Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence, Italy on May 3, 1469. In 1532, Machiavelli published a book called The Prince which was about how leaders should act to stay in power. It gave several guidelines for leaders (such as royal or military) to follow and about how they should act, govern and lead. 
http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/machiavelli.html

                                                                    Niccolo Machiavelli

In his book The Prince, Machiavelli had many famous quotes about leadership. I think that the most important one is; "Politics have no relation to morals." because it relates to all issues rulers have to cover. The quote can relate to to actual politics when politicians act unfairly to get their way. I believe (and hope) that politicians know right from wrong, but in some cases their morals must be forgotten in order to get their way.Like the race for Governor for Vermont. One candidate is slamming the other to make his opponent look bad for him to win. Humans want to get their way, and even if getting what they want means breaking their morals...then they'll do it. But the quote can relate to other topics as well: leadership and reign over their followers. If a prince's followers do not obey him or follow his laws or even pose as a threat, being human, the prince will want to get his way and get rid of the issues...which might mean breaking their morals. Most every other quote from The Prince can relate to this because it is the most important quote. 

                       Candidates Brian Dubie vs. Peter Schumlin 

Back when Machiavelli wrote this, these rules applied to the leaders and were appropriate. But like everything, times change and though these rules were  relevant back then, I think some of them wouldn't be appropriate now. For instance, "Before all else, be armed." would not be the best reasoning to follow today. As we are in a time of war, I don't think that if President Obama should follow this advice and walk around with a gun on him because it would give bad intentions to other leaders. People that walk around with guns on them (such as police men) have guns because they have to be ready for conflict, or to intimidate people. With issues we have today around the world, I think it would be better to not 'show off our guns' and just act with peace because always being armed might give the wrong intention of what we are trying to do and lead to further conflicts. 


To connect one of Machiavelli's quotes from The Prince to times before he even wrote his book, we should look at Pizarro and his conquest on the Incas. "The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise that the only one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not." This quote is pretty accurate on how the conquest went down. The Incas were a high and mighty force in the new world and the ruler Atahualpa had recently won a battle against his brother that bore him more land to rule over. Atahualpa thought they could defeat anyone, and 168 men on giant beasts against 80,000 Incas? He thought they could surely win. But he was wrong. Because the Spanish had advantages such as swords and guns, they won! Atahualpa entered the Spaniard's courtyard looking for an easy defeat, but because his war tactics weren't as effective as the Spanish. Because Atahualpa believed that we would have an easy defeat, he didn't change his plans to the times whereas the Spanish changed their battle plans to modify what their needs were. Because of this they won, just like Machiavelli's quote stated. 


For more helpful information on Niccolo Machiavelli go here: 
http://kirjasto.sci.fi/macchiav.htm

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was an obvious leader to slaves who she helped cross from the south to the north during the American Civil War, but she also posed at a leader to others who then followed her example. I think a leader has to have a 'good head on their shoulders' when big controversial topic is brought up. Obviously Harriet knew slavery was bad, and so she tried to do her part in such a big issue (which is a lot more than what most people did). I mean, there was a whole war going on mainly focused on this issue! Most northerners were too afraid of the consequences if they broke the laws, and I could see why most of them would have a problem with it. If I was put in a position like that, I honestly don't know what I would do. I would obviously want to help the slaves be free, but if I were to be caught, I would have to then pay a big fine, which obviously I don't want to pay... So she knew the consequences, and she still chose to help free the slaves. This shows extreme bravery, especially for an African American women! Even white women weren't taken seriously at the time, so for an African American women to take leadership, that take some guts! Thanks to her leadership, more and more northerners began to help slaves and it all panned out in the end.

Leadership