Many people have attempted to explain their beliefs about gaining power and maintaining it as a leader or ruler. Although many have attempted to do so, not many have explained it as well as Niccolò Machiavelli. It is often said that Machiavelli's reputation is based on one of his writings entitled The Prince. This manual was written to explain how to gain and maintain political power (Norton Anthology, 182). Machiavelli's point from this writing was to make government effective even if those means included the ruler being deceitful and violent (Norton Anthology, 182). From this popular writing we often hear the term Machiavellian. Machiavellianism can be characterized by the manipulation and exploitation of others, a cynical disregard for morality, and a focus on self-interest and deception (Jakobwitz, 2006). A leader who exemplifies several characteristics of a leader defined by Machiavelli in The Prince is Fidel Castro. During his reign in Cuba, Castro can easily be compared to the prince Machiavelli referred to in his famous writing. Machiavelli states that a prince must know that there are two methods of fighting: fighting with law and fighting with force (Machiavelli, 64). He explains that the first method belongs to man while the second belongs to beasts, and since the first is often insufficient, a prince must resort to the second method (Machiavelli, 64). Machiavelli uses a fox and a lion to explain that a prince must be like a fox to recognize traps and deceive or manipulate others, but also like a lion to scare away enemies (Machiavelli, 64). Castro was able to master this approach with the fox and the lion. He adopted the "fox" approach when he became known to the public after Bautista's amnesty by manipulating people... middle of paper... following some of Machiavelli's techniques, it is easy to see the similarities between the two. Castro undoubtedly strove to become an effective leader even if he used deception or purple forces, which was Machiavelli's point from The Prince.Works CitedGeyer, Georgie Anne. Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro. Boston: Little, Brown, 1991. Print.Jakobwitz, S. (2006). "The 'Dark Triad' and Normal Personality Traits." Personality and Individual Differences 40(2): 331–9. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.07.006Machiavelli, Niccoláo, Christian Edward Detmold, Max Lerner, Eric Reginald Pearce Vincent and Luigi Ricci. The prince and the speeches. New York: Modern Library, 1940. Print.Puchner, Martin. The Norton Anthology of World Literature: The Prince. New York: WW Norton &, 2012. Print.Quirk, Robert E. Fidel Castro. New York: Norton, 1993. Print.