This essay argues that Machiavelli was not evil, but a patriotic citizen.

There is good reason to believe that Machiavelli taught evil. One has only to open the book to find Machiavelli advising the use of violence in defense of the prince's power. In Chapter 3 he says, " . . . if [the prince] wants to hold [acquired principalities] he must have two concerns: one, that the bloodline of [the principalities] ancient prince be eliminated. . ." (9), and in Chapter 19 he states, "And here one should note that hatred is acquired through good …

…the lens of the church. His methodology, if you will, was to examine political behavior as an end unto itself, without the imposition of God's will, and by discussing what is rather than what should be. If we condemn Machiavelli for being evil because he did not wave his finger at the political realities of war and acquisition, what does that imply about the American hero, Albert Einstein, whose science resulted in the atomic bomb?