Dangerous Charisma

by Jerrold M. Post

Offering an in-depth psychological and political portrait of what makes Donald Trump tick, Dangerous Charisma combines psychoanalysis with an investigation into the personality of the current American president. This narrative not only examines the life and psychology of Donald Trump, but will also provide an analysis of the charismatic psychological tie between Trump and his supporters.

While there are many books on Donald Trump, there has been no rigorous psychological portrait by a psychiatrist who specializes in political personality profiling. As the founding director of the CIA’s Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior, Dr. Post has created profiles of world leaders for the use of American presidents during historic events. As once stated by Jane Mayer of The New Yorker, who characterized Dr. Post as “a pioneer in the field of political personality profiling,” “he may be the only psychiatrist who has specialized in the self-esteem problems of both Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.”

In this new book, the psychiatrist who once served under five American presidents applies his expertise to profiling the current resident in the White House, with surprising and revelatory results.

Genres: Psychology, Politics, Nonfiction, Society, Current Affairs, Biography

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 5, 2019

About the author

Dr. Post has devoted his entire career to the field of political psychology. Dr. Post came to George Washington after a 21 year career with the Central Intelligence Agency where he founded and directed the Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior, an interdisciplinary behavioral science unit which provided assessments of foreign leadership and decision making for the President and other senior officials to prepare for Summit meetings and other high level negotiations and for use in crisis situations. He played the lead role in developing the "Camp David profiles" of Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat for President Jimmy Carter and initiated the U.S. government program in understanding the psychology of terrorism. In recognition of his leadership of the Center, Dr. Post was awarded the Intelligence Medal of Merit in 1979, and received the Studies in Intelligence Award in 1980. He received the Nevitt Sanford Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Political Psychology in 2002.

A founding member of the International Society of Political Psychology, Dr. Post was elected Vice-President in 1994, and has served on the editorial board of Political Psychology since 1987. A Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, he has been elected to the American College of Psychiatrists and is currently Chair, Task Force for National and International Terrorism and Violence for the APA.

Reviews

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of Dangerous Charisma is an expert of political personality profiling. He ran a pilot CIA program to profile world leaders including Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat at the height of President Carter’s search for peace in the Middle East.

However, since Dangerous Charisma is about the most controversial President ever, Donald Trump, I can tell how you will rate it based on your party affiliation. Democrats will love it. Republicans will hate it. So if you are Republican move on and read Piety and Power about Mike Pence or Witch Hunt about Trump himself. There are books on each side of the aisle and actually the Pence book is very good.

Now, back to the Democrats. I don’t think calling Trump narcissistic or “mirror hungry” is particularly new. You hear it multiple times per day on MSNBC. That being said, it is new to wrap these issues in the official psychological jargon from the DSM, the manual to diagnose behavioral disease. Plus there are some great talking points for cocktail parties like that Citizen Kane is Donald’s favorite movie, which is about an unhappy wealthy narcissist much like Trump himself.

I enjoyed the look at the psychological underpinnings of Trump’s diehard supporters. It states that in times of stress, like being unemployed and seeing all their nearby factories close, leaves people looking for a voice in the wilderness stating follow me to the promised land where America is great again. Obviously, if you are a Trump supporter, you are not going to like hearing yourself characterized in this manner. You could be comfortably reading the Art of the Deal again and now you are so upset that you are planning on trolling me on social media. I’m just repeating what the author is saying. Please troll someone closer to the source material.

Speaking of the book, despite being a lifelong Democrat that held her nose while voting for Hillary in 2016, I don’t think Dangerous Charisma Is very good. It won’t change anyone’s mind and instead will just drive our fractured political system further apart. It also reads like an undergrad textbook. However, the cogent summary of the Trump presidency’s effects on the public’s mental health, strategies of the Democratic Party, and the United States’ ongoing foreign policy pulls my rating up to 3 stars.

Thanks to Pegasus Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Bulent Atalay · Rating 5 out of 5]

President Trump has done some things right. But then it would be impossible for there to be no overlap whatsoever in his personal interests and those of the American people. That is, indeed, the only way that he can benefit America, the Free World, and the larger global community.

A world-class psychiatrist, educated at Yale and Harvard, Dr. Post is a pioneer in the field of political personality profiling. The field calls for insight into psychology, cultural anthropology, group behavior, politics, and international affairs. He was the founding director of the CIA’s Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior. Doucette, who has done graduate work at Georgetown, is the Director of Research for Political Psychology Associates, Ltd. The authors dissect the personality of the President and the psychological vulnerabilities of his supporters to bare their synergistic relationship. The danger is precisely in the perfect fit between Trump’s peculiar charisma and the set of needs of his supporters. Not Napoleon, not Hitler, not Castro could have achieved a higher score in the APA’s Diagnostics and Statistical Manual’s criteria for narcissism as the President could have.

The authors differentiate between the “destructive charismatic” and the “reparative charismatic.” In the former class, they cite David Koresh’s Branch Davidians, Rev. James Jones’s Jonestown, Hitler’s Germany, and Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iran in which the leader-follower relationship becomes a force for destruction. In the latter class, they cite Ataturk of Turkey, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela in which the leader-follower relationship becomes a force for healing. Natives in the African bush say the elephant “never forgets” and the buffalo “never forgives.” Mr. Trump, suffering from quintessential narcissism, has a mix of the two lumbering African animals. Unable to take slight of any kind, he feels compelled to trample, bulldoze, and otherwise flatten anyone who stands in his way…and then brag about it!

Dangerous Charisma makes for a sobering and somber read, but an opportunity to understand the dangers posed by this President to nobler American values. I have recommended it strongly to family and friends.

[Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dangerous Charisma was not what I expected. What I wanted was an in-depth psychological profile of Donald Trump and some insight into the minds of his followers.

What I got were a few insights about the psychology of a charismatic leader and his followers. The book states that “it is meant to provide readers with a clearer understanding of both the political personality of Trump and that of his followers.”

Most of the book was a summary of a history of the Trump family, Donald Trump’s life and career, and detailed lists of his deeds as president. There were many long quotes from books and interviews. It felt like a lot of it was padding.

Still, I finished the book. I didn’t learn much but it was an accessible, quick summary of the Trump presidency.

[Cristie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really informative book about Trump and his followers. The author wrote about the psychological reasons why his followers are so loyal and goes into detail about Trump's narcissism. This book truly shows how much of a hold Trump has over his loyal followers.

[Candice Walton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this book out of curiosity. I’m a psychology major and was genuinely curious about what a reputable psychiatrist might say about our president and “his followers”. Post makes so many wild assumptions and conclusions based on the weakest of evidence. The blanket statements abound; a no no for any good mental health professional. I wouldn’t trust any of his analysis after reading this. It really is just an opinion piece with very little substance. He is a very good writer though, ignoring the content.

[Peter Geyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an explanation and defence of psychological profiling and its application to both Donald Trump and his supporters. The key terms are charisma and narcissim.

These days the labelling of anybody and everybody with psychological or therapeutic attributes or deficits is rampant and might be considered a tactic, or common discourse. A relation of mine recently self-described as a critical thinker in an email which appeared to me to comprise angry judgements and demands, without evidence to support the self-labelling. I declined to ask what was meant or claimed.

Jerrold Post, the prime author here, seeks to avoid anything like that by defining his terms and setting out his experience in the field of psychological profiling, distinguishing it from clinical advice and judgement. The book proceeds after that with examples taken from events and occurrences.

For me, the significant part of the book is where Post sets out his credentials knowledge and explains his terms, because it doesn't matter how many examples you use to support your case if the fundamental principles and presumptions are either flawed or implausible. None of the examples are arcane, or unknown and they support his contention. What this might mean is also discussed, although of course how a person responds to events is really only known after the event.

The book is excellently and tightly written and differs from a breezy journalistic text.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty disappointing.

The main reason I picked this up is because it promised a psychiatric analysis of Trump.

I was curious to read an evaluation from a professional psychiatrist.

Jerrold Post touts his background as someone who was relied upon by presidents to psychologically evaluate people for the CIA, but he seems to utilize precious little of that expertise in this book.

The vast majority of the book's 16 chapters just regurgitates well known news articles without presenting anything new.

The one aspect that I thought was interesting was Post's emphasis on "The Charismatic Leader-Follower Relationship".

I think that's an important point. Trump's followers are just as important as Trump and it's clear they have some kind of Symbiotic relationship.

But as I said, the rest of the book didn't really seem to present anything new.

[Eileen Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profiles not only Trump, but all the major political players, from Putin and Kim Jong-un to Trump's kids. Profiles his followers in groups: evangelicals to white nationalists to farmers (some overlap there). Fascinating and frightening book.

He gives advice about what we might be able to do to intervene if Trump is voted out but refuses to leave. He polled some experts and the average odds for that scenario were 35%.

Chilling.

[AJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review based on writing alone (I.e., not politics): Half-baked. Could have been an article. Needs a copy edit.

[Susan Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scholarly and well-written

Of all the assessments of Trump’s mindset and worldview, this one is my favorite (so far). It is well researched, well documented and the author has a command of the nuances of the subject matter.

[John Kruse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Post provides a coherent and compelling description of how Donald Trump’s narcissism is warping his presidency and our country. A particular strength of the book is the explanation of the feedback loop between the president’s self-aggrandizing behaviors and the adulation provided by those looking for strong, decisive leadership.

In contrast to what some other reviewers have stated, Dr. Post does not declare that Mr. Trump meets DSM criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Rather, he delineates the president’s narcissistic traits. Dangerous Charisma provides an adequate review of the putative origins of Mr. Trump’s narcissism, but for a more detailed exploration of the childhood origins of Mr. Trump’s aberrant behavior, read Dr. Justin Frank’s Trump On the Couch.

My major objection to Dangerous Charisma’s exploration of Mr. Trump’s psychology is the complete omission of any mention of Mr. Trump’s ADHD. Because ADHD is defined completely by objective, observable behaviors, the sheer volume of publicly available data confirms the validity of this diagnosis. While ADHD affects how Mr. Trump processes all information, narcissism is just part of the content of his thoughts. On a daily basis we see how Mr. Trump’s impulsivity, inattention, inconsistency and hyperactivity contribute to instability in our country and the world. If narcissism were Mr. Trump’s only mental health problem, he would not act in so many ways that undermine his credibility, authority, and competence.

On a final note, Dangerous Charisma would have benefited from closer editing. Numerous sentences are repeated, almost verbatim, a paragraph or two later. Many sections merely contain recitations of historical facts, without building an argument for narcissism being a driving factor. The book also occasionally mentions comments or actions by the president that seem to contradict the narrative of narcissism, but then fails to address how one might incorporate these events into the explanation that is offered for Mr. Trump’s psychology.

[Elizabeth Kosmetatou · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece profile by the master of Political Psychology. Should be required reading, together with Mary Trump’s Too Much but Never Enough, for historians, political psychologists, and political scientists.

[Cari · Rating 4 out of 5]

*cracks knuckles*
Where do I even begin here?

Dangerous Charisma is written by Jerrold M. Post, a psychiatrist and the founding father of political personality profiling for the CIA. In his 21 year career, Post wrote political personality profiles on the likes of Saddam Hussein, Menachem Begin, and Anwar Sedat for use by the United States government. In the beginning of this book, he gives a rundown on the types of information utilized in such a profile: a "psychobiography" of the person's life experiences, their key influences, and a breakdown of their leadership style and personality traits. In Dangerous Charisma, Post covers all of these points in profiling Donald Trump. He also examines the relationship between Trump and his followers from both psychological and political standpoints. While it was extremely interesting to read, the fact that Post's analysis of Trump makes such complete and perfect sense unfortunately validates the fear I feel in regards to the lasting danger of the Trump presidency and its effect on the world stage.

We all know that the strongest aspect of Trump's personality is um, well, more of a personality disorder... narcissistic personality disorder, that is. This narcissism is the key element of his personality (political and otherwise) and it basically translates into a complete lack of empathy, unwavering paranoia, and a strong tendency to be a bully. A lot of the narcissistic things he says are too hilarious to even make you angry, because they are just so ridiculous. I chuckled out loud multiple times while reading some of his statements (I just can't help it!). In one of my favorite sections of the book, entitled Scope of His Claimed Knowledge, it lists the many things he has publicly [boastfully] claimed to "know more about than anyone else", to include: drone technology, TV ratings, ISIS, social media, courts, lawsuits, the VISA system, trade, the US government, renewable energy, taxes, debt, money, infrastructure, democrats, construction, the economy, and technology. Get outta here, guy. My other favorite part of the book was towards the end, where Post expresses concern that Trump may not accept defeat if unsuccessful during the 2020 election... Note: The book was published in 2019 and Trump was already setting the stage for the events that have occurred since Election Day. It's almost like Post predicted Trump's actions, based on his political personality profile or something. *wink wink*

In all seriousness, while I may have laughed at some direct quotes included in this book, frankly, it was still one of the most terrifying things I've ever read. Conspiracy theories, the "us versus them" mentality, and an incitement of fear that our very freedom is at stake without Trump's leadership has left America in a fractured and highly volatile state and I fear for our future.
"...in order to be effectively charistmatic it is a great asset to possess paranoid conviction. While there is no necessary relation between charisma and paranoia, when the two are linked some of the most fearful excesses of human violence in history have occurred."

[Mannie Liscum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of Jerrold Post, MD and Stephanie Doucette’s book, “Dangerous Charisma:The Political Psychology of Donald Trump and His Followers,” intrigued me. Given Dr. Post’s background as a 21 year veteran of the CIA with a specialty in political personal profiling I was expecting for a deep and revealing exploration. Broken into three multiple chaptered sections: I) The Charismatic Leader, II) The Political Psychology of Trump’s Followers, and III) Trump’s Impact; the book is organized well and written in a highly readable fashion. The first section is quite good in establishing: the topic of ‘personal political psychology;’ what charismatic leaders and how they arise developmentally; and how Donald Trump’s family, upbringing and adult life fit within this rubric. Dr. Post raises the classic psychology/psychiatric diagnosis issue of the ‘Goldwater Rule’ - the American Psychiatric Associations prohibition on making diagnosis at a distance of public figures, and makes it clear that despite this rule he feels compelled to use his expertise to comment on our 45th President. My expectations were still quite high. But then the second section fell completely flat. It was chuck full of disturbing facts about the President (and his followers), but with the exception of utilizing the Presidents own books and written word (which few others have done effectively), there is little new information here that hasn’t been covered multiple times in other works. Insights into the President’s psychological profile is not particularly insightful not deep, leaving me wanting much more. Surprisingly the authors don’t even refer to other mental health professionals who have more significantly broken with the Goldwater rule to provide insights about the President (e.g., Dr. Brandy Lee’s “
The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President” and Justin Frank’s “Trump on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President”). This is a huge oversight that could have strengthened the authors discussion. Unfortunately both of the books cited here are more insightful than Post and Doucette’s book. The last section of the book is decent, maybe stronger then the section section but not as strong as the first. Moreover, the books conclusions are flat feeling to this reviewer. Overall a decent book, easy engaging read, but not a lot of new stuff, despite the promise of more. 3 of 5 stars.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 2 out of 5]

[it's interesting how they have some robotic 'spoiler alert' on some reviews now, sigh it's the Artificial Intelligence Police!]

It can be tricky when you get the main guy behind the discipline of Political Psychology, and is up there with John Gittinger for his work with the Agency, but you start to tackle the dysfunction in your own political system and your own leaders, with your own biases about how the country should be led....

it'll go from a 3.4 with all the minuses of the book
and as others have noted (Diane's review), what saves the book, so it feels more like a 4.9

a. Trump's effect on the mental health on the public, his fans and his detractors
b. Democratic Party strategy
c. US Foreign Policy

.......

For my money, Nixon and Trump were the least dangerous people in the history of the Republican Party, but they were unpopular with some of their policies, and their hardball tactics, and well their style of Truthbending that might upset more people.....

though other politicians do less offensive forms of Truthbending, or on different issues for different tactical reasons.

Trump's problem is he's a Conservative Democrat, who is trying to break both parties, as well as putting out his own policies which seem like Archie Bunker and Pat Buchanan's version of Samuel P. Huntington regarding the elites, globalization, immigration, and foreign policy.

As John Mearsheimer said, Trump's actions are too incoherent to really be a Realist Foreign Policy

but i'd say he gets part marks for dysfunctional government in a world with dysfunctional parties that have totally lost their path with Economic and Foreign policy.

And he's probably able to beat the pants off Trump in backgammon

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of what is contained in this book I had read many times in others. I did find the author's reasoning for Trump having so many dedicated followers spot on. He noted that the anger and outrage had been brewing for a number of years and Trump was able to exploit those feelings of paranoia and inferiority to his advantage, and basked in the adoration they offered him, thus feeding his own narcissism and paranoia. Most disturbing was while most chapters ran between 12 to 15 pages, the one called Permission to Hate was a hefty 30 pages long. It's hard for me to believe there are so many people in this country as narcissistic and paranoid as Donald Trump. As this book was published in 2019, Post practically predicted that Trump would not accept a 2020 loss and neither would his followers. This phenomenon of dangerous charisma is not just specific to the US or even this generation. Such hero worship has surfaced many times throughout history (remember Charlie Manson?) and around the world. It's most disturbing to us because it's going on here and now.

[Jen Greseth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose to listen to the audio of this book and found it compelling and thought provoking. It’s fairly objective and rooted in observation, without significant logical leaps even when contemplating possible future actions.

I appreciated the analysis of various groups within Trump’s “base,” which I think many of us are guilty of viewing as a homogeneous group. It was helpful in my understanding of different points-of-view, although not all of that understanding gives me peace or confidence in the future.

This book was written pre-COVID, and I would personally note that many of the author’s predictions about then-future behaviors were spot on.

[Bill Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, I didn't finish it. I couldn't stand reading more about Donald Trump. His overwhelming narcissism and megalomania have been obvious for years. Here, an expert explains where they came from and confirms those characteristics. As captured by another reviewer, "The danger is precisely in the perfect fit between Trump’s peculiar charisma and the set of needs of his supporters. Not Napoleon, not Hitler, not Castro could have achieved a higher score in the APA’s Diagnostics and Statistical Manual’s criteria for narcissism as the President could have."

The truly scary part isn't Trump so much as those who come within the thrall of this madman.

[Rita Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dangerous Charisma by Jerrold M. Post was an enlightening read about the effects of narcissism on former President Trump, and the needy narcissism of many of his followers. It was also an examination of Trump's early life, and the family's past history that set the stage for his entry into politics. It also painted a portrait of the inner workings of government and its environs. The book was written before his last days in office, but still it may have pointed to things about to happen, especially if things went wrong for him . . . as they did.

[Sharon C. Robideaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative but flawed

When the author explains psychology, he is in his element. But most of what he says about Donald Trump sounds copied from less academic sources. The diction level drops, errors increase, and organization suffers. I learned very little that I did not previously know about Trump, but for anyone who had not delved into the personal background of the man previously, some facts may startle. The one sense I came away with was shock at how precisely Post predicted Trump's reaction to losing the 2020 election.

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I already knew a symbiotic relationship exists between Trump and his followers. I was hoping for an understanding of the root or cause of that relationship. It’s partly my fault I suppose as I’m looking for an answer that probably just does not exist. I suppose the same is true for the other leaders referenced in the book: Churchill, Khomeini, Hitler, Sun Myung Moon, Jim Jones, etc. - we’ll never be able to fully understand or explain. Post does provide a partial, small fraction of understanding, but not close to complete. I was naive to think any book could help me to understand enough to shine the light for certain followers that I care about.

[Mark Wheat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An attempt to understand Donald Trump as a political leader using analysis of his leadership style and comparisons to other past world leaders. This does not delve as much into his personal family dynamics as Mary Trump's recent book and thus is not as engaging. Nonetheless his portrayal of a narcissistic leader seeking praise to bolster a damaged self is quite similar to Mary's picture of her uncle.

[Roberta Korus · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a shame that a book addressing such an important topic is so poorly written from a literary point of view. Often redundant, with incomplete sentences, it was difficult to get through. But the last couple of pages were absolutely spooky with their prediction, written in 2019, of something very much like what happened on January 6.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the first part describing the leaders and followers. I was looking for a general discussion. The second part was well written, but dealt too much with Trump. Some of the material was dated by now ( hard to imagine) and had been carried in the news at great length.

[Val Wilde · Rating 3 out of 5]

The psychological profile is really interesting, but reading it in 2025 as Trump dismantles everything is pretty grim. I would have liked to see more depth in drawing connections between world events and Trump's psychological profile.

[Z.D. Gladstone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit heavy on the scientific terminology, I'm not sure if a reader without some background in psychology will follow it all. But it's accurate. Accurate, thoughtful, & important. If Donald J. Trump confuses you, this book is a strong step toward understanding.

[Ross Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read offering a glimpse into the mind of Trump and his followers.

[George Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liberal bias.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too psychodynamic for my taste--BUT a great, concise analysis of Trump and his followers.

[Terry Zink · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a summary of events, with only a little insight. Wish there was more insight and analysis.