https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/05/18/star-wars-inadvertently-hits-too-close-to-uss-role/

Lucas, you see, originally conceived “Star Wars” while many Americans were questioning leadership during Richard Nixon’s presidency. “It was really about the Vietnam War, and that was the period where Nixon was trying to run for a [second] term, which got me to thinking historically about how do democracies get turned into dictatorships?” Lucas said at his Skywalker Ranch earlier this month. “Because the democracies aren’t overthrown; they’re given away.”