A First-rate Madness

Nassir Ghaemi, a clinical psychiatrist at Tufts, makes a genuinely provocative case: that in times of crisis, leaders with depression or bipolar disorder — Lincoln, Churchill, FDR, MLK — outperform their mentally stable counterparts because the illness itself sharpens empathy, creativity, and realism. It's intellectually bracing and draws on real clinical expertise. The New York Times bestseller status is earned. The honest caveat is that the argument has real methodological problems: Ghaemi selects his case studies carefully and excludes effective leaders with stable mental health, and retroactive psychiatric diagnosis of historical figures is contested ground. The logic can also explain any outcome after the fact. Stimulating and worth reading — just hold the conclusions at arm's length.