Editor James Marriott believes that it was the flaws of US President Donald Trump that brought him to the top, and that the president, like many leaders, has a despair at the love and attention that voters respond to.
In his article in The Times, Marriott referred to President Trump dancing at a campaign rally last week to the rhythms of the popular Village People song "YMCA", asking: What is the psychological torment and deep despair of love that drives a 74-year-old man? A year-old, billionaire, and leader of the free world to shake his old waist on 1970s classic pop in order to satisfy a shrieking and screaming crowd?
He said if Trump had done nothing else in his presidency, his behavior would have at least provided a lesson in psychology.
Over 4 years it has been an extraordinarily scandalous reminder of the fact that men and women are not driven by complacency or a settled sense of self-worth in the pursuit of a high position.
Trump seems to understand this in his animalic way, as his book Crippled America, published before his 2016 election campaign, includes a Western passage stating that his author's picture on the cover is intentionally "angry and mean" to reflect "the anger and misery I feel."
The editor noted that Trump recognized that anger and unhappiness are among the powerful driving forces of politicians. We are accustomed to viewing the psychological traits of our leaders, such as the famously flawed anger of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the social embarrassment of Theresa May, as occasional flaws. We see it as a sign of what got them to the top.
The writer elaborated on the flaws that existed in some of the leaders and brought them to the top of the political hierarchy in their countries.
He alluded to President Mary Trump's niece on his family's book "Too Much and Never Enough," in which she attributes his narcissism and ambition to the profound personal misery caused by his mother's illness when he was a child, leaving him in the care of his terrible father, Farid, who was unable to calm or love His son, let alone meet his basic needs.
The writer concluded that the deepest motivations of political leaders are not found in politics or idealism, but in unhappiness and trauma and the most intelligent of them know this.
Trump's ambition and others like him are the driving force, and he has been unable to resist him, and this extreme ambition often comes from a terrible and painful place.