Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Prince to establish some guidelines that the ruler of a state must follow to govern successfully. In Machiavelli's time the world was full of monarchies and other forms of government that act differently from the common democracy that exists in the world today. Could a political book written in the 16th century still have value in today's politics? To answer this question, this article will take an in-depth look at Barrack Obama, to determine whether he is following the guidelines created by Machiavelli. I argue that most of the guidelines are still followed today, so The Prince exposes ideas that still have value in today's political society. Niccolò di Bernardo de' Machiavelli was resident in Florence, Italy, and was unable to participate in government due to his father's lack of wealth (Rebhorn, Introduction, page 15). Little is known of Machiavelli's youth; records of him do not reappear until 1498, when he was reinstalled in the newly elected city government, which had just overthrown the Medici family. There he held numerous government positions until 1512, when Spain invaded Italy and the Medici family regained power. They imprisoned him and he was eventually exiled outside Florence. This is where he wrote The Prince, as a guide to Italy and Florence to have a balance between power and control. His writings are based on the current political atmosphere of his time and historical examples from other states, in order to create a certain guideline for monarchs on how they should rule (Rebhorn, Introduction, p. 15). First, Machiavelli provides guidelines on how a new principality should be created from an existing one. In the......middle of the paper......KWTX, October 27, 2008.Web. 08 May 2014.Leigh, David, James Ball, Ian Cobain and Jason Burke. "Guantánamo loses lid on world's most controversial prison." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 25 April 2011. Web. 15 April 2014.Machiavelli, Niccolò and Wayne A. Rebhorn. The Prince and other writings. NewYork: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003. Print.Manuel, Dave. “US Military Spending Over the Years.” DaveManuel.com. NP, June 14, 2010. Network. April 16, 2014. McHenry, Robert. “Impeach Obama, already?” Encyclopedia Britannica Online.Encyclopedia Britannica, 10 November 2008. Web. 08 May 2014.Peter, Bergen, Sterman David, Emily Schneider, and Bailey Cahall. "Do NSA mass surveillance programs stop terrorists? | NewAmerica.org." Do NSA Collective Surveillance Programs Stop Terrorists? New America Foundation, January 13, 2014.Web. April 14. 2014.