War, politics, and insanity.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bluemel, C. S. (Charles Sidney), 1884- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Leadership.

Personality disorders.

Biography.

Personality Disorders.

Biographies as Topic.

Medical Subjects:

Leadership.

Personality Disorders.

Biographies as Topic.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

[Second edition, revised].

Other Title:

APA PsycBOOKS.

Place of Publication:

Denver : World Press, 1950.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

"The national elections of 1932 resulted in a Democratic land slide. Many Republican politicians who had held office for years lost their jobs and were cast adrift during a financial depression. As a practicing psychiatrist I chanced at that time to see a number of local politicians who suffered from mental breakdowns following their political defeat and I was astonished at the number of suicidal attempts and actual suicides among them. Here was food for thought. What was the matter with politicians as a group? Were they manic-depressive? Were they hypomanic? Were they constitutional inferiors? I have since had ample opportunity to ponder these questions and to study the problem in its broader aspects. One phase of the question is of special interest. Why does a man become a politician, and what usually are his qualifications? A political leader has greater sociological importance than a doctor or a lawyer, yet nothing comparable is required of him in the way of training or education. Even his integrity is seldom the subject of inquiry. What is the psychology of this situation? What urges a man into the political field and what creates in him the desire to dominate the lives of other men? What are the distinguishing traits of personality that makes this urge effective? Do these traits form a recognizable pattern? To a considerable extent these questions can be answered by psychiatry. It is the purpose of this book to study the psychological qualities of political leadership and to identify the disorders of personality with which aggressive leadership is commonly associated"--Preface. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Notes:

Includes bibliographies.

Electronic reproduction. Washington, D.C. : American Psychological Association, 2011. Available via World Wide Web. Access limited by licensing agreement. s2011 dcunns

Other Format:

Original

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.