A puppet ruler is someone who holds a title of political authority, but is loyal to or controlled by outside persons or groups.
Internal factors, such as non-elected officials, may also exert power over the puppet monarch.
A figurehead monarch, as a source of legitimacy and perhaps divine reign, has been the used form of government in numerous circumstances and places throughout history.
Client kingdoms under the Roman Republic and Roman Empire and the British Empire's colonial relationship with King Farouk of Egypt in the 1950s are examples of the second type.
For example, Oscar K. Allen was widely recognized to be Huey Long's puppet while serving as governor of Louisiana.