Sun Tzu Võ Nguyên Giáp, the strategist behind victories over French and American forces in Vietnam, was likewise an avid student and practitioner of Sun Tzu's ideas. America's Asian conflicts against Japan, North Korea, and North Vietnam brought Sun Tzu to the attention of American military leaders. The Department of the Army in the United States, through its Command and General Staff College, has directed all units to maintain libraries within their respective headquarters for the continuing education of personnel in the art of war. "The Art of War" is mentioned as an example of works to be maintained at each facility,
Leadership trust results in folly. Dependence on the strength of courage results in violence. Excessive discipline and sternness in command result in cruelty. When one has all five virtues together, each appropriate to its function, then one can be a leader. — Sun Tzu Machiavelli's "The Prince", written in the early 16th century, provided a manual for rulers ("princes" or "tyrants" in Machiavelli's terminology) to gain and keep power.In the 19th century the elaboration of anarchist thought called the whole concept of leadership into question. (Note that the "Oxford English Dictionary" traces the word "leadership" in English only as far back