"Cult of personality" was the term used to describe the state's deification of one man (Stalin in the Soviets' case) and first came to prominence after Khrushchev mentioned it in the "Secret Speech." It was actually Malenkov who first used the term at a Central Committee meeting shortly after Stalin's death (supposedly of a stroke...) three years earlier.
Interestingly, Joseph Lowery accused Coretta Scott King in 1978 of promoting a "cult of personality" of her dead husband and ignoring the contributions of other civil rights leaders. The black heavy metal band Living Colour had a great song and video about blind obedience to authority titled "Cult of Personality" which included references to Malcolm X, Mussolini, JFK, Martin Luther King, Stalin, Gandhi and FDR.
Thanks. That's sort of what I had guessed, but now I know the background behind it. Lowery isn't one of the people who spoke at Coretta's funeral is he?
And I thought that song was a Lenny Kravitz tune. WRong, apparently.