Wow! I just came across your post. And I have a recommended reading for you. Especially because it mentions this whole idea of sending money to other countries in order to make them better, the role of USAID-like programs in international politics and quite a few other very interesting topics. It's called The Dictators Handbook. Really hope you read it. I can promise you it will be a worthwhile read, given that you're already thinking about these topics.
Go look up The Dictators Handbook for a decent read on this.
The TL:DR on people in power is that once you are in power, almost all of your effort after that point is put into staying in power, which in today's society (pretty much everywhere) means cultivating the influence of very small, usually very wealthy, groups of people and individuals. This is why you see all these articles about rich people having an outsized influence on politics. It also explains how very fanatical groups of people can have an outsized influence on politics despite their smaller sizes, such as strong religious sects in some countries.