Staying in Power
While he is just as unpopular as those that came before him, Lord Vetinari is very much sane, of sound mind and judgment, and very much still alive. He has achieved this by ensuring that even though all power-wielding groups in the city dislike him, they dislike each other even more-so. He also carefully arranges matters so that a reality which includes him as Patrician is slightly better than one which does not, with the result being that the only two people who may potentially benefit from his death are claimants to the extant throne of Ankh and their associates. In essence, this amounts to Carrot Ironfoundersson and Samuel Vimes, respectively the captain and commander of the City Watch, and hence used to keeping Vetinari alive – on the grounds that they would be 'on top of the pile' if the city collapsed, as the city's rightful heir to the throne and the highest ranking noble respectively. Ironfoundersson is noted by Vimes to be one of the few people who actually like the Patrician, and Vimes, while adamant that he doesn't, shares the dedication to the city felt by Vetinari and Ironfoundersson. The Assassins' Guild no longer accepts contracts on the Patrician – he is the only person besides Samuel Vimes to have been taken off the register. He had the highest "official" price for a living being ever: 1 Million Ankh-Morpork Dollars," (Feet of Clay.)
In Thud!, his rule of the city is likened to a room full of tension, with people bickering and shouting at one another, and "in the middle of it all, one man, quietly doing his own thing."
Other reasons for the Patrician's continued rule include his mastery of diplomacy and manipulation, his distant and menacing air, his everpresent calmness and composure (which, ironically, make other people ill at ease), and his skills as an Assassin; in The Truth, another character relates that "Vetinari moved like a snake".
Additionally, Vetinari organizes grassroots resistance to himself, enabling him to ensure that all plots against him fail, and that the various groups are constantly quarreling with each other.
Vetinari has created, (or at least continued, though he denies it) the use of a team of clerks, sometimes called the 'Dark Clerks', who bring him information on just about everything; they serve, among other functions, as accountants, forensic auditors, and a domestic intelligence service.
Vetinari's rule over the city seems to be cemented by the general acknowledgement that very little goes on in the city that Vetinari does not know about. Thus, when a visitor stands in audience with the Patrician, they can be assured that Vetinari knows exactly why they're there, even if the visitor does not.
Read more about this topic: Havelock Vetinari
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