George W. Bush and the Redemptive Dream ─ A Psychological Portrait

In the Spring of 2003, President George W. Bush launched an American military invasion of Iraq. From a psychological standpoint, why did he do it? In the first biography of Bush to draw explicitly on psychological science, Dan P. McAdams offers a provocative analysis of the life and the presidency of George W. Bush, with a focus on explaining his fateful decision to invade Iraq.

McAdams, an international leader in personality psychology and the narrative study of lives, focuses on several key events in Bush's life, such as the death of his sister at age 7, swearing off alcohol at midlife, and his turn to evangelical religion. He argues that Bush's decision was the result of a perfect psychological storm-a momentous confluence of world events and the president's deeply rooted personality traits and family goals. At the center of the storm was the president's peculiarly redemptive story for his own life, an inner narrative that he projected onto the world in the days after 9/11. Written in an engaging style, this psychological thriller offers a truly penetrating look at our 43rd president.

Dan P. McAdams is professor of psychology and human development at Northwestern University and an internationally recognized authority in personality science and the study of lives. He is the author of over 200 scholarly and popular publications, including the award-winning book, The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By.