Talleyrand was like a historical version of the Joker.

[LightSpectra]

He would web incredibly complex and contrived master plans that impossibly worked out in the end. He was immune to threats, because his influence on European politics was so great; so far that he could bluntly and stoically insult Napoleon. A lot of his schemes seemed to be just for his personal narcissistic amusement.

 

[vogtmurr]

A most unusual character. Where did you read about him ?

- sounds like an inspiration for Nietzsche, but his cynical atheism didn't last at the end. Was he inducted into the Illuminati ?

 

[Dachs]

Talleyrand wasn't like a dog chasing cars. He'd know what to do if he caught one...

 

[LightSpectra]

A most unusual character. Where did you read about him ?

I was reading about the Congress of Vienna, where he somehow retains favorable peace terms for France, despite the fact that it was occupied by everybody else in Europe.

 

[Dachs]

You got a weird idea of both 'favorable' and Talleyrand's role in keeping France from losing even more than it did.

 

[Agent327]

Talleyrand was both a politician and a diplomat; in such violent times he was a survivor - more so than Napoleon, who was more of a gambler (and one with poor vision when it came to the flaws of those near to him) who liked to keep such survivors around. In the end Talleyrand turned out to be a better poltician and diplomat than the audacious Napoleon, whose bluff was called and was caught empty-handed. A joker he was most certainly not. (Bernadotte, a former general of his who often performed poorly on the battlefield, was another survivor, becoming the crowned head of Sweden - and even then scheming against Napoleon, rather than support his 'cause'.)