Niccolo Machiavelli and his influences on modern day leaders

Essay by pk_illusionHigh School, 12th grade December 2004

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Niccolo Machiavelli was a creator of political theories in the 1500's. He served the Republic as a diplomatic negotiator and as a military supervisor. When Florence went back to a monarch system, the Medici family return to power and exiled Machiavelli for his past criticisms that he made towards the family. Machiavelli then wrote "The Prince" to complement the Medici family and as a way to regain their approval. A good leader is a person who after leaving his/her country leaves his/her people content, the economy stable and is able to maintain their integrity. Machiavelli's views of war being the most import aspect that a leader must think of, it is okay for a leader to be untruthful and it is better to be feared over loved would not be successful in the 20th century. Machiavelli's ideology of a good leader would not work in today's standards since his ideas our too extreme for our times.

If a leader only pays attention to war, he only supplies safety for his people and neglects the other aspects that are crucial for governing. Focusing on the idea of war, can cause tension that may provoke a war. This feeling that results affects countries immensely as it tends to leave countries in a state of devastation. Adolf Hitler is an example of a leader who caused a war. By putting Germany at war and losing the battle against the Allies, Hitler set his country back many years, causing them to rebuild their society and economy. To further show that war is not the most important factor of governing, is during George Bush Senior's term as a president of the United States. Two major events occurred that affected the American people tremendously. First, the Gulf war; Bush was able to resolve this...