How would the world be different if we had a president who usually did the right thing and was admired by everyone? In a world where the political scene is constantly changing and is often dominated by tyrants, we can go back in time and gather the wisdom of Plato on what an ideal leader looks like. For example, most of the leaders we see today are proud, selfish, and trapped in a cave that tells them that success comes from oppression and concern for their own good; however, Plato shows us in paragraph 65 that “if they continue, hungry for their own private advantage…the resulting civil and domestic strife will bring ruin to the rulers and the state.” As we have seen time and time again (Saddam Hussein, etc.), leaders who simply look out for themselves will eventually ruin themselves. Plato's ideas therefore still apply today. But what is an ideal leader and how would they go about leading? To begin this journey to discover what an ideal leader looks like, we must first know what the characteristics of government officials are according to Plato. In the final section (53) of the Allegory of the Cave, Plato reveals to us what he believes to be the ideal leader. The first thing that must define this leader is that he must be enlightened. This is the foundation because all other characteristics flow from this enlightenment. There are several things that follow from this, the first is that the enlightened leader should then have a deep desire to free his countrymen from the deception of the cave (57). And also, if the leader is enlightened, Plato gives us an additional character trait that should describe him, namely that he must be a reluctant servant (61), not wishing to exercise power over those subordinate to him. I am...... middle of paper ......ntries who would seek to harm them. I think the value of having a leader with some of these characteristics would be immense, not only would we have a thriving company, but we would also have a great leader. So even though the world today is very different from that of Plato's time, I think we can learn from the great minds of the past and apply some of what they thought to how we perceive a good leader. When you think about it, much of what Plato says here is actually the foundation of democratic leadership, and so even in a very ancient document we can still find truths that can be applied today. And while we will never find an ideal human leader like the one described by Plato in this allegory, I think we will see leaders with some of these characteristics and if we are able to recognize them, we might have a very special leader..