The word Hitlerism was used in George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address. It is not, as I thought upon hearing it, a word newly coined by Bush, but was in fact used during World War II. A September 5, 1939 story in The Guardian, entitled "War Against Hitlerism," (available at <http://guardiancentury.co.uk/1930-1939/Story/0,6051,127317,00.html>) quotes Neville Chamberlain as saying "I may live to see the day when Hitlerism has been destroyed." (He did not, dying in 1940.)

Hitlerism is of course a post-Webster 1913 word, but the American Heritage Dictionary defines it as "The fascistic and nationalistic theories and practices of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis."

As several noders noted in the Chatterbox while watching the speech live, Bush's use of the word Hitlerism may have invoked Godwin's Law. It appears that no members of Congress caught him on this and ended the address.

Throughout the 20th century, small groups of men seized control of great nations, built armies and arsenals, and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world. In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. In each case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism and communism were defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength of great alliances and by the might of the United States of America.

George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.