History has provided the public a relatively honest glimpse into American Machiavellian strategy. One need not look further than the American Civil War, which was rich with conspiracy, injustice, and stealthy governance. Indeed, a recent article by Jill Lawrence used Abraham Lincoln as a positive example for the use of American realpolitik. In that article, she characterized Lincoln’s legislative enforcers as: “a trio of hard-drinking, hard-smoking lobbyists rushing around town finding defeated House members who would exchange their votes for a postmaster job. They are sleazy, comic figures helpi president achieve one of the noblest and most strategically important practical goals in American history: passing a constitutional amendment ending slavery.