red unethical or immoral were successful whereas rulers who insisted upon strict adherence to any particular set of ethical or religious principles were less likely to remain in power. Those who achieved high status are men who are willing to do whatever is necessary first, to achieve power, and next, to retain it. This suggests simply that applying ethical constructs to political action or interaction is a futile task at best.
Machiavelli's (1998) goal in The Prince was not only to describe how a prince comes to power and retains power, but also to demonstrate when and where the prince should behave in accordance with ethical precepts. Machiavelli (1998, p. 91) says that "a prince should also show himself a lover of the virtues, giving recognition to virtuous men and he should honor those who are excellent in art." The subtextual meaning of such a statement is that the prince must "show" his people that he loves virtue, but not necessarily that he must himself be virtuous.
The successful prince as described by Machiavelli is a man who is equally comfortable making war or giving attention to the moral qualities that are exhibited by his people. The prince must recognize the value of morality not for its own sake, but because morality can be used in times of war to further the interests and increase the advantages enjoyed by the prince and his people. Further, Machiavelli (1998) held that there are no moral rules not made by men which men must live by. Th
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