This study examines the relationship between political culture and political leadership, with a particular focus on the deliberate shaping of culture during times of crisis. The theoretical framework draws on classical and more dynamic, orientation-centered approaches to political culture, which allow for an analysis of the process of political „engineering.” I test these theoretical premises through a contemporary case study: an analysis of the political reception of the Russo-Ukrainian War (2022–2024) in Hungary. The results demonstrate that the political elite—particularly the dominant governing party—was able to successfully reframe society’s attitude toward the war, even in the short term, through centralized communication and narratives built on affective elements, in contrast to the opposition’s morally grounded but fragmented and less effective attempts. The study concludes that political culture is not merely the product of slow socialization processes but a construct that can be actively shaped by elite-driven strategic action during major shocks.