Le Président Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Portrait psychologique

Publié par Payot, le 22 mars 1990

446 pages

Résumé

Bullitt was psychoanalyzed by Freud in Vienna in the 20s. Patient & analyst became good friends, deciding to write a book together, a psychobiographical study of Woodrow Wilson. This was exceptional, as Freud rarely cooperated with other authors. The book, 1st published in Europe in the 30s did not appear until '66 in the USA. When it did, many psychoanalysts doubted that Freud had had much to do with it. However, recent research indicates he was an active cowriter. The book received an almost unanimously hostile reception, historian A.J.P. Taylor calling it a "disgrace," & concluding with the question: "How did anyone ever manage to take Freud seriously?" Freud's view of Wilson was that of a naive American politician whose foreign policy ideas were driven by religious fanaticism. Bullitt had been dismissed by Wilson late in the battle for the League of Nations. He never forgave the slight. It isn't clear how much of the book was really written by Bullitt, as he was skilled in several languages, while Freud wrote only in German & had died by time of publication. Some references attributed to Freud are uniquely American, such as his introduction in which he compared Wilson's naiveté to Christian Science.

Le Président Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Portrait psychologique

Le Président Wilson

Le Président Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Portrait psychologique

Le Président T.W. Wilson

Critiques