Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat, historian, philosopher, writer and poet of the Renaissance period. He is often called the father of political science. He was a senior official in the Florentine Republic. He wrote his most famous work The Prince in (1513).
His views are famous for being unscrupulous, and normalizing behaviours such as dishonesty and the killing of innocents in politics. He argued that a prince's most important job was not to be liked by the people, but feared, as this inspired more respect. He also believed that a prince should never appear weak, either to his subjects or to other countries, as this would cause him to be despised and attacked. Bill Clinton echoes this idea of strength being more important than virtue in his speech.
