I wish to thank everyone for their thoughts & suggestions. An enormous help.

Von Poop -

After reading up a bit (wikipedia, mostly), I believe that Patton -- as opposed to MacArthur -- would be a better candidate for a "successful" psychopath.

Obviously, Audie Murphy had a much lower profile & effect on than Patton, but from what I know about him (very little at the moment) he may meet the criteria.

I tend to agree that Medal of Honor holders, etc. would likely be a good place to look as well. Thanks.

T.A. Gardner -

I haven't heard of Obersturmbannfuhrer Dr. Oskar Dirlewanger, but will look into him, especially so as he was part of the Axis. Editors & readers alike may take a dim view of labeling Allies, and heroes at that, psychopathic. The image of the psychopath as monster is ubiquitous.

TA152 -

Yes, I think Japanese officers chopping off the heads of Chinese for entertainment is clearly psychopathic. I would tentatively agree that the jailers at Gitmo may have had psychopathic traits.

I also believe that few experts would disagree that virtually anyone, with encouragement from authority & under certain conditions, would be indistinguishable from a psychopath.

For instance, if you're a solider and your compatriots are raping/looting/murdering with gleeful impunity, chances are that you'll join them, especially if senior officers are partaking in the carnage.

This phenomena has been demonstrated in controlled conditions (Milgram's experiments, Stanford Prison experiment) and in all out war (Rape of Nanking, My Lai massacre, etc.).

Certainly not all of the Japanese soldiers taking part in the infamous "Rape of Nanking" were psychopathic. They had to "rationalize" it somehow, or if they couldn't, were plagued with guilt and nightmares for the remainder of their lives.

Most, I suspect, rationalized it away. The human animal is ingenious in that respect.

Any swine can slake his or her bloodlust in the chaotic conditions of wartime; the "successful" or "partial" psychopath may do so as well, but he also... for lack of a better word: "shines".

When all those around him are panicking (and perhaps rightfully so) he views their fear with a sense of befuddlement & maybe a dollop of contempt. This can allow for extraordinary acts of bravery, but it can also get them -- and a lot of others -- killed. But their stories and personalities may be gruesome, but they're also colorful, eccentric, daring, & mesmerizing.

The jailers at Gitmo and, I would guess, the Japanese beheading Chinese for sport, were one-dimensional characters. Unless you're a fan of the "true crime" genre, a full-on psychopath generally isn't particularly interesting.

The late Dr. David Lykken, a psychopathy expert (University of Minnesota?) claimed that Oskar Schindler was a "partial" psychopath. It would have been too easy to join the SS and butcher -- the real challenge, for him, lay in conning the Third Reich. Dr. Lykken pointed to factual accounts which purported that Schindler was nothing like the man portrayed in the film. He had no love for the Jews... He had no real love for anyone. Love -- like fear -- is an alien emotion for psychopaths.

Partial psychopaths (like Schindler) may have something of a conscience, but their need to dominate/win, generally overrides other ancillary emotions.

Of course, they often have a host of personal problems. In Schindlers case his gambling and reckless business ventures did him in. It was only during the turmoil of war that he could prosper.

Others may have substance abuse problems, disastrous personal relationships, or drift aimlessly through life, using others along the way.

One theory popular with evolutionary psychologists is that the psychopath is a new, separate species of human. This line of thought posits that we're in the midst of an evolutionary shake-up, where the "successful" psychopath is exerting control via his superiority, just as its theorized we did to the Neanderthals tens of thousands of years ago.

As evidence, they point to the type of Machiavellian persons we elect to political office (Clinton was, in my view, a stunning example of a successful psychopath), the shows (e.g., "The Sporanos") we're fascinated with, the video games kids play...

Sorry, this is a WWII forum, not an evopsych forum!

Thanks again for all your help!

- Alcibades