In the course of watching Ken Burns documentary on the Vietnam War, I learned something I still find difficult to believe. On the eve of the 1968 elections, Lyndon Johnson was furiously pushing through peace talks to end the war. It was evident by then that Hubert Humphrey would win the upcoming Presidential election if talks were held and it appeared an end to the war would ensue. Richard Nixon, however, sabotaged the talks by secretly intervening with the government of South Vietnam, convincing them to boycott the talks until after the election. As a result, he won the presidency by a margin of less than two percent.

This effort, coordinated behind the scenes by Nixon and his campaign chair, Richard Haldeman, is known as the Chennault Affair, named for the woman he used as a secret go-between to communicate with South Vietnam. Apart from effectively stealing the election, Nixon’s actions possibly extended the war for another seven years and cost the lives of perhaps 20,000 American soldiers…not to mention those of thousands and thousands of Vietnamese.

On hearing this, I immediately thought of Niccolo Macchiavelli’s “The Prince,” the well known how-to manual for those seeking to obtain and keep power. Written 500 years ago for the Medici family in Renaissance Italy, it had seemed to me an anachronism, one more piece of required reading in a college civics course. But not now. I began reflecting on the remainder of Nixon’s presidency, including his ultimate fall; and likewise on the actions of people I’d observed since: politicians, billionaires, dictators, even colleagues at work. So I bought a fresh copy of Niccolo’s little book.

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