8 Greatest Modern-Day Machiavellian Characters

If Niccolo Machiavelli designed 'The Prince' for the politics of Renaissance Italy, then Frank Underwood represents the pinnacle of modern-day machiavellianism. 

Frank Underwood's careful political calculations have seen him rise from the brink of mediocrity to the White House, without a single vote cast in his name. Like machiavels before, Frank hoards knowledge and secrets, allies with powerful and useful traits, forces others to do his bidding, and disposes of the weak and threats to his authority. His utter lack of morality makes a sinister reading of 'The Prince', as he descends to murder in an effort to solidify his control. Frank performs his exploits with a total disregard of emotional repercussion and maintains the outwardly perception of agreeableness that is difficult to penetrate. 

As 'House Of Cards' progresses, Frank's political and relational behaviour has warped so as to adhere to an intrinsic principle of Machiavelli's work, namely: the desire to be feared, rather than loved. 'The Prince' advocates fear as a stronger method of control. Whilst Machiavelli proposed that is would be desirable to unite both in a single ruler, this would be difficult to achieve as they are inherently paradoxical. Rather, Frank Underwood and Machiavelli are of the one mind:

"...it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with." - 'The Prince'