According to Machiavelli, being praised mustn’t concern a prince who wishes to continue ruling. In the book The Prince, Machiavelli noted that “A man who wishes to make a vocation of being good at all times will come to ruin among so many who are not good”(40). A successful prince has two kinds of traits- praiseworthy and despicable, the latter of the two must not cause him hatred. The prince must present himself as an honest man, while using his vices. A good example of a modern day Machiavellian prince is America’s 43rd president, George W Bush, from the moment that Bush decided to run for President, his staff has fabricated an image of George W as a successful CEO, an avid Christian, effective governor, and all-around nice guy.
I personally say that strength is not given but earned by what you do to get others to approve your intensions. In other words, strengths and weakness depends on a personal capacity to influence the conduct of those in government. Power seems to be based on how influential or persuasive one can be. However, I also think that no matter how much the President tries to get what he wants during his term, the President will never be the most powerful man in the country. He is always sharing his power due to the checks and balances system.
In chapter five of Chris Matthew’s book Hardball, Keep Your Enemies in Front of You, is just about that: politicians using their enemies for gain and power. The author uses various examples of past presidents, such as Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln, who hired past adversaries to help better their presidencies, reforms, and the public’s view of them. It also shows how the ‘enemies’ still can be against those who they work under if not controlled properly, such seen with Joseph A. Califano during Jimmy Carter’s presidency. Califano was against discrimination in schools and cigarette smoking, which lead to lost of support from Kentucky and North Carolina for Carter. Carter gave too much independence and paid for it, whilst Reagan put Jim Baker in a spot where Baker could not succeed if Reagan did not succeed either.
Indecisive people can pass on their responsibilities and “pass the buck,” and advisory people can propose their concepts and lobby for acceptance, but the President can ultimately turn to nobody else. Presidents must make the hard decisions. It is a heavy mantle to bear on those presidential shoulders. It is lonely at the top. President Johnson’s “wise men” possessed depth in their areas of expertise beyond that of the President, who was a master mover of legislation to accomplish domestic social programs but very much out of his league in military matters and international relations.
The endorsement groups offer bribes and ask for unnecessary promises to the politicians running for office. The temptation of falling into these traps is monstrous. According to Obama, these politicians feel that if they do not accept these bribes or arguments then they will lose out on endorsement deals as well as votes. Taking endorsements are not bad in anyway. However, a company endorses a certain individual for reasons such as political similarities or to help promote their product.
We have a statement from one of the Major Generals “It is much more civilised in this district no more inadequate behaviour.” My final point proving Cromwell to be a villain is when Cromwell used his army when he wanted to take power that he couldn’t get lawfully. One thing Cromwell could do is take advantage of what he had got, this was the army. For an example he disagreed with parliament twice so on both occasions he marched in to Parliament with his army behind ordering parliament to be shut down. This shows he would use his advantages to get what he wants without caring about the civilians who look up to him and think he is a
Who would have suspected that the man to succeed Woodrow Wilson, America's most visionary President, would be a man who some considered one of the worst? Decidedly conservative on trade and economic issues, Harding favored pro-business government policies. He allowed Andrew Mellon to push through tax cuts for the rich, stopped antitrust actions, and opposed organized labor. Harding knew little about foreign affairs when he assumed office, preferring to give Secretary of State Hughes a free hand. Hughes was concerned with securing foreign markets for wealthy American banks, such as the one run by John
Another way that Edward IV proved that he was not a ‘puppet king’ as Henry VI was seen as was by removing Warwick’s brother, George Neville, as chancellor. However, although these events showed that he was not controlled by Warwick, there were many failures that outweigh his successes when it came to dealing with the over mighty subjects. Edward was said to have ‘alienated’ Warwick, which then caused him to become over mighty. Warwick was the biggest land owner in England and therefore had a lot of power, maybe even too much power as some people thought when it came to Edwards’s decision. Edwards marriage to Woodville was said to show favouritism as he subsequently gave the Woodville family titles and arranged the best marriages possible for Elizabeth’s sister, meaning that Warwick’s daughters did not get the desired marriages.
Power is a privilege and should only be given to those who can handle it. The act of counterfeit can often hinder success. King Henry himself rose to the thrown with help from the Percy’s as he “stole all the courtesy from heaven” and broke Richard’s “divine right” to being King. Although he is successful in gaining power, because of its illegitimacy, Henry struggles to use his this effectively. As he suggests to Hal, he wants to be “like a comet” to be seen on a rare basis to be “wondered at” by his subjects.
As for was Harry Truman a great president, I think sometimes we have to look at what we have years later to realize what we had when a president help office. Often we criticize the man as he serves and feel he is not doing a good job of running our country only to have the next president do in our own opinion worse. I think Harry Truman was a good president. He confronted the insecurities of the modern age in his own life