Star Trek (TOS) had an episode like this. Kirk and Spock beam down to a planet whose political leader died some time ago, but the people thought he was still alive. Every once in a while, the handlers would take the cadaver out of the freezer, prop it up in front of microphone, with the microphone covering the mouth, play some previous recordings of the leader, and broadcast it live to TV sets everywhere. The people loved it and believed their man was still alive.

But the handlers were only protecting their jobs.

The scary part is that with today's technology, politicians can truly live forever.