The Madman in the White House: Sigmund Freud, Ambassador Bullitt, and the Lost Psychobiography of Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson was “a victim of his own psyche,” according to this thought-provoking study of a psychological profile of the president written by American diplomat William Bullitt and Sigmund Freud. Political scientist Weil (The Sovereign Citizen) recaps how Wilson’s puzzling behavior during negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles—abandoning the principle of “universal self-determination” he originally called for, agreeing to impose “humiliating and onerous financial burdens” on Germany, and stubbornly refusing to assuage concerns that the treaty’s security arrangements would abrogate Congress’s authority to declare war—led Bullitt to not only testify against the treaty at a U.S. Senate hearing, but also collaborate with Freud on a “psychobiography” that delved into Wilson’s sexuality, Oedipus complex, and self-identification with Jesus Christ. An expurgated version was published by Bullitt in 1966, but Weil draws from the original manuscript to make the case that while the authors may at times have gone “too far,” they were essentially correct in their assertion that Wilson’s “neurosis” was a key factor in the treaty’s failure to prevent WWII. Though the mix of psychoanalytical jargon and geopolitical analysis can be jarring at times, Weil draws an intriguing profile of Bullitt and others involved in the negotiations. It’s a convincing case that “personality is very often at the heart of policy.” (May)