 in political jargon, useful idiot is a term for people perceived as propagandists for a cause whose goals they are not fully aware of, and who are used cynically by the leaders of the cause. despite often being attributed to vladimir lenin,an editorial clarification of a quotation in the article "Ð¥Ð¾Ð´Ð¾ÑÐºÐ¾Ð²ÑÐºÐ¸Ð¹ Ð¿ÑÐ¾ÑÐ¸Ñ ÐÐ¾Ð½Ð´Ð¾Ð½ Ð½Ðµ Ð¸Ð´ÑÐ¸ Ð½Ð° ÑÐ´ÐµÐ»ÐºÐ¸ Ñ ÐÑÐµÐ¼Ð»ÐµÐ¼", bbc, russian servicemona charen, useful idiots: how liberals got it wrong in the cold war and still blame america first, 2003, isbn 0895261391paul kengor, dupes: how america's adversaries have manipulated progressives for a century, 2010, isbn 1-935191-75-6 in 1987, grant harris, senior reference librarian at the library of congress, declared that "we have not been able to identify this phrase among  published works."william safire on the term in the russian language, the equivalent term "useful fools" (Ð¿Ð¾Ð»ÐµÐ·Ð½ÑÐµ Ð´ÑÑÐ°ÐºÐ¸, tr. polezniye duraki) was in use at least in 1941.the expression was used, e.g., by russian literary critic  when commenting on nikolai leskov's anti-nihilistic novels: "Ð ÑÑÑÐºÐ¸Ðµ Â«Ð½Ð¸Ð³Ð¸Ð»Ð¸ÑÑÑÂ» Ð² ÑÑÐºÐ°Ñ Ð¿Ð¾Ð»ÑÑÐºÐ¸Ñ Ð°Ð³ÐµÐ½ÑÐ¾Ð², ÑÑÐ´Ñ Ð¿Ð¾ ÑÐ¾Ð¼Ð°Ð½Ñ ÐÐµÑÐºÐ¾Ð²Ð°, Ð±ÑÐ»Ð¸ Ð½Ðµ Ð±Ð¾Ð»ÑÑÐµ ÐºÐ°Ðº Â«Ð¿Ð¾Ð»ÐµÐ·Ð½ÑÐµ Ð´ÑÑÐ°ÐºÐ¸Â» Ð¸ Ð³Ð»ÑÐ¿ÑÐµ ÑÐ½ÑÑÐ·Ð¸Ð°ÑÑÑ, ÐºÐ¾ÑÐ¾ÑÑÑ Ð¼Ð¾Ð¶Ð½Ð¾ Ð·Ð°ÑÑÐ°Ð²Ð¸ÑÑ Ð¸ÑÑÐ¸ Ð² Ð¾Ð³Ð¾Ð½Ñ Ð¸ Ð² Ð²Ð¾Ð´Ñ" ("according to leskov's novel, russian 'nihilists' were for polish agents no more than useful fools and silly enthusiasts, which could be goaded to go through fire and water."), citing from bazanov's monograph "ÐÐ· Ð»Ð¸ÑÐµÑÐ°ÑÑÑÐ½Ð¾Ð¹ Ð¿Ð¾Ð»ÐµÐ¼Ð¸ÐºÐ¸ 60-Ñ Ð³Ð¾Ð´Ð¾Ð²", petrozavodsk, 1941 p. 80 the phrase refers to a contemporary opinion that russian revolutionary movement (colloquially called "nihilists") was a result of anti-russian agitation by the polish insurgents. the term has been used in a similar sense as fellow travellers and other [[communism
Anti-communism Pejorative_terms_for_people Political_terminology