposition), but suffered greatly due to the economic downturn and increasingly-hard-to-ignore corruption of other executive branch members during his second term. Out of office, he regained the favor of many Americans and wanted to give a third term a try, but the Republican Party bigwigs flatly refused, citing the example of Washington. There being no meaningful democratic primaries, that was that.

* Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (lit. "Father of Turks") was an officer in the Turkish military who parlayed his victories against Allied forces (especially at Gallipoli) and during the course of Turkey's post-war border clashes with The Etente (chiefly France, but also Britain) and her somewhat ruthless no-holds-barred war with Greece (which involved cheery ethnic cleansing like that seen in Smyrna) he became Turkey's Generalissimo. After the wars were concluded he made the country semi-democratic, making himself the first Prime Minister and first Speaker of Parliament -- but he gave up those titles in just a few years. Though he remained President (a ceremonial role) for the rest of his life, his role in politics was limited to a sort of 'oversight' function (to root out unconstitutional or corrupt politicians) that the Turkish Military continues to oversee to this day in the spirit of 'Kemalism'. The military has executed five coups to this end (1960, '71, '81,'97, and the failed 2016 coup), but they've always handed all power back to democratically-elected representatives within a few years and the idea of the military actually running the country would be unthinkable. Turkish votes very nearly made Atatürk the "Man of the Century" in a [[http://www.time.com/time/time100/time100poll.html Time poll]] for the same title.

* In 1976 Nigerian Military Head of State Gen. Murtala Muhammed was killed in a failed coup attempt, and his deputy, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo succeeded him. Obasanjo continued his predecessor's plan to return power to the civilians, and had a constitution drawn up. In 1979, he presided over general elections, and handed over the government to the winners, becoming a national hero and symbol of patriotism and duty. In 1999, after another military dictator had died in office and another transition was taking place, there was public clamor for "OBJ" to run for president (he had in fact been jailed by the previous regime, only being released upon Gen. Abacha's death). He won the vote, and reelection four years later, then it all got to his head and he subverted his own Cincinnatus status by trying to change the constitution to allow himself a third term. The senate checkmated him, and he left office one of the most unpopular men in the country.

* It didn't work out any better for Germany when they elected their own WWI hero, Paul von Hindenburg, to the then very powerful office of President. He did an all right job, but got drawn into party policies after the extremists blocked the parliament. He also wasn't particularly fond of participating in a democracy[[note]]He was a monarchist, but did not try to re-introduce the monarchy, as he felt bound by his oath on the constitution.[[/note]] and wanted to retire after his term was over.[[note]]He was [[strike:begged]] convinced to run for a second term by an array of all parties except Nazis and communists, i.e. from the socialists to the monarchists, in order to prevent a certain UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler from being elected president.[[/note]] The former led to him being manipulated (by the even less competent Franz von Papen) into appointing Adolf Hitler as Chancellor[[note]]He was made to believe that the setup of ministers would prevent Hitler from taking over.[[/note]], and the latter led to Hitler being able to seize total power by combining the offices of President and Chancellor into that of "Führer" when Hindenburg died.
* In the last days of World War II, when the last defenses of Berlin were collapsing, [[YouAreInCommandNow Hitler appointed Admiral Karl Dönitz as the next head of state]], who was one of the few remaining high-ranking officers who still had his trust and who was still relatively safe in his faraway naval base in Northern Germany, where Allied troops had not arrived yet. When Goebbels killed himself a day after Hitler, Dönitz was effectively the only remainder of a German political leadership and took it on himself to form a new government. Accepting that the war was lost, he spent the following days withdrawing the remaining troops to the west and surrendering to the Americans and British, to be safe from the Soviets and to coordinate a fast and orderly surrender. However he let the surrender be stalled to allow more refugees and dispersed units to escape the Red Army to territory under the control of the Western Allies. By his own claims, the night Hitler's right hand Himmler (who was the leader of the SS units and had tried to [[TheQuisling make a deal with the British on his own]]) visited him to talk about the future leadership of Germany was the only time he had a loaded gun in an open drawer of his desk, but fortunately Himmler accepted that he would not be the new leader and also would not get any position of power under Dönitz and gave up on his designs to become the head of postwar Germany without a fight.
* The Marquis de Lafayette -- helped win the American Revolutionary war, first disarmed the nobles during the (first) French Revolution, then was imprisoned, denounced Napoleon, turned down becoming the governor of the Louisiana territory, helped the revolution of 1830, turned down the title of dictator to bring a more moderate king to the throne. Fittingly, he too was a founding member of Cincinnati.

* John Hunyadi was elected to serve as regent of Hungary in 1446, until Ladislau V came of age. Despite being both one of the wealthiest aristocrats and the most accomplished military commander of the country, with strong support from the nobility, he stepped-down from the position in 1453.

*** Not that he exactly retired to the simple life of a humble farmer. The "home" he had built for his retirement was a massive palace-fortress on the shores of the Adriatic, within walking distance of Salona - one of the largest cities in the empire. As much for his own safety as for his comfort, no doubt; despite being a "retired" emperor, the risk of assassination would still have been high. His "garden" would have been located within its walls.

** UsefulNotes/PompeyTheGreat: to deal with the deadly threat of piracy in the Mediterranean he was given powers arguably ''greater'' than those of a ''dictator''-- absolute control over the sea and inland to up to fifty miles-thus including Rome itself and most of their lands), ability to draw as much as he wanted for the treasury of Rome and its allies, twenty four lieutenants, and an ''initial'' force of 500 ships, 120,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry with ability to raise more, for a period of three years. Plus, of course, impunity for anything he did during the job. In 89 days most pirates were dead or had surrendered ''and'' he forced Armenia (whose king Tigranes the Great had been supporting the pirates) into submitting to Rome, and then he dutifully remitted his powers to the Senate.

** President UsefulNotes/JamesKPolk lived before the two-term limit was imposed, but he didn't run for a second term in 1848, saying that there was no need as he'd already accomplished everything he wanted to in his first term (so much the better; he died three months after leaving office). UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes also declined to run for a second term in 1880, keeping a promise he'd made shortly after being elected in highly suspicious circumstances (he won by ''one'' electoral vote, with three states' electoral vote allocations being heavily disputed, and had lost the popular vote[[note]]That said, his opposition was alleged to have engaged in voter suppression (including from the likes of TheKlan) and the ''federal Army'' had to ensure that e.g. African Americans could exercise their right to vote (and in many places the Army could ''not'' ensure this as their forces were spread too thin). Suffice to say, this election left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Americans for decades to come - and it happened in the year of the centennial of independence[[/note]]). UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge also declined to run again in 1928 despite having served for just under six years as President (similarly to Johnson, except that Coolidge had no term limits). All other one-term presidents (besides those who died in their first term) ran for a second term and either lost the election or were passed over by their party.

* Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (lit. "Father of Turks") was an officer in the Turkish military who parlayed his victories against Allied forces (especially at Gallipoli) and during the course of Turkey's post-war border clashes with The Etente (chiefly France, but also Britain) and her somewhat ruthless no-holds-barred war with Greece (which involved cheery ethnic cleansing like that seen in Smyrna) he became Turkey's Generalissimo. After the wars were concluded he made the country semi-democratic, making himself the first Prime Minister and first Speaker of Parliament - but he gave up those titles in just a few years. Though he remained President (a ceremonial role) for the rest of his life, his role in politics was limited to a sort of 'oversight' function (to root out unconstitutional or corrupt politicians) that the Turkish Military continues to oversee to this day in the spirit of 'Kemalism'. The military has executed five coups to this end (1960, '71, '81,'97, and the failed 2016 coup), but they've always handed all power back to democratically-elected representatives within a few years and the idea of the military actually running the country would be unthinkable. Turkish votes very nearly made Atatürk the "Man of the Century" in a [[http://www.time.com/time/time100/time100poll.html Time poll]] for the same title.

The TropeNamer is Roman general [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Quinctius_Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus]], who led Rome as a ''dictator'' against an invasion. At the time, a "dictator" was a military leader given control over the country during war times, who was expected to return power to the monarchy afterwards, as Cincinnatus had famously done. It was only with Sulla, after the title of dictator had not been used for over a hundred years, that a Roman official attempted to abuse the dictatorship for his own gain, leading the word to gain a decidedly negative connotation. Even Sulla, while abusing his dictatorial power in many ways and having arranged to not have a time limit on his dictatorship, still stepped down after a year. The first ''successful'' attempt to defy this tradition came without the actual ([[JustTheFirstCitizen specific]]) title of dictator, and resulted in the creation of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire.