Written around 1513, The Prince by Nicholas Machiavelli is undoubtedly one of the most famous political treatises in history. Dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici, then ruler of Florence, The Prince was not published until five years after Machiavelli's death in 1532. It contains Machiavelli's well-known analysis of politics: all politics is typically defined as the struggle to acquire and maintain power. In his analysis, Machiavelli (1513) writes: “He who adapts his policy to the times prospers” (p. 99). This article will argue that Machiavelli's framework of political analysis – the adaptation of policies to the times leads to prosperity which leads to the acquisition and maintenance of power – is reflected in the major American presidents of the rights movement civic. President John F. Kennedy and his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, adapted their political policies to ensure their own prosperity during the height of the civil rights movement, as American society was transitioning from an era of racial discrimination in an era of racial discrimination. era of racial equality. The meaning of "He who adapts his policies to his prosperous times", although seemingly obvious, is actually part of a larger discussion regarding the concept of wealth. The word “fortune”, as it was used by Machiavelli, coincides with the contemporary notion of luck or chance. Machiavelli compares fortune to a raging torrent that destroys everything in its path if it is not controlled by dikes and dams prepared by the virtue of the ruling body. For Machiavelli, virtue, otherwise called cunning or preparation, must be exercised on fortune in order to combat it and prosper. At the time Machiavelli wrote The Prince, many believed...... middle of paper...... estport, CT: Praegar Publishers. United States Senate. United States Senate, Committee on the Judiciary. (2013). Civil Rights Act of 1964. Retrieved from: http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/history/CivilRightsAct.cfmUnited States House of Representatives. United States House of Representatives, History, Art and Archives. (2008). The Civil Rights Movement and Second Reconstruction, 1945-1968. Retrieved from the United States Government Printing Office website: http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Civil-Rights-Movement/Walker, S (2012). Presidents and civil liberties from Wilson to Obama: a story of poor guardians. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Yuill, K. (1998). The White House Civil Rights Conference of 1966. The Historical Journal, 41, 259-282. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0018246X97007723.