Thank you! Of course, you are right, and Hitler wasn't the only elected dictator.

But the historian/authors of a number of recent death-of-democracy books have argued that while it used to be common for dictators come to power through coups--for example, in Latin America--a global trend now is for them to use the fig leaf of elections as cover for their tyranny.

I'm a journalist, not a historian, so there may a good countervailing argument, but that view made sense to me. Very much appreciate your context.