Joseph Fouché: Portrait of a political man

We see Fouché, a'semi-priest,' taking his seat as a member of the hated National Convention of France against the blazing backdrop of the French Revolution. When the people demand the blood of the aristocrats, he travels to Lyons, which has turned against the revolutionaries, and launches an orgy of murder and blasphemy; when the people demand moderation, he repudiates his former comrades, aids in the guillotine of Robespierre, and becomes the most civilized of moderates. "Fouché, the Lyon slaughter's "blood guzzler." Napoleon's and Louis XVIII's police minister. The survivor who has lost his moral compass. Balzac may have been correct in calling Joseph Fouché "his century's most psychologically intriguing figure." When Zweig dubbed him a "politically extraordinarily brilliant guy," he may have been correct. That does not, however, make him likable. He was the prototypical political chameleon, lacking any personal beliefs, adapting quickly to every political development and therefore ensuring his own survival, as well as power and money. Joseph Fouché, perhaps even more than Machiavelli, should be studied by anybody interested in politics today."