Some Uses of Dynamic Psychology in Political Biography: Case Materials on Woodrow Wilson

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Abstract
This chapter demonstrates how the personality component in a biography may be handled in a systematic fashion. It shows that dynamic psychology provides a number of hypotheses which can supplement a cultural or role analysis of Woodrow Wilson's interest in constitution-writing and which permit the biographer to view the relationship between his "Presbyterian conscience" and his political stubbornness in a new light. A major shortcoming in many conventional biographies, including those of Wilson, is that they lack a systematic theory about the subject's personality and motivations. In Wilson's case, even the circumstances under which the compulsive dynamism was adopted are richly suggested in materials collected by the official biographer. A number of Wilson's biographers, including the official biographer, have been struck by the interest in constitutions he displayed from early youth. From an early age, then, Wilson's scholarly interest in the workings of American political institutions was an adjunct of his ambition to become a great statesman.

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