ABSTRACT
Nathan Leites's assignment to the class was to research the life of a political leader in order to assess the usefulness of examining his or her career in the light of depth psychological theory. Notwithstanding all the differing language and varied approaches, there runs through psychoanalytic theory some basic commonality of thought concerning the psychological development of human beings. The historical facts would be available to adherents of the different psychoanalytic schools of thought, and they, if they wished, could formulate interpretations cast in their preferred terms. A problem arises from the failure of many psychobiographical efforts to deal adequately with the basic distinction between hypothesis formation and hypothesis testing. The biographer sensitive to psychodynamic theory and prepared to undertake the arduous task of using it to best advantage must understand and make use of techniques for developing promising hypotheses.
