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This book is an important milestone in the continuing refinement of modern psychobiography. It formulates the inner psychological life of Lyndon Johnson within the framework of “self theory” (Kohut, 1971). It first summarizes how Johnson's forceful personality was described by his biographers. It points out how Johnson was an enigmatically complex man, with contrasting personality traits: he was both kind and cruel; expansive and at times secretive and private; charming yet capable of being abrasive. These personality extremes can be readily understood within the framework of self theory.
The authors' description of Johnson's inner self is quite straightforward (pp. 32-48). In their view, Johnson had throughout his life a deficient sense of self-worth that made him constantly feel empty and lonely. This “self-deficit” stemmed from a childhood lacking in positive realistic feedback from his parents. A child's sense of worth functions like a battery that has to be continuously charged by the positive “mirroring” from parents. Johnson had a virtually symbiotic relationship with his scholarly, academically oriented mother for his first two years. The oldest of five children, Lyndon always remained her favorite. Every two years, however, with the arrival of yet another sibling, her special attention to Lyndon was lessened, and Lyndon felt hurt by this apparent rejection. She insisted that Lyndon live up to her high standards of morality and show intellectual growth if he was to continue to receive her special attention. She also kept him a submissive, obedient little boy, with long curly hair and wearing dresses. At four, his rebellion against his mother's influence began when he refused to go to dancing class or to take violin lessons. His father wanted to mold Lyndon into a more masculine boy and had his hair cut