Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli, one of the great political minds of the 15th century, accomplished what many mathematicians today only dream of, having one's name used as an adjective. To be Machiavellian is to demonstrate characteristics of expediency, deceit, and cunning and as Machiavelli wrote in, The Prince, these are the qualities of a great leader. The Prince was published in 1531, creating great controversy with other political thinkers of the time. Machiavelli completely ignored the popular religious teachings of the era and erased the moral and ethical considerations from the leadership equation; the actions of a ruler should be governed solely by necessity. "Since I intend to write something useful to an understanding reader, it seemed better to go after the real truth of the matter then to repeat what people have imagined" (221). The predominate theme of The Prince is that it is the responsibility of any leader to secure and maintain the political power of their state by any means necessary. One can consider many leaders in history who took this to heart, some