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'''Niccolò Machiavelli''' (1469 - 1527) was an Italian political theorist and historian of [[The Renaissance]]. A politician and writer based in [[Florence]], Italy, he is best known for his book ''The Prince'', which showed how a self-serving ruler will follow the policy that the "end justifies the means," whereby a ruler can gain power (the "means") in any deceitful or unjust manner possible in order to achieve his often undisclosed goals (the "end"). During his time and long afterward, Machiavelli was considered to have been inspired by the devil, and his name has been used for centuries to describe the use or approval of unscrupulous, self-serving political action. ''The Prince'' made '''"Machiavellian"''' a byword for deceit, despotism and political manipulation, as in a politician who spends all his time and effort on obtaining and retaining power for himself.
[[Image:Nicolo.jpg|left|250px]]
In sharp contrast, in another line of his thought, Machiavelli has been a major positive influence of modern conservative thought through his impact on [[civil humanism]]. He took the lead in defining what civic virtue means for a citizen of a republic--a state where the people are sovereign and not some king. For example a citizen has the duty to oppose corruption and when called upon fight for his country. His ideas on [[republicanism]] strongly influenced British, French and American thought on the duties of the good citizen, and can be traced through American history from the days of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, through Abraham Lincoln, down to the 21st century.<ref> Pocock (2003)</ref>
==Biography==
Machiavelli's father was a Florentine lawyer of moderate means, who came from an old and noble family. He supervised the superb humanistic education the boy received in the classics, literature, philosophy, and law.
