The Geniality of the Only Child: FDR and Clinton

Most psychobiographers overlook the effects of siblings on early personality development. Relationships with immature, emotional brothers and sisters may have profound effects on young children. All of the siblings are usually competing for love and attention from each other and from their parents. An early childhood without siblings has advantages. The only child develops closer affiliation with the parents and other adults. Extensive social relationships with other children begin at a later age. Two Presidents of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt and William Jefferson Clinton, were raised as only children. Roosevelt was 28 years younger than his half brother. Clinton is ten years older than his half brother. Distinctive characteristics of both Presidents may contribute insights into the effects of early childhood without siblings. Geniality is an unusually strong characteristic of both. Social charm and empathic responses developed from the close affiliation of FDR with both his parents and of Clinton with his mother and maternal grandparents.

The strong geniality of FDR and Clinton is expressed by a large network of social relationships. They established and maintained friendly contacts with unusually numerous and diverse people. Both Presidents maximized their accessibility to a wide variety of advisors, and included some Republicans at high levels of their administrations. Some other twentieth century Presidents with strong geniality have included Taft, Harding, Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush. But I believe that their ambivalent childhood relationships with siblings caused them to restrict their close friendships and frequent social interactions to a smaller number of very close friends and colleagues. For example, President Bush boasted of having many thousands of friends, but his interactions with most of them were limited to annual Christmas cards.

The friendly and conciliatory behavior by FDR and Clinton has been described by some commentators as devious and indicative of a deficiency of ethical convictions. Contrary to these derogatory interpretations, the absence of siblings in the early childhood of both future Presidents intensified their incorporation of ethical and idealistic values from adults. The ethical idealism of FDR is recognized by most people. His dual nature as defender of democracy and crafty politician is indicated by the title of the first volume of a biography by James MacGregor Bums, Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox. Roosevelt’s aide Harry Hopkins stated that the core of FDR’s personality was his idealism, as in his speech on the four freedoms, rather than his foxiness. I believe that the ethical idealism of Bill Clinton will likewise become recognized by most people. In spite of

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his strong desire for approval by others, as a high school student in Arkansas he advocated the unpopular causes of racial integration and the election of Kennedy in 1960. Subsequently he jeopardized his future political career by opposing the war in Vietnam. His policies as President have featured major idealistic initiatives such as universal health care.

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