If you're a historian, you have to be careful to wait to see how things come out first. If he ultimately fails , then you can award him style points, like Machiavelli did Cesare Borgia, but in the end you have to ding him. If he wins, of course, all his flaws are washed clean -- along with his hands -- and you can raise your voice in orisons of praise without fear of effective contradiction.
He wins, he's great. He loses, he's a bum. National Hockey League or The History Channel, the rules are pretty much the same.