That simply isn't true, contemporary sources make it clear that he had charisma to spare. The Weimar Republic was ripe for a radical populist movement due to a number of reasons, but that means a less hateful ideology could have succeeded as well. The period balanced on a political knife edge, and who knows what would have happened if he'd been a true believer in something actually helpful?
The guy who speaks with a computer that reads his cheek movements is probably a good candidate for falling under "celebrities they flew in to provide a smoke screen."
I feel safe in assuming Hawking wasn't actually tied into an oligarchal pedophile conspiracy.
The NCR is a direct metaphor for Westward Expansion era America, complete with democratic ideals and a reality of rampant corruption, conquest of territory and the genocide of the natives, and a brewing slavery/"sharecropping" crisis. They even have a belief equivalent to Manifest Destiny, as they consider themselves the rightful inheritors of America, sea to shining sea.
The only question is whether that means the Legion is their metaphorical Confederacy, if their Slaveholder Rebellion is coming, or if maybe it's silly to take the metaphor any deeper.
The Legion are raiders. They are just what happens when a raider gang gets big enough, they become a state/kingdom/empire, and the smaller tribal identities are devoured and before you know you it you're on the path to a larger national identity.
If only. We really need to launch a population cull, their invasive behavior is endangering other species.