 Thrasybulus was one of these newly elected generals.Historian Donald Kagan holds that Thrasybulus and his supporters were not willing to abolish democracy completely, but were willing to curtail its powers temporarily in order to deal with the immediate emergency of possible annihilation by enemies of Athens.Therefore, when they went to meet with Alcibiades, he "no longer used the offensive word "oligarchy" but promised to return and perform his wonders 'if the Athenians were not under a democracy.'