Louis XIV of France versus the Stuart Kings of England: Why did the Stuart Kings fail and Louis XIV succeed? William Jefferson Clinton was one of the greatest presidents to govern the United States unlike Bush. Clinton demonstrated to the world our preeminence through control, economic growth, and policies ranging from Israel to Social Security. The Bushes proved to the world that they won the election. Louis XIV and the Stuart kings also compare in similar ways. Louis XIV was a capable leader whose foresight and character led to the greatness of France, as well as delegating authority to great economic and military leaders. The Stuart kings possessed neither foresight nor character, many considered them stupid and stubborn, and the way they governed their country was reckless. Louis XIV prospered through absolute control, economic growth, and military reform. Instead, the failure of the Stuart Kings was due to a lack of real control, economic turmoil and civil war. The most important factor in the success of Louis XIV and the failure of the Stuart kings was control. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Louis XIV achieved absolute control through oversight, the location of the nobility, and the image he portrayed to his subjects. Louis XIV always took the time to inform himself about what was happening in public and private matters through spies, informants and even written correspondence. Even a whisper of misconduct and Louis would have ruined those under suspicion. After the Fronde (1648-1652), a rebellion against the government of Louis XIV, Louis realized that he needed to keep his nobility under control. He achieved this by requiring his nobility to attend his court at Versailles, where he could watch over the nobles and have them study such things as etiquette. They were too busy learning to plot against him. In addition to the nobles, Louis was to have control over the rest of his subjects. Louis portrayed an image of himself as a true king capable of carrying out his office. He also portrayed himself as a kind and caring king. "Any man could have an opportunity to speak to him; he listened and almost always replied, "I'll see" (see http://history.hanover.edu/texts/louisxiv.html). The French people obeyed Louis because they believed in him. The Stuart kings, however, felt great enmity during their reign. The first of the Stuart kings, James I, was welcomed to the throne with hostility. The problems for James I were that he succeeded a legend in England, Elizabeth I and that he was Scottish. These two things made it difficult for James to gain real favor with his people. The loss of control for the Stuart kings occurred during the reign of Charles I. The first to rebel were the Scots. and then came Parliament who sided with the Scots against the king, Charles completely lost control when the army put down the royalist revolt and was then, on 20 January 1649, tried for crimes against the liberties of his subjects he had no control was James II. Religious disagreements between James and Parliament led to the vacancy of the throne. Although control played a major role in Louis' success and also the failure of the Stuart Kings, economics also contributed greatly. The boom in economic growth for France was largely contributed by Jean-Baptiste Colbert's tax reforms. Colbert converted a $22 million debt into a $29 million surplus in less than six years. He did this not by raising taxes, but by increasing the efficiency with which they were collected (CW, 533). "Colbert reduced the costs of collecting taxes!