Bush on the Couch REV Ed: Inside the Mind of the President

With the Bush administration in permanent crisis, a renowned Washington psychoanalyst updates his portrait of George W.'s public persona--and how it has damaged the presidency.

Insightful and accessible, courageous and controversial, Bush on the Couch sheds startling new light on George W. Bush's psyche and its impact on the way he governs, tackling head-on the question few seem willing to ask: Is our president psychologically fit to run the country? With an eye for the subtleties of human behavior sharpened by thirty years of clinical practice, Dr. Justin A. Frank traces the development of Bush's character from childhood through his presidency, identifying and analyzing his patterns of thought, action, and communication. The result is a troubling portrait filled with important revelations about our nation's leader--including disturbing new insights into:

• How Bush reacted to the 2006 Democratic sweep in Congress with a new surge of troops into Iraq
• His telling habits and coping strategies--from his persistent mangling of English to his tendency to go blank in the midst of crisis
• The tearful public breakdown of his father, George H. W. Bush, and what it says about the former president's relationship to his prominent sons
• The debacle of Katrina--the moment when Bush's arrogance finally failed him

With a new introduction and afterword, Bush on the Couch offers the most thorough and candid portrait to date of arguably the most psychologically damaged president since Nixon.

Author: Justin A. Frank
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Published: 11/01/2007
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.12w x 0.85d
ISBN: 9780061430657

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 10/26/2008 pg. 23
Reference and Research Bk News 02/01/2009 pg. 78

About the Author
Frank, Justin A.: -

Justin A. Frank, M.D., is a clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at George Washington University Medical Center. Since 1980 he has been a teaching analyst at the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. He is past president of the Greater Washington Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr. Frank lives and practices psychoanalysis in Washington, D.C.