Argument Essay: Why Leaders Lie?

Since Genesis, lies have continuously destroyed the integrity of human beings. Lies have cost the lives of people, their reputation, and destroyed the public trust of an entire country. A prominent figure that have lied to countless people are government leaders. According to John Mearsheimer’s book Why Leaders Lie , leaders that belong to a democratic country are most likely to lie its citizens. Regardless, it is vital to a democratic-republic to have its government leaders lie to its citizens. Primarily, the matter should not be who leaders are lying to, but what leaders are lying about. Secondly, leaders must lie so their enemies do not know what they are thinking. Lastly, our leaders should have other valuable characteristics for citizens
to want to elect their leaders into office. Niccolo Machiavelli argued that our government leaders must be deceptive to accomplish their goals.
Machiavelli said, “princes who have achieved great things have been those who have given their word lightly, who have known how to trick men with their cunning, and in the end, have overcome those abiding by honest principles.” Citizens become disturbed when they realize politicians lied. However, citizens should not be concerned if they knew what their leaders lied about. In fact, our presidents have innumerably lied to us for the greater good of the nation. A prime example being Abraham Lincoln, who has deemed the nickname “Honest Abe”. According to an article from CNN , Lincoln had lied about his outlook on slavery. In fact, Lincoln did not believe that African Americans deserved equal rights, despite saying that slavery is a direct violation of the saying “all men are created equal.” Why the lie then? Simply because Lincoln understood the necessity of preserving the Union. As civilians shift their focus to their leader’s lies, civilians should also acknowledge that some lies are simply unforgivable. An epitome is the Watergate Scandal. The New York Times reported, President Richard Nixon was involved in the breaking and entering of the Watergate Hotel which ultimately led to Nixon’s resignation. Consequently, this incident led citizens to doubt their government leaders and become overwhelmed with
disappointment. Machiavelli advocated for the deceitfulness of leaders when he stated, “Therefore, one must be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten off wolves.” It is vital for our leaders to lie so their enemies do not know what they are thinking. Otherwise, the nation would be in danger. Which leader holds responsibility for protecting their nation and its citizens? The answer: The President. As President, it is her/her job to make decisions for the country that deem as difficult that no other person can make. According to an article from PBS , during the Iran-Contra Affair, President Ronald Reagan promised that the U.S. would not sell any weapons to Iran. Shortly thereafter, that was not the case. However, it became known that President Reagan negotiated with Iran in exchange for American hostages. Although American citizens can feel a sense of betrayal from their President, they must realize that their President is doing his best. To shed some light on a degrading subject, our government leaders are just like us. Our leaders are good, moral people whom valuable characteristics we as citizens should appreciate and look forward to when electing such leaders into office. Machiavelli explained that, “a prince, and especially a new prince, cannot observe all those things that give men a reputation for virtue, because in order to maintain his state he is often forced to act in defiance of good faith, of charity, of kindness, of religion…as I said above, he should not deviate from what is good, if that is possible, but he should know how to do evil, if that is necessary.”