Stereotypical authoritarian leaders in history tend to do opulent, egocentric things like building statues of themselves everywhere or writing songs about how cool they are and making kids in school sing them. What are some examples of modest dictators whose regimes skipped that type of pomp and circumstance?
In Jugoslavia most people saw Tito as a benevolent dictator. Once he died Jugoslavia fell apart. Obviously the history behind it is a bit more complex, but most people I have talked to in those countries saw him as a “good leader” that lead the country in a direction the people appreciated. Propaganda still played a big role in it and people with more historical knowledge will be able to comment a bit better in this topic. But he is the only one who comes to my mind.