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Psychoanalysing President Wilson

Patrick Weil reveals the findings of a long-lost Freudian analysis of President Woodrow Wilson, and the theories it puts forward for his unpredictable behaviour

Published: October 9, 2023 at 8:03 AM

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During the negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles following the First World War, President Woodrow Wilson began making unexpected, unpredictable decisions. But why? According to one American diplomat, William Bullitt, Wilson’s strange behaviour could be chalked up to unconscious psychological forces. Patrick Weil, author of the Cundill Prize shortlisted book The Madman in the White House, explores how Bullitt teamed up with the world’s most famous psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, to investigate the inner workings of Wilson’s mind and its impact on world events.

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Patrick Weil is the author of The Madman in the White House: Sigmund Freud, Ambassador Bullitt, and the Lost Psychobiography of Woodrow Wilson (Harvard University Press, 2023)

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Authors

Ellie CawthorneHead of content (audio)

Ellie Cawthorne is head of content (audio) at HistoryExtra

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