Reports on US President Bill Clinton's psychological similarity to
former President Richard Nixon. Opinion of psychoanalyst and political
scientist Stanley Renshon in his book 'High Hopes'; Emotional
circumstances surrounding both presidents' growing up years; Remarkable
resiliency; Little personal satisfaction from successes.
By
Peter Doskoch, published on September 01, 1996
PERSONALITY
During the 1992 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton often portrayed
himself as the heir apparent of John F. Kennedy. If the comparison didn't
quite fly, it may he because the former president Clinton most resembles
psychologically is JFK's 1960 election opponent: Richard Nixon.
So says psychoanalyst and political scientist Stanley Renshon,
Ph.D., of the City University of New York. In his new book High Hopes,
Renshon combs through Clinton's life for clues to the chief executive's
psyche. (Like any good psychoanalyst, he doesn't neglect to scrutinize
the president's mother.) While the book details many aspects of Clinton's
mind, especially intriguing is the Nixon-Clinton connection.
The two men are by no means clones, but their similarities run so
deep Renshon calls them "characterological siblings." Both presidents
grew up in small rural towns under difficult emotional
circum-stances--idolizing mom but not getting along with dad--and the
parallels continue. According to Renshon, both men have
o shown remarkable resiliency, winning the presidency after losing
big elections early In their careers
o faced repented questions about their integrity
o gained little personal satisfaction from their successes
o tended to villainize political opponents as "enemies"
o blamed the media for their troubles, but rarely acknowledged
their own shortcomings
o often blurred their Ideological leanings.
Still unexplained by experts: the remarkable psychological
resemblance between Clinton's and Nixon's respective First Pets, Socks
and Checkers.
PHOTO (COLOR): Bill Clinton
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