Assessing Leaders' Personalitiespresident of the United States. The study by Alexander George and
Juliette George, Woodrow Wilson and Colonel Home: A Personality
Study (1956), has become a classic of psychobiographical method
that has helped to define the field. A later publication by the same
authors (1998) summarizes their interpretation (chap. 2) and
method (chaps, 1 and 3), as well as updating their conclusions in the
light of scholarly discussion and debate (chap. 4).
Wilson's Phenomenology
If ever there was a leader whose performance in office called for psy-
chological interpretation, surely it is Woodrow Wilson. There is
general agreement on what needs to be explained. From his presi-
dency of Princeton University through his participation in the Ver-
sailles Peace Conference to his final speaking campaign urging Sen-
ate ratification of the Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations,
Wilson showed a consistent pattern in which he seemed to undercut
his remarkable leadership skills and defeat or undo his considerable
accomplishments. In its fullest manifestations, this pattern included
the following elements: (i) Wilson articulated visionary goals in the
sweeping language of moralistic oratory. (2) When faced with oppo-
sition, however, he would not compromise, even when compromise
would clearly further his ultimate goals. (3) On the other hand, he
also refused to play hardball and fight back directly and aggressively.
(4) Rather, he counterattacked with renewed and exhausting speech-
making campaigns. (5) In the process, Wilson often became suspi-
cious of people who had been close supporters, even aggressively
turning against them. (6) In the end, his original goals were often
lost in the scrimmages of politics. (7) Even victory usually brought
him little sense of satisfaction. Put simply: Wilson defeated himself,
again and again.
Wilson's behavior during and after the Versailles Peace Confer-
ence illustrates most of the elements of this sequence. First, he was
reluctant to use American economic and military power to overturn
the Allied war aims and secret treaties and thereby bring about his
goal of a "just peace." Instead, he poured his energy into writing and
refining the visionary language of the League of Nations Covenant.
Advice to compromise, given by his close aide Colonel House, only
led to rupture of their relationship. Later, when Republicans led by