Ideal Leader In Republic And Machiavelli's Prince

Feared and Loved

“Addressing the Concept of the Ideal Leader” What is the ideal leader? This is a question that many have attempted to answer throughout history. Everyone who has attempted to answer this question has had different opinions on the topic so the main focus of this essay will be on two of the most prominent pieces that have addressed the concept of the ideal leader and what one would look like. Plato’s Republic and Machiavelli’s Prince are among the most prominent pieces of literature in regards to political science and among the most important pieces of literature to have ever been written. Republic doesn’t focus solely on politics but rather on philosophical contemplation, but Plato still made some important observations regarding

Plato said that an ideal leader needed to have the temperance of a philosopher and a genuine thirst for knowledge. He put the education of a leader above everything else, his ideal leader went through a process of fifty years of extensive study before he thought them fit to rule. Throughout those fifty years there are various tests to weed out those who are not intelligent or virtuous enough to rule so that all that would be left are those who are truly fit to be rulers. Machiavelli said that intelligence is the most important virtue that a leader could have. Without intelligence how could a leader make well informed decisions unless he relied completely on the input of an appointed advisor who would quickly take control of the state and replace him as a leader. How can a leader be a successful tactician without intelligence and how can they have an in depth understanding of warfare if they lack the mental capacity? As Machiavelli put it, a leader need to have the cunning of a fox and the strength of the lion. Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power.” So it’s only natural that a leader possesses this power in order to better maintain his rule. Intelligence is likely one of the most common of the virtues between all of the pieces of literature that have addressed the question of the ideal leader, Dekanawidah states in the Iroquois Constitution that the leader must be, “wise, honest, and worthy of confidence,” Dekanawidah clearly had some difference of opinion to that of Machiavelli, but the intelligence of the leader is still a major