In the last decade of military conflict, the United States Army has dealt with an epidemic of organizational-level leaders committing moral and ethical violations. Many of these leaders were commissioned officers serving at the highest ranks of the military. They did not display any previous indications of this behavior and the military classified their service as exemplary. This thesis examined four case studies to determine if there was a possibility that the success of these leaders, the Emotional Intelligence that each of them seemed to possess, and the factors of the Bathsheba Syndrome contributed to their downfall. The failures of these leaders ranged from adulterous behavior in the case of General David H. Petraeus and General Kevin P. Byrnes, to abuse of government funds and privileges by General William E. 'Kip' Ward, to finally the fostering of inappropriate command climates and abuse of subordinates with Lieutenant General Patrick J. O'Reilly. The four case studies demonstrated that each of these leaders was susceptible or displayed the conditions of the Bathsheba Syndrome and that the Emotional Intelligence that each of them possessed was a factor in their failures.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)