Donald…The Worst President We Have Ever Had

By Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., M.A., M.Div., MFT

First, let me say that while lying and politicians have been the subject of many jokes since at least the time of Plato (or probably earlier), one must sort through humorous cynicism and those who use “the art of lying,” if you will, as a weapon meant to deconstruct the constitutionality of the United States.  Poking fun at politicians for lying is, well…fun.  But the current situation where lying becomes the tool of less than reputable political leaders such as Donald and his ilk, marks something different and frightening.  When one combines his penchant for lying with other pathologies that define Donald’s personality, one understands why a recent poll of 154 presidential historians ranks Biden 14^th (a rating of 62.66/100) and Donald ranks dead last at 45^th (a rating of 10.92/100).  I think this is startling.  In this essay, however, I want to build on this and explain why I too think Donald is the worse president we have ever had.

Donald’s view of the presidency is skewed by a mental pathology called “narcissism.”  Indeed, in 2018, 27 psychiatrists and mental health professionals held a conference attended in person by the 27 core professionals, but hundreds more joined online.  The point of the conference was to assess the dangerous nature of a president such as Donald and compile their findings in a book entitled The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.  While making a diagnosis in absentia is something frowned upon by The American Psychiatric Association (APA), these people reasoned “Assessing dangerousness is different from making a diagnosis: it is dependent on the situation, not the person. Signs of likely dangerousness due to mental disorder can become apparent without a full diagnostic interview and can be detected from a distance, and one is expected to err, if at all, on the side of safety when the risk of inaction is too great.”  What did they conclude?  Donald is one of the most dangerous people to ever hold the presidency because he is a “malignant narcissist,” the core of which is focused on bullying and terrorizing behavior.  This led the mental health professionals to conclude:

• When NPD [Narcissistic Personality Disorder] and psychopathology combine, they form a pattern of behavior called malignant narcissism. This isn’t a diagnosis, but a term coined by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm [1] and elaborated on by personality disorder expert, Otto Kernberg, to describe people so driven by feeling special that they essentially see other people as pawns in their game of kill or be killed, whether metaphorically or literally. Hitler, who murdered millions, Kim Jong-un, who’s suspected of ordering his uncle’s and brother-in-law’s deaths, and Vladimir Putin, who jokes about “liquidating journalists”— no doubt all fall in the category of malignant narcissist (among possessing other pernicious traits, like sadism, or delight in hurting others) (pp. 58-59).

Trump idolizes these people and calls them his “friends.”  He likes their brutal ways and the way they wield power.  He desires the same for himself and believes that becoming President will achieve it for him.  Donald’s loyalty is not to the Constitution and the rule of law.  His purpose is determined by his malignant narcissism, which means that he is loyal only to himself and embraces only that which will achieve his megalomaniacal ends.  A person so wrapped up in his “specialness,” and who views others as pawns to be used up in his pursuit of power cannot be a good president because he cares little for the people that comprise our complex and diverse society.

A second reason that Donald is such a pathetically horrible president is that he is a pathological liar.  A pathological liar must be distinguished from a “habitual liar,” which some have often called Donald.  A habitual liar is one who does so because lying has become a habit.  They sometimes lack intent and if one were to call them out on it, they may have no apparent awareness that what they said was a lie.  A pathological liar, on the other hand, is different.  According to Robert Longley (ThoughtCo), pathological liars are individuals “who chronically [tell] grandiose lies that may stretch or exceed the limits of believability.”  Accordingly, Longley identifies three “key takeaways” concerning pathological liars:

• Pathological liars habitually lie in order to gain attention or sympathy.
• The lies told by pathological liars are typically grandiose or fantastic in scope.
• Pathological liars are always the heroes, heroines, or victims of the stories they concoct

In addition, pathological liars do not lie out of habit; they have a purpose.  When we think about this in relation to Donald, he lies as a tool to deconstruct verifiable facts that may be used against him or deter from the ends he is attempting to achieve.  As such, consistency is not an issue and while he may say one thing in the morning, he has absolutely no problems contradicting his statement that evening.  He does not care that someone will notice, but anyone pointing out the contradiction will earn Donald’s scorn and belittlement (his favorites are “fake news” and “you are a horrible reporter”).  What concerns Donald is the consequences these lies achieve.  Philosophically, we might say that his lies have a deconstructive force that erodes and makes light of anything Donald believes is contrary to his purpose. 

That, however, is not the only end of his lying.  He also lies to gain the sympathy and loyalty of his followers.  In doing so, he portrays himself as the victim of conspiracies seeking to keep him from office to gain sympathy, and lies about his commitment to, for example, fundamentalist Christianity to gain the loyalty of those whose votes he needs if he is to win.  Finally, his lies create a mythological past (e.g., “Make American Great Again”), which defines a time that perhaps never was, and he lies about the recent past in which he glorifies his efforts as president taking credit for things he did not do and blatantly lying about what he wants people to think that he did (the so-called “Presidential Debate” with President Biden is a good example of this; see A Complete List of All of Trump’s Debate Lies for details).  He lies about his opponents in such a way that he can easily attempt to bully and deride them as being unfit (e.g., “Sleepy Joe,” “Crooked Joe,” or “Slow Joe,” and he now calls Vice-President Harris “Laffin Kamala Harris.”  These names are designed so that he can easily deride his opponents on posts to Social media or in his rally speeches without drawing attention to details).   

Finally, the “Big Lie,” which has become the loyalty standard of the GOP, maintains that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald even though such claims have been debunked in court after court throughout the land.  It does not matter, however, whether the Big Lie is true or not.  The purpose of spreading this lie is to undermine public confidence in the election process and create a “convincing” foundation from which to launch another revolt by his followers should he lose the 2024 election. Indeed, an article in a Cambridge publication, Perspectives on Politics, by Kevin Arceneaux and Rory Truex notes:

• The legitimacy of democratically elected governments rests in part on widespread acceptance of the outcome of elections, especially among those who lost. Evidence from “consolidating” democracies shows that when politicians and their supporters refuse to accept defeat, it decreases support for the political system and increases the likelihood of attempts to overthrow the government through violent means. Consequently, the willingness of incumbent politicians to accept defeat is a crucial test for democratic stability. (p. 863b).

The Big Lie marks a rebellion against the principles, values and democratic policies that have governed the United States for the last 248 years.  Or as Arceneaux and Truex conclude, “Democracy often dies with the consent of the people it empowers.  If voters do not hold their own party‘s politicians accountable or, worse, egg them on to undo democratic processes to achieve partisan ends, it threatens the stability of the American democratic system” (p. 876a).

These are not the lies of a habitual liar, although lying has followed Donald throughout his career.  Rather, these are the lies of a pathological liar that when combined with malignant narcissism seeks to destroy American democracy, the rule of law and pave a way for Donald to become a dictator like his “Strongmen” friends, whom he so admires.  Because of this, Donald did not make, nor will he ever make a good president for our country.

Finally, my last point is that Donald lacks the leadership to be a good president.  Closely connected to the above, one wonders how a malignant narcissist who is also a pathological liar could ever rise to the demands of leadership.  I don’t believe Donald can.  A malignant narcissist who is a pathological liar simply does not possess the qualities necessary to be a good leader much less a good president.   

In the Harvard Business Review,  Rebecca Knight writes about the “essential qualities” of a successful leader.  She lists eight:

• Authenticity by which she means being able to put your best self forward on a consistent basis. Quoting Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill, she notes “Competence is not enough; people need to trust your character.”
• Curiosity, or being able to explore the unknown to understand “the art of the possible.”  This means being able to “look at situations and issues from the standpoint of [others].”  Developing this skill means developing the skill of asking questions.
• Analytic prowess, which means critical thinking skills that allow you to break down complex problems to their root causes and coming up with “fresh solutions.”  Making a sound decision means being able to take account of the facts, appreciating what they say, and revamping one’s strategies accordingly.
• Adaptability, which “fosters an agile team culture.”  In this case, it is not about the leader; its about the leader’s ability to listen to the team members building a consensus opinion by doing so.
• Creativity, which again means listening to others because creative solutions most often come from a meeting of minds where differing ideas are entertained, not just a single idea.
• Comfort with ambiguity or “cultivating a systems mindset,” which highlights how things are interconnected, an insight that allows leaders to grapple with uncertainty caused by opposing ideas. 
• Resilience, or recognizing the fluidity of a situation and understanding the cultural context of a problem so that instead of giving up, a good leader is able to “recalibrate” and pursue the goal of one’s office.
• Empathy, which is stepping into the shoes of those with whom you work and understanding the complexities of lives your work will affect and how it will affect them.  Developing empathy means engaging those who disagree with us that we not only understand their positions but develop a greater appreciation for their differences.

If Donald is a narcissist, and I think he is, the personality traits of a narcissist do not lend themselves to the qualities necessary to being a good leader much less a good president.  The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (the diagnostic standard in the United States; hereafter, DSM 5) identifies a narcissist as someone who:

1. Is overly boastful, exaggerating one’s own achievements
2. Pretends to be superior to others
3. Lacks empathy for others
4. Looks down on others ass inferior
5. Monopolizes conversations
6. Is impatient, angry, unhappy, depressed or has mood swings when criticized
7. Is easily disappointed when expected importance is not given
8. Always craves for “the best” in everything
9. Has a very fragile self-esteem

It is important to keep in mind that to meet the criteria, the DSM 5 requires that a person have only 5 of these traits to qualify as a narcissist.  It is also important to note that most narcissists hide their “fragile self-esteem” behind a flamboyant, caustic and bellicose façade.  They are violent, lack empathy and become easily upset when people do not agree with them or are unwilling to demonstrate loyalty to their ideas.  Often, spousal abusers are narcissists.

So, while a narcissist may bully themselves into positions of authority or power, they are not, nor will they ever be good leaders.  It only takes five to qualify for a narcissistic personality disorder diagnosis.  While like the mental health professionals mentioned earlier, one cannot make a diagnosis in absentia, one can certainly note behaviors that lend themselves to narcissism.  Given what I have seen, Donald displays 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 8.  Malignant narcissism looms, and to the extent that it does, a narcissist cannot be authentic for they live a lie, curious because curiosity might prove them wrong, a critical thinker for that means entertaining the facts that may be contrary to what they want, adaptable because they do not adapt to others, but others must always adapt to them, they cannot be creative if that means listening to others for a narcissist does not listen, a narcissist does not tolerate ambiguity, narcissists are not resilient but they stubbornly cling to their façade, and they are not empathetic for they have no regard for those different from themselves.  I hold that Donald is all of these things and for that reason he is the worse president the United States has ever had and if elected again, I fear he will be even worse.

A malignant narcissist when combined with pathological lying does not reveal the character necessary for a good leader, nor can a person with this personality, with no equivocation, be a good president.  I believe that the presidential historians voted Donald the worse president the United States has ever had because he lacks the ability to lead and demands loyalty to his own agenda, an agenda that is quite often contrary to the Constitution and the rule of law it establishes.  If we are wise, we heed the warning of the presidential historians and the mental health professionals.  We will not elect Donald to be president for he lacks the qualities necessary for the job.

Works Consulted:

Arceneaux, K., & Truex, R. (2023). Donald Trump and the lie. Perspectives on Politics, 21(3), 863-879.

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[1] Erich Fromm was a student of Freud.  As he went on his own, however, Fromm distinguished himself from  Freud.  Without getting into details, however, much of the psychological work done by Fromm was impacted not just by Freud, but by the treachery of the Third Reich, Hitler and his pogrom against the Jews.  As such, he experienced the treachery of a dangerous narcissist in the reign of terror perpetrated by Hitler, and it was from his analysis of Hitler that he coined the phrase “malignant narcissist.”