Psychoanalytic and Historical Perspectives on the Leadership of Donald Trump

What is Donald Trump's personality? Is he mentally ill? What in American culture and history enabled him to become president? How does his personality shape his policies and leadership? In this fascinating and highly relevant new book, these questions are answered by a selection of expert contributors, including psychoanalysts, historians, and a sociologist. Narcissism is defined and applied to Donald Trump, his personal history and style of leadership, and the relationship between Trump and his base is explored as a symptom of his needs and the needs of his followers. U.S. culture and U.S. politics are put under the lens, as chapters draw on contemporary academic and journalistic analysis, continuing discussions around gaslighting, demagoguery, and fascism in terms of their validity in application to Trump. Psychoanalytic and Historical Perspectives on the Leadership of Donald Trump refutes many of the mental health experts who label Trump as suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder and makes the case that Trump's personality combines a marketing and narcissistic orientation that determines his behavior and policies. The authors also assert that to understand Trump's rise and his followers, it is valuable to combine psychoanalytic, historical, and sociological perspectives. This book will therefore be of great interest to academics in those fields and all those with an interest in contemporary American politics.

Michael Maccoby, PhD, is a psychoanalyst and anthropologist, who is a globally recognized expert on leadership. He has taught or consulted to leaders in 36 countries and has taught leadership at Oxford's Saïd Business School and Sciences Po, Paris. He is the author of The Gamesman, Narcissistic Leaders, The Leaders We Need: And What Makes Us Follow, and Strategic Intelligence. Ken Fuchsman, EdD, has been President of the International Psychohistorical Association since 2016. He is Emeritus faculty from the University of Connecticut, where he taught American history and interdisciplinary studies. He has written on Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, Obama, and Trump.

Introduction Part I: Who is Donald Trump and Why Do People Follow Him? 01. Trump's Marketing Narcissistic Leadership in an Age of Anxiety 02. The Anatomy of Narcissistic Leadership: Interview with Otto Kernberg 03. The Allure of Trump's Narcissism Part II: How Trump Leads 04. Probing Trump's Disruptive Narcissistic Personality 05. Is Donald Trump Competent and Fit to be President? 06. Gaslighting and Beyond 07. Trump the Demagogue 08. Is Trump a Fascist? Part III: Social and Historical Factors in the Rise of Trump 09. American Exceptionalism on Steroids 10. What in Our Politics, History, Economy, and Culture Enabled Trump's Rise 11. A Sociologist's View of the Trump Phenomenon Part IV: Presidential Personality and Performance 12. How Trump's Personality Influences his Policies 13. The President we Need 14. Conclusion