The Psychological Assessment of Political LeadersClinton's psychology cannot avoid reading his mother's autobiogra-
phy (Kelley 1994a). These can be supplemented with interviews she
gave on national news shows (Kelley 1992, 1994^.
Another major source of information on leaders comes from their
own words. Psychologically minded political analysts have an
unprecedented amount of this kind of primary material available to
them. Transcripts of debates, of interviews, and of comments made
during varied appearances are all routinely available to researchers
with access to Lexis-Nexis or other data retrieval programs.
And, of course, when a news story breaks across the country, the
researcher no longer has to rely on secondhand accounts. The analyst
can go right to the source. When John McCain began to gain promi-
nence in the Republican primary race, a major (but not national)
newspaper in his home state published an editorial and a long article
about the senator's locally well-known temper. That story was
treated as a major item by several national newspapers, which gave
their interpretation of the information (e.g., Broder 1999). One
might have been content in the past to rely on that secondary analy-
sis, but, with the resources available on the World Wide Web, it is
no longer necessary to do so.
Behind-the-Scenes Accounts
My (1996a) psychologically framed biography of Bill Clinton made
use of yet another good source for the political psychology of leaders:
the behind-the-scenes account. Several (Drew 1994; Woodward
1994) such accounts became available early in his presidency as the
book was being written. These accounts and similar ones generally
rely on intensive and extensive interviews with high- (and more
modest-) ranking members of the White House staff, including
those with daily and direct access to the president. They are primar-
ily descriptive. As Drew says of her book,This is a genre of middle-distance journalism, intended to
catch events and people's involvement in them or reactions to
them while they are still fresh and before they have been fuzzed
over, and retouched, in recollection. It is intended to offer the
analysis and perspective of someone dose to the events, seeing them
unfiltered." (1994, 438, emphasis added)