Shame and Humiliation
Presidential Decision Making on Vietnam
Format:Paperback
Publisher:McGill-Queen's University Press
Published:16th Apr '96
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This work adopts a psychoanalytic approach in the interpretation of the decision making of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Dwight Eisenhower during the Vietnam War. It argues that personality traits, such as narcissism, influenced critical decisions they made about American intervention in Vietnam.The author focuses on the narcissistic personality, identifying it as intensely self-involved and preoccupied with success and recognition as a substitute for parental love. She asserts that narcissistic leaders are most likely to use force when they fear being humiliated for failing to act and when they need to restore their diminished sense of self-worth. Providing case studies of Johnson, Nixon, and Eisenhower, the text describes the childhood, maturation, and career of each president, documenting key personality attributes, and then discusses each one's Vietnam policy in light of these traits. The author contends that Johnson authorized the bombing of Vietnam in part because he feared the humiliation that would come from inaction, and that Nixon escalated us intervention in Cambodia in part because of his low sense of self-esteem.
"Steinberg's perceptive analysis of the ways in which the personalities of three presidents have affected some of their most crucial decisions in these wars will be especially rewarding for all of those puzzled by their irrationality." George McT. Kahin is professor emeritus of international studies, Centre for Advanced Research on Southeast Asia, Cornell University. "Extremely impressive. Steinberg's study succeeds where so many other psychobiographies have failed. Drawing on the disciplines of political science and psychodynamic theory, Shame and Humiliation illustrates the value of comparative analysis of leaders who do (LBJ and Nixon) and who do not (Eisenhower) exhibit the so-called 'malignant' narcissistic character. Steinberg's position regarding the role of narcissistic personality factors, drawn from Kohutian theory, is carefully stated and circumscribed so that she avoids the familiar pitfall of psychological reductionism." Alexander George, Department of Political Science, Stanford University. "Steinberg makes an impressive case that presidential decision making may be influenced not only by cognitive mind-sets and beliefs, but also by psychodynamic variables. Shame and Humiliation is innovative in its interpretation, carefully argued, well researched, and engaging to read." Janice Stein, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto. "Steinberg meticulously studies political events and convincingly illustrates how a leader's internal and external worlds often intertwine to give directions to historical developments. This work is an original and significant addition to literature on leadership and decision making that will provoke healthy interdisciplinary discussion about the usefulness of personality studies in political science and history." Vamik D. Volkan, Director of the Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction, University of Virginia.
ISBN: 9780773513921
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 750g
368 pages