The Georges' Wilson Reexamined: An Essay on Psychobiography* †

Robert C. Tucker

American Political Science Review, 1977, vol. 71, issue 2, 606-618

Abstract: Psychobiography interprets a life-course in terms of a consciously thought-out interpretation of the subject's personality. There are criteria for judging the relative merit of differing lines of interpretation. The Georges' Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House, rightly recognized as a psychobiographical classic, proceeds from Harold Lasswell's formula for “political man” as one who seeks power to overcome a low self-estimate. The formula is in some respects questionable. The Georges' generally effective application of it falls short of full success. An alternative interpretation, based on the view that Wilson's life exemplified the neurotic search for glory as described by Karen Horney, is explored. The two different lines of interpretation are compared with respect to what Alexander George has called the “self-defeating pattern” in Wilson's career as a leader.

Date: 1977
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