Obama on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President

by Justin A. Frank

Even though he’s three years into his term as President, many Americans feel like they don’t know the “real” Barack Obama. From the idealistic campaigner who seemed to share our dreams, and who promised to fulfill our lofty expectations, to pragmatic politician who has repeatedly compromised on the promises of his campaign, it indeed seems as though there are two Obamas. What to make of this? How can the electorate get a better sense of its commander-in-chief, and how can the President more effectively lead a nation in a moment of turmoil and crisis? These questions are of great interest to most Americans, but the questions – and their potential answers – are especially intriguing for a psychiatrist eager to diagnose and help cure the ills that plague our country. Here, Justin Frank, M.D. ,a practicing psychoanalyst and the author of the New York Times bestseller Bush on the Couch - brings a new patient into his office, and the results of his sessions are not only fascinating, but they provide valuable insights that will help readers in their frustrating pursuit of the President’s character.

Obama’s transformation over the course of his brief but incredibly well-examined political career has left some supporters disillusioned and has further frustrated opponents. To explore this change in behavior, and Obama’s seeming inability to manage the response to his actions, Dr. Frank delves into his past, in particular, the President’s turbulent childhood, to paint a portrait of a mixed-race child who experienced identity issues early in life, further complicated by his father’s abandonment. As he addresses everything from Obama’s approach to health care reform, his handling of the Gulf Oil spill, to his Middle East strategies, Dr. Frank argues that the President’s decisions are motivated by inner forces - in particular, he focuses on Obama’s overwhelming need to establish consensus, which can occasionally undermine his personal—and his party’s—objectives. By examining the President’s memoirs, his speeches, and his demeanor in public, Dr. Frank identifies the basis for some of his confusing or self-defeating behavior. Most significantly, he looks at the President’s upbringing and explores the ways in which it has shaped him—and what this means for our nation and its future. 

Obama is a complex and mysterious figure who inspires many questions and great interest from Republicans, Democrats, and from the rabid 24-hour news cycle; this book provides what everyone’s been looking for: an intriguing and provocative assessment of the President’s strengths, weaknesses, and even what could be called his destructive tendencies, ultimately drawing connections that will enable readers to interpret recent history in revealing new ways. 

As Obama’s first term comes to a close, speculation about the future will only grow more intense; Obama on the Couch will give average citizens and pundits alike a way to help all of us anticipate what the President will do next—and what the future of our country might hold.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Politics

271 pages, Hardcover

First published October 18, 2011

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank makes a persuasive case that our president operates from a depressive psychological position and that most of his opposition operates from a paranoid-schizoid position. Which has the implication that he blames himself for failures and also literally cannot see the hatred others have for him. More convincing than Kloppenberg in assigning causality to Obama's conflict-avoidance to his not having seen healthy conflict-resolution modeled by his parents as a child. I wish Obama would read this book.

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, the author is a neo-Freudian; the analysis may be marginally more scientific than original Freudianism, but only marginally so.

Second, a fair amount of the insight needs no special psychiatric skills, just a good general working knowledge of human nature.

Third, while the idea of Obama's "splitting" is good in general, and especially on racial issues, the idea that he's been "splitting" on socioeconomic issues has little political basis and plenty of political evidence to undercut it, going all the way back to 2003, when Vernon Jordan then took Obama, not yet even a U.S. Senator, on a dog-and-pony show in front of a bunch of Wall Streeters and got two thumbs up.

In short, the Obama after the election was the real deal. For Frank to not even consider that in his analysis? A big oversight, or blind spot.

The other insights, denatured from the neo-Freudian background, are still good enough to give this book three stars, not two, but only barely.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obama on the Couch presents a nuanced and even-handed portrait of former President Obama, turning to his writings, speeches, and persona to determine the origins of both his facilities and his deficiencies as a world leader. I did not read Dr. Frank's other books about Presidents Bush and Trump before reading this one. While I found Obama on the Couch insightful in some ways, after reading it, I don't want to read the others. Unfortunately, Dr. Frank's inquiry finds its basis in outmoded Freudian concepts whose veracity I question. Besides, I don't need a book to tell me that Trump was and is seriously ill. After reading this work, I do feel that I understand much better why Obama was such a disappointing figure for me. However, many of the book's biggest revelations appear speculative, especially with the author's limitation of being unable to speak to the subject of his study (Dr. Frank is open about this limitation). Perhaps it's worth a read, but only because a more evidence-based psychological profile of Obama, written by one of his own therapists, will almost certainly never become available.

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good examination of the mindset of the 44th President of the United States.

[Beverly Ritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent insight on President Obama and his somewhat complicated life and upbringing. Obama's childhood appeared to be loving and well nurtured from his Mom (Stanley Ann Dunham) and grandparents. A relationship with his Kenyan father B. Obama, Sr. was almost non-existent. The main father-figure in his life was his grandfather (Stanley Dunham). At an early age, Obama was exposed to different cultures and grew up confident, adaptable and had a "winning" personality.

I read the companion book "Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President", and found, that President Obama possessed a far more well-balanced mental, emotional and temperament than that of Bush. Obama is more deliberate--in a careful and unhurried way--compared to Bush, whom I found to be impulsive individual who lacked thought provoking ideas, thoughts and visions. Obama has shown sound, positive characteristic traits than President Bush, whom I found to be unsettling about his upbringing; and many of his imperfections made its way to the U.S. Presidency! An excellent study of human nature and what motivates individuals to behave as they do from cradle to college and beyond!

I, also, had early insight into Barack Obama's persona from his personal memoirs: "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams From My Father", which describe his struggles as a young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage.

A Well written and interesting read by author Justin A. Frank, M.D. who practices and teaches psychoanalysis in Washington, DC. Dr. Frank is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the George Washington University Medical Center. Bev of Boston, MA

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank's "Bush on the Couch" was much better, but Obama, as Frank says, is essentially mentally healthy. Frank sees the major issue for Obama is the abandonment by his birth father, later his step-father, and then sort of his mother who sent him to live with his grandparents at age 10, while she stayed in Indonesia.

[Ann Cardwell]

Boring with one or two key insights