Shakespeare on Ambition and Power

When people think of the plays of Shakespeare, they tend to think of his comedies and tragedies that spotlight interpersonal dynamics like love and jealousy, pretense and reality. But my guest would say that many of Shakepeare's plays, especially his sometimes overlooked histories, are also unmatchable in revealing the dynamics of power.

Eliot Cohen is a military historian, political scientist, professor of international studies, and former State Department counselor, as well as the author of The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare on How Leaders Rise, Rule, and Fall. Today on the show Eliot takes us through what Shakepeare's plays can teach us about navigating the three-part arc of power: acquiring power, exercising power, and losing power. Along the way, we discuss how these lessons in leadership played out in the lives of real-life historical figures as well.

Resources Related to the Podcast

• Plays discussed:
  • Richard II
  • Henry IV, Part 1
  • Henry IV, Part 2
  • Henry V
  • Richard III
  • Julius Caesar
  • Coriolanus
  • King Lear
  • Macbeth
  • The Tempest
• AoM Podcast #853: The Real Rules of Power
• AoM Podcast #792: How Power Corrupts
• AoM Article: A Lesson From TR & Taft on Pursuing a Life You Like
• AoM Article: There Is No Indispensable Man
• Robert Caro's biographical series on LBJ
• All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
• Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime by Eliot Cohen

Connect With Elliot Cohen

• Eliot's faculty page