ABSTRACT
The solution to predicting a Wilson, Hoover, Johnson character, world view, and style–before he is President–is in knowing where to look. Most commentators focus on the most recent period, but this is usually the most difficult period to untangle. This chapter describes that clearer clues are visible in the earlier life history; character is discernible in childhood, world view in adolescence, and style in the period of first independent political success. For the active-negative Presidents, the central hypothesis is this: having experienced severe deprivations of self-esteem in childhood, the person develops a deep attachment to achievement as a way to wring from his environment a sense that he is worthy; progressively, this driving force is translated into a search for independent power over others, pursued with intense dedication, and justified idealistically. The primary risk in electing an active-negative character to the Presidency is the risk of disaster, of one man's personal tragedy plunging the nation into massive social tragedy.
