I came upon something that amounts to a description of some of the America’s leaders:

“To unconstrained egos any limit placed on their freedom of action is intolerable, and aggressive individuals will indeed perceive deterrence as an imminent attack – because that is what they would do if the roles were reversed. Rational people are always at a disadvantage when dealing with such people, because compromise is impossible. Concessions are taken as no more than their due and as a sign of weakness, therefore requiring no quid pro quo. It is a psychopathic condition known as malignant narcissism – and the only cure for it is death.”

These are the words of a British author, Hugh Bicheno, from his work Blood Royal: The Wars of the Roses: 1462-1485 (N.Y., London: Pegasus Books 2017) 84-5, that describe the kind of personality that brought about and prolonged England’s civil war of the 15th century.