Niccolò Machiavelli was a very well known Political Philosopher of his time who created a book to help princes maintain a high source of power within their domain. Possessing a sense of morbid neutrality, Machiavelli states that deceit, trickery, and whatever else is necessary to maintain power is what dominates the political arena. He enforces the idea of keeping people happy simple by making your reputation look good, while hiding all evil actions which you produce. He also expresses that the main point of a "Prince" is to maintain power, and he offers several insights of how to do such things.
Brief History of Niccolò Machiavelli
http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince00.htm
