Someone George W. Bush looks up to. Someone who Bush has tried to model his regime after.

Pope Benedict XVI
known as Ratzinger

Palpatine was the supreme ruler of the most powerful tyrannical regime the galaxy had ever witnessed, yet his roots are extremely humble, traced back to the peaceful world of Naboo.

Before his rise to power, Palpatine was an unassuming yet ambitious Senator in the Galactic Republic. Palpatine saw the Republic crumbling about him, torn apart by partisan bickering and corruption. All too common were those unscrupulous Senators taking advantage of the system, growing fat and wealthy on a bureaucracy too slow to catch them.

Palpatine's moment of opportunity came as a result of a trade embargo. The Trade Federation, in protest of government measures that would tax their outlying trade routes, blockaded and invaded Naboo. Naboo's planetary leader, Queen Amidala, rushed to Coruscant for Palpatine's aid. Together, the two pleaded to the Senate for intervention, only to see their request stalemated by Trade Federation filibustering. Frustrated by the government's inability to do anything, Queen Amidala acted upon Palpatine's suggestion, and called for a Vote of No Confidence in the Republic's leadership.

Chancellor Valorum was voted out of office, and Palpatine was soon nominated to succeed him. The crisis on Naboo prompted a strong sympathy vote, and Palpatine became Chancellor. He promised to reunite the disaffected, and bring order and justice to the government.

Despite his promises, the Republic continued to be mired in strife and chaos. A decade after his nominatio...

The single most powerful and adept force wielder of all time. Also known as Darth Sidious. As Emperor Palpatine, he ruled the Galaxy with an iron fist and murdered countless hundreds of Jedi. His complete and masterful repertoire of abilities includes every force power to date, plus extreme intellectual and tactical talent. Was the ONLY Sith to ever achieve total control of devastating space/time vortexes known as Force Storms. Darth Sidious was the last and final Sith Master, and was considered by many to be the Dark Side of the Force incarnate.

A Verb, meaning "to manipulate events totally and subtly, controlling both sides of an interaction to achieve one's own end."

Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars orchestrated the Clone Wars, the downfall of the Galactic Republic, Jedi Order, and Separatist Movement, and commanded complete control over the Galactic Empire and the Dark Side of the Force. He was the ultimate double agent, parading among his powerful enemies without suspicion. He appeared the benevolent elected leader while masterfully plotting the demise of everything god. Thus "to palpatine" means that one controls a situation completely and can bring about whatever results he desires without anyone being aware.

For some reason people misunderstand this character. He did not begin as a righteous senator, he was merely acting the part so that he could create an image that he could use to his benefit to gain real power. This misinterpretation of his intentions goes to show just what a great manipulator of people he is.

In reality, he is easily one of, if not THE greatest villain ever created. This sith lord knows what true power is. Along with being able to wield a lightsaber and using the awesome force storm ability(shooting lightning from his hands), he gained power through the use of politics and manipulation. He did not only improve his abilities, he also chose to gain powerful allies to use as he pleased. With this idea in mind he gained the support of the Galactic Senate and gained the (fairly) loyal service of another of the greatest villains(Darth Vader). Through these actions he created a barrier around him that was nearly impenetrable and he was able to single handedly rule the galaxy, wipe out nearly all of the jedi, and basically just impose his will upon the entire galaxy.

The character in any film who's clearly evil to any member of the audience, but who won't be recognized as such by the characters until it's far too late. A character may also "Palpatine" as a verb; this used to describe when the character reveals his evil nature.