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Justin A. Frank

Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President Hardcover – June 15, 2004

by Justin A. Frank M.D. (Author)

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With the Bush administration in permanent crisis, a renowned Washington psychoanalyst updates his portrait of George W.'s public persona—and how it has damaged the presidency.

Insightful and accessible, courageous and controversial, Bush on the Couch sheds startling new light on George W. Bush's psyche and its impact on the way he governs, tackling head-on the question few seem willing to ask: Is our president psychologically fit to run the country? With an eye for the subtleties of human behavior sharpened by thirty years of clinical practice, Dr. Justin A. Frank traces the development of Bush's character from childhood through his presidency, identifying and analyzing his patterns of thought, action, and communication. The result is a troubling portrait filled with important revelations about our nation's leader—including disturbing new insights into:

How Bush reacted to the 2006 Democratic sweep in Congress with a new surge of troops into Iraq
His telling habits and coping strategies—from his persistent mangling of English to his tendency to "go blank" in the midst of crisis
The tearful public breakdown of his father, George H. W. Bush, and what it says about the former president's relationship to his prominent sons
The debacle of Katrina—the moment when Bush's arrogance finally failed him

With a new introduction and afterword, Bush on the Couch offers the most thorough and candid portrait to date of arguably the most psychologically damaged president since Nixon.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harper
Publication date

June 15, 2004
Dimensions

6 x 0.93 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0060736704
ISBN-13

978-0060736705
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bush Administration policies are not only a "great catastrophe" but the products of a disturbed mind, according to this provocative blend of psychological case-study and partisan polemic. Psychoanalyst Frank sifts through family memoirs, the writings of critics like Al Franken and David Corn and the public record of Bushs personal idiosyncrasies for clues to the Presidents character, interpreting the evidence in the rigidly Freudian framework of child psychoanalyst Melanie Klein. He finds that Bush, psychically scarred by an absentee father and a cold, authoritarian mother, has developed a galloping case of megalomania, characterized by a Manichaean worldview, delusions of persecution and omnipotence and an "anal/sadistic" indifference to others pain, with removal from office the only "treatment option." The authors exegesis of Bushs personality traits-the drinking problem, the bellicose rhetoric, the verbal flailings and misstatements of fact, the religiosity and exercise routines, the hints of dyslexia and hyperactivity, the youthful cruelty to animals and schoolmates, the smirk-paints an intriguing, if exaggerated and contemptuous, portrait of a possibly troubled public figure. But Franks attempts to translate psychoanalysis into political analysis are unconvincing. Indeed, if Bushs reneging on campaign promises is a form of clinical "sadism," and his budget deficits an "unconscious attack on his own parents," then Karl Rove, the Cabinet, and both houses of Congress belong in group therapy with him.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Justin A. Frank, M.D., is a clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at George Washington University Medical Center. Since 1980 he has been a teaching analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. He is past president of the Greater Washington Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr. Frank lives and practices psychoanalysis in Washington, D.C.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper; First Edition (June 15, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060736704
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060736705
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.93 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,956,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,122 in Propaganda & Political Psychology
- #5,114 in United States Executive Government
- #5,287 in Medical Psychoanalysis

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144 ratings

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Tom Dupree

Scary, but not as much as when it was first printed

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2009

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I'm sure it's done a great deal of good for others, but I've always found psychoanalysis to be the ultimate in senseless navel-gazing (maybe that's my own psychosis talking!). Sometimes, after all, a cigar is just a cigar. The author of this 2007 update of a 2004 book attempts to psychoanalyze George W. Bush without the benefit of personal interviews, but he has a lot of reported history to go on: the loss of a sister at age seven, a horrible trauma that turned his autocratic mother's hair white; a busy and distant father; failure to live up to the old man athletically, militarily, or in business; a decades-long drinking problem, still untreated, that may have physiological effects today; a streak of bullying and sadism that began in childhood and continued into the Presidency; and lots more. The author makes a complex case for Bush as an unhinged, non-reflective megalomaniac with dozens of enablers to keep him cloistered away from reason and reality, but the difficulty comes from what he does *not* know. For example, Bush's infamous MISSION ACCOMPLISHED strutting may indeed serve his particular psychological needs, but who says it was his idea? Maybe Karl Rove should join the former president on the couch. Bush is without question a personally nastier man than he advertises (consider the frogs and fraternity pledges he tortured in his youth, or the death row inmates whose pleas he cruelly mocked with a snicker before execution) but at the same time extremely timid (his one-on-one with an unyielding Sen. Jim Webb about the senator's son in Iraq revealed the bully and the coward at the same time). It's a fascinating stew; as I said, I'm not sure how much of psychoanalytic theory I really believe, but it's possible to conclude that while George W. Bush was president, he demonstrated deep, certifiable psychological problems -- and that his psychoses helped do harm to the country. It is much easier to read this book in 2009 than it would have been in 2004.

7 people found this helpful

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Ruth Eiss

even funny. It supported my idea that mental health professionals ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2017

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The book was enthralling: insightful, courageous, replete with documentation, even funny. It supported my idea that mental health professionals SHOULD lend their credentials in support of a Congressional effort to impeach a man (TRUMP) who is BAD for the country. I wrote to the the good doctor to ask him to write Trump on the Couch. No response yet.

2 people found this helpful

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Robert W. Smith

pretty good

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2008

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first, the title, "bush on the couch" preselects those who will like or dislike the author's conclusions and, ultimately, buy the book. the book chases several themes, not in the most organized fashion. the psychodynamic explanations should have been based on more stories by families and friends and other observers. like in any forensic science, the conclusions should have been based on impartial observations and on documentation and actual evidence rather than the author's interpretations. somehow, that's not sufficiently offered, whether it is a lapse in the author's mind or retraction / protection of that material. in the end, i thought that possible diagnoses were proffered without sufficient justification (although i concur with those possibilities) ... while the evidence, offered through the book, through the state of the union, and videoclips all seem to suggest that this president might be of questionable competence and might, in fact, be a clear and present danger, no discussion is made of the important enablers who have propped him up for 2 terms and what might happen in this, his final year, in which he must serve out his last 300 days without the support of so many who have been loyal to his beliefs. one of the previous reviewers suggested that a psychological examination might be required for future presidents ... while acknowledging that that would require a constitutional amendment, i think that since our healthcare, education, defense, and most other areas of public policy require evidence based practices, it is worthy to note that politicians have thus far escaped from this requirement. selecting an impartial, knowledgeable team of experts to devise measures of intelligence, emotional robustness, problem solving, negotiation skills ... would be a challenge in itself but, given the fear so many report regarding the alleged incompetence of the current president, it may, indeed, be well worthwhile ... our selection of our president ought to be based on facts and performance, not on sound bites. for everyone who can get past the title without becoming judgmental, this book will stir the emotions and justify your thoughts about this president. well worth the read and well worth the price.

8 people found this helpful

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T. Wells

Absolutely Fascinating

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2006

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This is one of the most fascinating books that I have read this year. Over the past 6 years I have been both concerned and confused regarding President Bush's motivation for making some of the decisions that he has made, and also what motivates him to feel that he is justified in blatantly disregarding the Constitution that has served this Country so well for over 200 years. This is a book that both Bush supporters and critics should take the time to read. We should all use whatever resources available to make an objective evaluation of those issues that will have a lasting impact on us and future generations.

18 people found this helpful

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JAMES ROVNAK

Always new things were never right with him!

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2014

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Isn't it obvious there is something very wrong with this guy! Agree with most everything the book contends! Don't know how he ever got elected or stole the Seat! Worst President ever & he worked hard for this honor, that is when you could find him in the office we all paid to support! To think he live further on our pension fund sort of upsets me. Look how many needless deaths he is responsible for?

One person found this helpful

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