An intriguing look at the relationship between Presidents and the wars they wage

 Via Science Alert, very interesting:

Based on an analysis of the 19 presidents who served between 1897 and 2009 (from William McKinley to George W. Bush), the degree to which a commander in chief exhibited grandiose narcissistic personality traits is correlated with the duration of any wars they presided over.

With conflicts continuing to rage across the world today, the findings could be useful for politicians, analysts and military commanders in understanding how wars might play out. Before now, how the personalities of leaders influence war hasn't been fully explored.

"More narcissistic presidents tend to only exit wars if they can say they won, and they will extend wars to find a way to declare some kind of victory," says political scientist John P. Harden, from The Ohio State University.

"They want to look heroic and strong and competent – even if it means fighting the war beyond what is reasonable."

...

Harden used data pulled from the Correlates of War database, which tracks conflicts involving at least 1,000 deaths in battle within a one-year period – so 11 operations for the US during the study period.

This was cross-referenced with previous research that analyzed the characters of US presidents, in part through their biographers. High levels of assertiveness and excitement-seeking, and low levels of modesty, compliance and straightforwardness were used to measure narcissistic tendencies.

US chiefs who scored lower on narcissism, including McKinley and Eisenhower, tended to put the interests of the state first. Wars were pursued only as a last resort, and were ended as quickly as possible – see Eisenhower's quick exit from the Korean War, for example.

Those presidents who ranked higher for narcissism, such as Roosevelt and Nixon, were less likely to separate personal and state interests, carrying on conflicts for longer. For example, Nixon inherited the Vietnam War, and continued it for another four years.

Who do you want as your leader, someone who can't look past their own prestige or someone who does the right thing. In this case, they don't do what's best for them instead they do what's best for the state.

h/t Instapundit