Volume 24 Number 1Summer 2017

American history, cultural history, Donald Trump, political history, psychobiography, psychohistory, Trumpmania

In this Age of Trump, a special field called Trump Studies needs to be established. This essay lists essential topics that should be part of this still-emerging enterprise. This includes a critical examination of his childhood and business career, how his ideology and policies fit within the Republican Party, and what in our culture, politics, and history explains how an individual with so little regard for the truth, so ill-informed, and who so extremely slanders others could be elected president in 2016.

American dream, American politics, Donald Trump, misogyny, nativism, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” political polarization, politically incorrect, projection, psychobiography, psychohistory, racism, Richard Hofstadter, sexism, xenophobia

Donald Trump’s presidency has begun with simultaneous support and opposition as his rhetoric polarizes the electorate. His supporters have been mobilized by contemporary social media and emotionally charged forms of speech and language. Trump’s grandiose message resonates with his constituency, mostly for four overlapping reasons: misogyny and sexism; racism; xenophobia and nativism; and repudiation of political correctness. Through historical and psychoanalytic understanding, Trump can be seen as a symptom. The essay draws on the work of Richard Hofstadter’s 1964 essay, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics.”

Adolf Hitler, Donald Trump, Friedrich Nietzsche, George Orwell, Joseph Stalin, psychobiography, psychohistory, Sigmund Freud

Falsehoods come in different forms. From a motivational standpoint, there is a world of difference between errors, deliberate falsehoods, and illusions. President Trump is often mistaken, or lying, or simply unable to discern fact from fiction and his own overactive imagination. This paper suggests that we are probably safer in the hands of a cynical liar than someone who believes his own spin.

Donald Trump, political rhetoric, psychobiography, psychohistory, social media, socio-political polarization, Twitter

What was once an innocuous method of modern social communication has evolved into a major tool for current tribal communications. While the Pope has 10 million Twitter followers, Donald Trump at one point registered 22 million followers. Trump, however, has not focused on aspects of the presidency, but rather on personal identity. While the use of this method of social communication may be responsible for his rise in popularity, his relentless messaging may be the key to his undoing.

Henry VIII, poem, psychohistory, sycophant

1984, Christopher Lasch, cultural politicization, Donald Trump, George Orwell, narcissistic culture, perversion, post-truth, psychobiography, psychohistory

American presidents, cultural differences, Donald Trump, Herbert Hoover, psychobiography, psychohistory, Republicans

This essay compares, contrasts, and contextualizes Republican presidents Herbert Hoover and Donald Trump. It utilizes Hoover as a tool to understand Trump as a case study in opposites. Hoover, a Quaker orphan, was shy and inhibited. Donald Trump runs in overdrive, a hyperactive billionaire businessman. The current president is confrontational and savors political combat. Trump sets a frantic pace, attacks opponents with relish, and veers away from compromise unless it is absolutely necessary. In personality and temperament, Hoover and Trump are polar opposites and thus offer valuable lessons in contrast.

American psyche, anomie, Christopher Lasch, death wish, Don Carveth, Donald Trump, Emile Durkheim, Hannah Arendt, nihilism, psychobiography, psychohistory, Sigmund Freud, Walter Davis

The author frames America’s death wish in its historical context, tracing it through the work of Émile Durkheim, Hannah Arendt, Christopher Lasch, Don Carveth, and Walter Davis on the American psyche. He posits that the election of our current president Donald Trump may be an expression of the collective death instinct and sense of despair.

Adolf Hitler, anti-Semitism, Donald Trump, Heinrich L. Himmler, Jewish people, Martin Niemöller, political polarization, psychobiography, psychohistory, Trump supporters

The bizarre and shameful story of German Jewish organizations that supported Adolf Hitler is cited as a cautionary tale in light of Donald Trump’s Jewish supporters. Himmler’s chilling notion of each German having his “decent Jew” and Pastor Niemöller’s famous quote, “First they came for the Socialists…” are incorporated into this look at how members of a minority could vote for a leader who degrades and insults them.

American presidency, authoritarian personality, Christoph von Marschall, Donald Trump, Hans Ulrich Jörges, Herfried Münkler, Juan Peron, Peter Lange, psychobiography, psychohistory, Silvio Berlusconi, Tayyip Erdogan, Vladimir Putin

From the coffee shop owner to the surgeon, the secretary to the author, most German opinions assess President Donald Trump as a threat to traditional Western values. They are especially concerned that he will undermine the European Union with its unique accomplishments. They tend to see him as an authoritarian figure, like Erdogan, Putin, and Peron, who undermines the press and attacks the judiciary with lies and innuendo.

2016 American presidential election, anti-Clinton, conservative, Donald Trump, freedom of speech, Hillary Clinton, political polarization, pro-Trump, psychobiography, psychohistory, young Republican

An undergraduate student describes her experience as a Republican on a liberal college campus. She explains several possibilities for why some voters chose Trump, even if he was not their ideal candidate. Economic policies and voting outside the establishment are explored as her primary motivations, which likely apply to other Trump voters as well.

2016 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump, fear-mongering, feminism, Hillary Clinton, political polarization, popular appeal, progressivism, psychohistory, sexism, socio-political ideology, xenophobia

Donald Trump repeatedly displayed a flagrant disregard for the rules of professional discourse and human decency, and won the votes of millions despite, or more likely because, of this. The author rejects Trump’s candidacy on the grounds that his unprofessionalism as well as his lack of knowledge and experience make him unfit for public office.

American politics, defense mechanisms, denial, displacement, Donald Trump, economic policies, intellectualization, middle class, political polarization, political supporters, popular appeal, psychohistory, U.S. presidential election

The author elucidates the motivation of Trump’s supporters. Although the approval ratings of the newly inaugurated president are at record lows, there remains a large segment of the population loyal to Donald Trump because they strongly identify with him and his message. For them, he still represents the hope of positive change for white, working-class Americans. They are able to look past the lies and inconsistencies of the President using various defense mechanisms, including but not limited to denial, displacement, intellectualization, and suppression. In this way, they are able to preserve their perception of him as the maverick about to save their jobs and the greatness of America.

2016 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump, gender differences, Hillary Clinton, media, partisanship, political correctness, psychohistory, Ramapo College of New Jersey, socio-cultural politicization, teaching psychohistory

Teaching the 2016 election to first year students was quite challenging mostly because the partisanship of the campaign spilled over into the classroom. There was a considerable discrepancy between the traits students said they wanted in a candidate and who they actually voted for on November 8th. The professor found it to be a challenge to allow free expression of thoughts in a class dominated by young men and also to keep the attention of the impressionable young students after the excitement of the election was over.

climate change, Donald Trump, poem, politics, psychohistory

attachment to conflict, character flaws, childhood upbringing, Donald Trump, narcissistic patterns, psychohistory, self-defeating behavior, splitting, U.S. presidency

Donald Trump’s combative and narcissistic personality predisposes him to conflict and seeing those who don’t agree with him as enemies. These personality traits are influencing the U.S. with Trump as our president. From an early age, he was a disrupter, always looking to be the center of attention, usually by causing trouble. As a media celebrity he received enormous free publicity. When he turned to politics, he got this publicity by being a birther and attacking the political establishment. His narcissism and splitting tendencies have led him to see people and events as either all good or all bad and to act on these assumptions. His campaign was marked by personnel turnover and his presidency so far by a war against the press. The author writes from his perspective as a psychoanalytically-informed scholar whose politics are more liberal than conservative.

2016 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump, ego, The Ego Ideal, Electoral College, Hillary Clinton, Make America Great Again (MAGA), narcissism, political polarization, popular vote, psychohistory, Sigmund Freud

2016 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump, folklore, Great Britain, Paul H. Elovitz, political pathologizing, psychohistory, World War I (WWI), Wounded Leaders: British Elitism and the Entitlement Illusion: A Psychohistory

Barack Obama, Donald Trump, George Bush, group dynamics, inner conflict, Paul H. Elovitz, presidential psychobiography, psychohistory, splitting, U.S. presidents, Wilfred Bion

American presidency, Barack Obama, childhood upbringing, defense mechanisms, Donald Trump, family dynamics, Hillary Clinton, Paul H. Elovitz, political scenarios, psychobiography, psychohistory

anti-intellectualism, Donald Trump, messianic role, Paul H. Elovitz, personality flaws, psychohistory, Sigmund Freud, U.S. presidency

American Thinker, The Art of the Deal, Donald Trump, European history, leadership, narcissistic personality, Paul Elovitz, psychohistory, U.S. presidency

American Psychiatric Association (APA), Donald Trump, free association, the Goldwater Rule, personality flaws, psychohistory

C. Fred Alford, charismatic character, Donald Trump, Irene Javors, John Jacob Hartman, Kenneth Rasmussen, Neil Wilson, Nick Duffell, psychobiography, psychohistory, U.S. presidency, Wilfred R. Bion, William Meyers

2016 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, interview, political polarization, psychobiography, psychohistory

comfort foods, D. W. Winnicott, Donald Trump, mental health, pets as companions, political anxiety, political polarization, psychohistory, transitional objects

Anxiety has increased in the current political climate, leading people to find comfort in foods, favorite movies, soft objects, and pets, especially cats. The same phenomenon was observed after 9/11. The psychoanalyst author draws on the work of the English analyst Donald Winnicott to help understand this occurrence.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III), Eli Zaretsky, mental health crisis, narcissism, Political Freud, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, psychohistory, Sigmund Freud

9/11 terrorist attack, American Psychological Association (APA), David Hoffman, denial, Department of Defense (DoD), enhanced interrogation program, ethics policy, “The Hoffman Report,” psychohistory, psychology, U.S. torture program

In 2014, the American Psychological Association (APA) contracted David Hoffman of Sidley Austin, LLP to investigate whether officials of the APA had colluded with the U.S. government regarding its enhanced interrogation program. The result was “The Hoffman Report,” which suggested that key APA officials had indeed colluded to accommodate Department of Defense (DoD) priorities, effectively puncturing a decade of official denial and obfuscation around this issue in spite of already abundant evidence. The Hoffman Report pressured the APA to make significant changes to its ethics policy on psychologists’ involvement in interrogations. This progress is not irreversible, however, and to prevent denial from returning, the disturbing conclusions of this report must be clearly faced and widely discussed amongst all psychologists in the profession.

book review, Dan Dervin, David Beisel, John Allman, Merle Molofsky, Peter Petschauer, poetry, psychohistory, Rudolph Binion, Wounded Centuries: A Selection of Poems

book review, conflict resolution, Donald Trump, Mari Fitzduff, political polarization, political science, psychohistory, social psychology, Trumpism, U.S. presidential elections, Why Irrational Politics Appeals: Understanding the Allure of Trump

authoritarians, book review, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, psychohistory, Timothy Snyder, tyranny

anomie, Clio’s Psyche, death instinct, Fordham University, Inna Rozentsvit, Jack Schwartz, Karl Menninger, letter to the editor, mortality, Paul H. Elovitz, psychohistory, Psychohistory Forum, Sigmund Freud