Looking for X in the Algebra of Leadership:

Dr. Arnold M. Ludwig, an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of Kentucky, has come along with his “Political Greatness Scale” — the latest in a long line of scholarly attempts to measure political leadership with the cool objectivity of science…

On this scale, Yasir Arafat scores 17 out of a possible 37 points, placing him a couple notches above Bill Clinton and on a par with Dwight D. Eisenhower and François Mitterrand. The scale’s real overachievers, however, are for the most part a motley crew of despots and tyrants, including Hitler (25), Mussolini (26), Stalin (29), Mao (30) and Kemal Ataturk of Turkey (31), as well as a lone American president, Franklin D. Roosevelt (30).

Dr. Ludwig says the numbers reflect a leader’s impact on the world, not his personal virtue. On this scale, for example, warmongering turns out to be critical to one’s long-term historical standing. “No American president can be regarded as great unless they’ve been involved in war and been responsible for the death of many,” Dr. Ludwig said. NY Times