Yes, but the one I (think I) know was superb at only biting the chosen victim du jour: everybody else who knew him would respond to “ow! He just backstabbed me!” with “oh no way, he’s such a nice guy!”… until it was their time to find a stiletto coming out of their chest and be the recipients of “oh no way, he’s such a nice guy!”
Dude could have sold fridges to the Devil and was as smart at hiding his tracks as he was at figuring out what made people tick. And while he would get bored easily and that would lead to job switches, the longest he stayed at one was 30 years (he stayed in it after his official retirement, getting paid under the table and having access to a lot of easily-manipulable people) - the second-longest was 10; he never got fired, always quit for greener pastures. Those are both longer than I’ve stayed in any given job or project.
Actually, someone who you would not think of as psychopathic is a more likely candidate. The psychopath is usually very successful in appearing like a good person right up until they’re caught with their hands on the dagger. I very much doubt that Obama is a psychopath though. Or Romney for that matter.
My choices with my percentage of surety:
Alan Jones (100% - Australia’s version of Rush Limbaugh)
Benny Hinn (100% - major charlatan)
Fred Phelps (100% - major hate monger)
Osama Bin Laden (100% - basically a Muslim version of Phelps with added violence)
Rush Limbaugh (100% - major hate monger, spreader of malicious misinformation)
Herman Cain (75% - seems to completely lack empathy - e.g. the poor have only themselves to blame)
Rick Perry (75% - likes the idea of executing criminals (as opposed to considering it a necessary evil), not big on forgiveness or empathy with the poor)
Richard Nixon (65% - long history of likely corruption - much smoke so probable fire)
George W. Bush (50% - probably deliberately invaded Iraq on false pretenses; possibly cheated to win his first presidential election)
John Howard (50% - Australia’s version of George W. - apparently urged George W. to take the opportunity to invade Iraq)
These are obvious picks because their actions are infamous and they show no hint of compassion, empathy or shame.
But any of us could be interacting with a psychopath in our daily lives and not even know it.
They tend to be attracted to positions in which they can exercise power over others: politics, religion, law enforcement, military, school teacher, corporate CEO. And because they are unencumbered by conscience they are prepared to be extremely ruthless to get what they want. That means they will tend to be highly successful and in positions of power and respect.
ETA: I am having second thoughts about Romney considering his corporate history. Not sure though.
What’s the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath? - the latter is successful at ‘it’ and there is a higher percentage of them in leadership roles than the average population. “Politicians share personality traits with serial killers” - http://ptosis.hubpages.com/hub/socioVSPsyco
I’m not intentionally trying to go political, but G. Gordon Liddy, I think. I saw him give a lecture once. Prison for him was a game. Subverting the constitution was a game. On his radio show, I got the sense that he viewed most things as games, and had no moral qualms about anything. I have more confidence that he is a sociopath than anyone else connected with Watergate.
Maybe Ross Perot. Not his campaign for president, but I seem to recall his desire for war so he could risk his life and get promoted faster in the navy - that was him, right? That level of calculated dissociation from any emotional desire to - you know, live - makes me think he’s possibly a sociopath.
Probably a lot of war heroes, although all the famous ones are dead now.
And now let’s remember him again. Being a manipulator, and creating an image of yourself so exaggerated it borders on falsehood, does not a sociopath make.
I can’t believe that Lyndon Johnson - someone who pushed and signed broad civil rights legislation while recognizing, “we just lost the South for a generation” - is a sociopath. He did that because he believed it was the right thing to do, even though it cost him huge amounts of political capital.
Same with Bush 43 - I hate him, and I think he got us in one stupid needless war and fucked up the country good, but he does some things simply because he cares about (some) human beings. He helped stem the tide of AIDS in Africa, for instance.
I think even a sociopath could realize the idea of common good, like say we agree on no robbing in the market and violators will be shot. I think a sociopath could understand and abide by the rule as long as they benefit, if however they benefit by breaking the rule they will do that instead.
If you take the definition of a sociopath to its most extreme limit then no one except fictional mustache twirling villains qualify. I think in real life there is much more nuance.
Sure, sociopaths can support laws. They do cost-benefit analysis like the rest of us. They usually only break laws when they can get away with it and it helps them.
I can’t see any sociopath who was a white southerner signing civil rights legislation in 1964. He had no potential benefit, except pride in doing the moral thing.
Exactly! I read all about it in a biography about her written by Cathy Rigby, Mary Lou: The Tiniest Sociopath
My vote goes to Alec Baldwin for a pretty obvious celebrity sociopath.
With regard to John Edwards - I’m closely related to a member of his legal team. I’m not really in a position to say much specific, but from what I hear he has not exactly made a good impression on them. I’ve heard some things about callous conversations, but…again, I’m not in a position to really reveal anything.
I will say that they held a mock trial recently as a test run. At least one of the fake jurors compared him to an “arrogant Charles Manson.” Take that FWIW.
For a cinematic example, look at James Bond. He’s almost totally incapable of forming any meaningful relationships. The women in his life are all disposable playthings. His coworkers (M, Q) mostly think of him as an irresponsible ass. (Moneypenny likes him, but she’s clearly just smitten by his charm.) He’s totally cold-blooded about killing other people, and in general he rarely displays anything approaching empathy. He’s a textbook sociopath.
