Pride Before the Fall Essay

It was once said by Abraham Lincoln, â€Å"Nearly all men can stand, but if you want to test a man’s character give him power. This quote helped me agree with John Acton Quote, â€Å"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely†. Based on the fact that there is countless amounts of stories of people corrupting, from school principals to political leaders, power will corrupt. For my first example of corruption from power, is the story of a Middle School Principal. This Middle School principal was accused and found guilty to embezzling from her very own school. She was found embezzling over ten thousand dollars in things from dinner bills to electronics. This principal is for me a prime example of power corrupting because just cause she was in power she decided to take from what she was in charge of whether it was moral or not because she was in charge of the school and was only sentenced to four years in prison plus four years parole. Following was the example, which I thought was the most hypercritical, of ten Atlanta police officers. These ten police officers were being accused of corruption based on the fact that they were soliciting drugs. I thought thus to be major corruption because they only took the drugs because they were in uniforms and had supposed authority which they used for their own pleasure and benefits instead of what they were originally hired for which is the serve and protect. Finally was the example which came to me the quickest of a French man. This Frenchmans name was Maximillen de Robespierre most commonly known for being a major leader in the French revolution. Maximillen Robespierre was followed for his leadership skills but was once almost instantly corrupt when in power. What many people don’t know is that Robespierre was a reigning terrorist he used his power and his guillotine which he used in a combination to behead anyone who opposed him or his thoughts publically just to remain in power as long as he was able to.