Etymology: after the Man on Horseback, nickname of Georges E. J. M. Boulanger died 1891 French chauvinistic general and demagogue; from his frequent appearance before the Paris crowds mounted on a black horse
1. : a man typically a military figure whose ambitions, personal popularity, and pretensions to be destined to save the nation or lead it to greatness mark him as a potential dictator
endangered by men on horseback or rabble-rousers — Telford Taylor
used to advantage by the first rascally man on horseback who comes along — New Yorker
2. : dictator , caudillo ; especially : a military dictator
the man on horseback … comes to power by way of a coup, usually with army support — Bruce Bliven b. 1889