The Madman in the White House: Sigmund Freud, Ambassador Bullitt, and the Lost Psychobiography of Woodrow Wilson

The psychobiography of President Woodrow Wilson, written by Sigmund Freud and US diplomat William C. Bullitt, was rediscovered nearly a century after it was written. It sheds new light on how the mental health of a controversial president shaped world events.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 30 June 2023
Publisher: Harvard University Press

The extraordinary untold story of how a disillusioned American diplomat named William C. Bullitt came to Freuds couch in 1926, and how Freud and his patient collaborated on a psychobiography of President Woodrow Wilson.

When the fate of millions rests on the decisions of a mentally compromised leader, what can one person do? Disillusioned by President Woodrow Wilson's destructive and irrational handling of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, a US diplomat named William C. Bullitt asked this very question. With the help of his friend Sigmund Freud, Bullitt set out to write a psychological analysis of the president. He gathered material from personal archives and interviewed members of Wilson's inner circle.

In The Madman in the White House, Patrick Weil resurrects this forgotten portrait of a troubled president. After two years of collaboration, Bullitt and Freud signed off on a manuscript in April 1932. But the book was not published until 1966, nearly thirty years after Freud's death and only months before Bullitt's. The published edition was heavily redacted, and by the time it was released, the mystique of psychoanalysis had waned in popular culture and Wilson's legacy was unassailable. The psychological study was panned by critics, and Freud's descendants denied his involvement in the project.

For nearly a century, the mysterious, original Bullitt and Freud manuscript remained hidden from the public. Then in 2014, while browsing the archives of Yale University, Weil happened upon the text. Based on extensive research and interviews with Freud's descendants, Weil has reconstructed the original manuscript, revealing the full extent of Freud's involvement in the project.

The psychobiography of Wilson, which was never completed, offers a unique insight into the mental health of a controversial American president. It sheds light on the ways in which Wilson's psychological struggles shaped his policies and his interactions with other world leaders. The book also provides a fascinating glimpse into the early days of psychoanalysis and the ways in which Freud and Bullitt collaborated to explore the unconscious mind.

The discovery of the original Bullitt and Freud manuscript has reignited interest in the psychobiography of Wilson and has prompted a renewed debate about the role of mental health in shaping world events. It has also raised questions about the power of friendship and the influence of one person on the course of history.

In conclusion, the psychobiography of Wilson, rediscovered nearly a century after it was written by Sigmund Freud and US diplomat William C. Bullitt, sheds new light on how the mental health of a controversial American president shaped world events. The book offers a unique insight into the mental struggles of a leader and the ways in which they can impact the course of history. The discovery of the original Bullitt and Freud manuscript has reignited interest in this forgotten masterpiece and has prompted a renewed debate about the role of mental health in shaping world events.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780674291614