Benevolent Dictator

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Actually if you look dictator used to be a neutral word. It was just because of a lot of tyrants that the word dictator took on negative connotation.

Yeah, our term Dictator comes from a position in the Roman Republic.

When the republic faced a crisis the consuls would elect a dictator who had absolute authority. Once the crisis was averted or their term was up the dictator was to relinquish power back to the senate and the consuls.

There are a few examples of dictators who the Romans saw as virtuous. For example Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was a former consul of the Republic who had fallen on hard times and was working at his family's farm to make ends meet. The Romans were threatened by invasion from rival tribes and elected Cincinnatus to defend Rome. He managed to defeat the invaders within two weeks and immediately resigned the position and returned to his farm.

The dictator position went out of use for a while before being revived by Sulla as a way to seize power. Later Julius Caesar proclaimed himself dictator for life, transforming the Republic of Rome into an empire.
[/history nerd]