The Psychological Assessment of Presidential Candidates
For whatever reason?television, the presidencies of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, an era of budgetary restraints?issues of the "character," and even the mental health, of our presidents now challenge public policy as the main concern of American voters. Renshon, a political scientist and certified psychoanalyst who has published in the area of political psychology (High Hopes: The Clinton Presidency and the Politics of Ambition, LJ 5/15/96), here attempts to construct an assessment theory of presidential candidates. Unfortunately, the study's armchair quality limits its appeal. Questions posed and answers given are fair-minded and reasonable, but the work tends toward the subjective and lacks the boldness of James David Barber's Presidential Character (1972). For academic political science collections.?William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., ShreveportCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.