Prince Obama

After reading Barack Obama’s 2011 State of the Union address, I have observed that much of the address follows the advice given by Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince. Obama demonstrates that he is a Machiavellian prince by keeping his people ready to fight and by trying to satisfy the majorities, all the while projecting an image of dignity, strength and resoluteness.

In The Prince, Machiavelli wrote that a prince “must not have any other object nor thought, nor must he take anything as his profession but war.” (49) This essentially means that as a Machiavellian prince, you must never let your guard down. When Obama addresses the problem of unemployment and the difficulty of finding jobs in this age, he says “At stake is whether new jobs and industries take root in this country, or somewhere else.” He goes on to say that

“Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world. And so they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science.  They’re investing in research and new technologies.  Just recently, China became the home to the world’s largest private solar research facility, and the world’s fastest computer.”

            To compete with other nations, Obama says

“We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology, an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.”

            Like a true Machiavellian prince, Obama by promising to keep his people up to par with the technological advances, levels of education, and employment standards of the rest of the world, he is making sure that his people will not be caught with their guards down. “For between an armed and an unarmed man there is no comparison whatsoever, and it is not reasonable for an armed man to obey and unarmed man willingly” (50). By keeping his people at the same level as the rest of the world, Obama is assuring that the United States of America will be able to hold onto its power, an attribute which Machiavelli believes is of the utmost importance.

            Another Machiavellian concept demonstrated by Obama is that you must try to satisfy the majorities. Machiavelli writes that “whether it be the common people, the soldiers, or the nobles, it is to your advantage to follow their inclinations in order to satisfy them” (65). In Obama’s speech, he appeals to these majorities by “asking Congress to eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies”. He then cracks a joke about oil companies not needing the money because they are doing just fine on their own. Many people in the United States think that far too much of their tax money is going to oil companies. By taking away money from these companies, Obama’s statement is appealing to these many people, which makes him look good in their eyes, and gives him more power.

            One of the key components to being a good Machiavellian prince is to always appear dignified, strong, and resolute before your people. “He must strive to make everyone recognize in his actions greatness, spirit, dignity, and strength… That prince who projects such an opinion of himself is greatly esteemed; and it is difficult to conspire against a man with such a reputation” (61) Obama constructs such an image of himself through his words throughout the speech. His statements are all very clear. Instead of using neutral words that leave room for wavering such as “we might”, or “we could”, he uses strong diction with phrases like “I believe we can. And I believe we must.”, “we must defeat determined enemies” and “We will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you”. By declaring himself on one side of any argument, Obama has rendered himself resolute before his people, which in turn renders him powerful.