Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

You already know a lot about this book just from the title. What got my attention right away was that it's not written by one person like the vast majority of the books about Donald Trump. Instead, it is a collection of essays by 27 different psychology professionals, whether working psychologists or psychiatrists. These people are all highly trained and are so concerned about the mental health of the President of the United States that they are violating the spirit of the ethical guidance from their professional organizations--namely, not to analyze the mental health of someone you have never examined. What motivated the choice to make these insights public? This controversial decision is explained at the outset by Drs. Herman and Lee: "the public trust is also violated if the profession fails in its duty to alert the public when a person who holds the power of life and death over us all shows signs of clear, dangerous mental impairment." Given the power at his command, they feel that the mental health of the president should get at least as much scrutiny as that of other citizens. They have concluded that Donald Trump has a serious personality disorder and is a danger to the country. For that reason, they feel that they must honor their "duty to warn" the public of the danger he poses, (just as they have a professional "duty to warn" if a patient is a danger to himself or others.) Since the president appears unwilling to undergo a genuine physical examination--much less a mental health one--these professionals can give the public insights based on the unusually plentiful record of Donald Trump's public actions, comments and even tweets. As both candidate and president (and even during the decades before), Trump was someone who sought the limelight and whom the media found fascinating and worth extensive coverage. He was also very accessible, very quotable and much quoted. Although these psychologists have never examined him, they have a lot of real-time observations to work with, as well as so many available written interviews, articles and books, many in Trump's own words. They also feel that, as professionals, they can address some of the questions the public has about the behavior and comments of the president, including,"Is this unusual but normal? Or is it something that should make me worried, even afraid?" You know the answers these authors all reach from the title. But they each take a different focus in their individual chapters. Here's a sample: "Unbridled and Extreme Present Hedonism", "Pathological Narcissism and Politics: A Lethal Mix"; "Sociopathy"; "Donald Trump: Is (a) Bad, (B) Mad, (C) All of the Above)"; "Why 'Crazy Like a Fox' versus 'Crazy Like a Crazy' Really Matters' 'Cognitive Impairment, Dementia and POTUS"; and so on. Some psychologists write about the effect of a president like this on the American public. "How a President Freezes Healing and Promotes Crisis", "In Relationship with an Abusive President', and "Who Goes Trump?Tyranny as a Triumph of Narcissism". There is also a chapter about the 25th amendment. And a conclusion by Noam Chomsky. One non-psychologist who provides an interesting chapter is Tony Schwartz, who wrote The Art of the Deal with Trump. In 2016 Schwartz donated his help to the Clinton campaign for free as "penance" for writing the book that brought Trump to the public attention and helped mythologize him. It's something Schwartz has regretted ever since, even donating the 2015-2016 proceeds from it to charity. Schwartz's chapter is titled, "I Wrote The Art of the Deal with Donald Trump: His Self-Sabotage Is Rooted in His Past" and considers his strict father and early life somehow gave him the idea that everything in life is either a success or a failure--and he can't accept failure.) The writers have different styles, but generally include a wealth of real-life examples and write in a way that avoids jargon. On the face of it, it would seem that Trump's supporters wouldn't want to have anything to do with this book. However, it's not a left-wing hatchet job; it's professional psychologists analyzing the President of the United States in his actions and comments. If anything, it seems more important for his supporters to read and think about all this than it would be for his critics (even if Trump supporters wind up rejecting its conclusions, they'll be well-informed on why so many people feel that way). A valuable and unique contribution to the literature about the Trump presidency.