“But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” James Madison, Federalist No. 51 Willie Stark, a folksy fascist, is the governor of a southern state during the Great Depression. Jack Burden is a wily fixer, a close aid to “The Boss,” who digs up dirt to destroy anyone with the temerity to get in Stark’s way. Their complicated relationship drives the plot of All the King’s Men, a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. Neither Stark nor Burden are angels. They are precisely the kind of men Madison was worried about when he wrote in defense of the new U.S. Constitution. Madison hoped that a well-designed government—with separated powers, shared powers, and checks and balances—could limit the political damage demons might do. Warren’s story, which is a thinly disguised recounting of Huey Long’s control of Louisiana, examines the worst-case scenario. What if one man, by the force of his will, controls all the parts of government? In short, Willie Stark destroys himself and nearly everyone around him, and he damages his state and the people he governs for a generation. The lessons of All the King’s Men are legion, but let’s focus on the recognition of political corruption. Corrupt political leaders follow patterns All the King’s Men: Power Corrupts Mark Caleb Smith
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