Absolute power corrupts absolutely, as all my teachers have said. Enough power and anyone will crack, basically. The person does matter up to a certain point but after that no one can resist, or at least no one who got into the position of power :P Those who can achieve presidency are the worst candidates or something along those lines.

definitely power can corrupt anyone's mind especially when you have it all in your hands, no matter how pure your intentions was before, you will certainly be currupted somehow.. but as what someone told me " the more power you have, the more you should bend down" "great power comes great responsibilities" - unlce Ben Parker (spiderman)

Power is merely an agent or a tool in the hands of the owner to be used as and how he/she chooses to.

do you use your office phone to make/receive official calls only

It is a rare human being who can refuse to let power alotted them corrupt them, even if only to a small degree. Humans are, by nature, selfish, so power, once obtained, is then directed to the wants of the holder. The more power, the more wants are acquired at the expense of anyone who stands in the way of obtaining them.

Here's my opinion. It depends on the person. But people who is not corrupted by power does not seek power in the first place, and that's why it seems like every person with power is corrupted.

power definitely corrupts. this is only because the person who holds it wants to maintain it and normally is willing to do just about anything to have it.

Power in itself really cannnot DO anything. It's the person behind it.

"Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely" An observation by Lord Acton, a British historian of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, that a person’s sense of morality lessens as his or her power increases. ___________________________________________ Power Corrupts by Ben Moreell, August 1997 When a person gains power over other persons — the political power to force other persons to do his bidding when they do not believe it right to do so — it seems inevitable that a moral weakness develops in the person who exercises that power. It may take time for this weakness to become visible. In fact, its full extent is frequently left to the historians to record, but we eventually learn of it. It was Lord Acton, the British historian, who said: "All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Please do not misunderstand me. These persons who are corrupted by the process of ruling over their fellow men are not innately evil. They begin as honest men. Their motives for wanting to direct the actions of others may be purely patriotic and altruistic. Indeed, they may wish only "to do good for the people." But, apparently, the only way they can think of to do this "good" is to impose more restrictive laws. Now, obviously, there is no point in passing a law which requires people to do something they would do anyhow; or which prevents them from doing what they are not going to do anyhow. Therefore, the possessor of the political power could very well decide to leave every person free to do as he pleases so long as he does not infringe upon the same right of every other person to do as he pleases. However, that concept appears to be utterly without reason to a person who wants to exercise political power over his fellow man, for he asks himself: "How can I 'do good' for the people if I just leave them alone?" Besides, he does not want to pass into history as a "do nothing" leader who ends up as a footnote somewhere. So he begins to pass laws that will force all other persons to conform to his ideas of what is good for them. That is the danger point! The more restrictions and compulsions he imposes on other persons, the greater the strain on his own morality. As his appetite for using force against people increases, he tends increasingly to surround himself with advisers who also seem to derive a peculiar pleasure from forcing others to obey their decrees. He appoints friends and supporters to easy jobs of questionable necessity. If there are not enough jobs to go around, he creates new ones. In some instances, jobs are sold to the highest bidder. The hard-earned money of those over whom he rules is loaned for questionable private endeavors or spent on grandiose public projects at home and abroad. If there is opposition, an emergency is declared or created to justify these actions. If the benevolent ruler stays in power long enough, he eventually concludes that power and wisdom are the same thing. And as he possesses power, he must possess wisdom. He becomes converted to the seductive thesis that election to public office endows the official with both power and wisdom. At this point, he begins to lose his ability to distinguish between what is morally right and what is politically expedient. Mr. Moreell was the chairman of the board of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation. This essay originally appeared in Volume 1 of Essays on Liberty , published in 1952 by The Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York.