Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 3, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2018 | Page 13

Global Security and Intelligence Studies
be sure, during the 1940s insight into the mind of Hitler and his decision-making
was highly sought after to understand and combat how a person could sanction
the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
Research focusing on dictators has lent additional insight into whether
leaders are born or made, as well as how individuals can come to commit, and
to order, extraordinary acts of violence against others. Authoritarian leaders are
excellent subjects to examine how personality impacts politics; their near-total
control over all political activity ensures that their directives impact actions taken
by the government (Greenstein 1987; Post 2003). For leaders including Hitler
(Victor 1998; Coolidge, Davis, and Segal 2007; Coolidge and Segal 2007, 2009;
Hyland, Boduszek, and Kilkiewics 2011), Saddam Hussein (Post 2003; Coolidge
and Segal 2007, 2009), Kim Jong-Il (Post 2004; Coolidge and Segal 2009), and
Stalin (Birt 1993; Stal 2013), it is their extreme—and often dramatic—actions and
decision-making, as well as their propensity toward violence, that make them important
subjects for dictatorship research (Hermann 1976).
Dictators, and dictatorships, are often looked at with negative connotation
as they are associated with images of violent repression, death, punishment, and
widespread fear. In fact, the deep-seated fear experienced by the public is largely
what helps these tyrants stay in power—something that is certainly a factor in this
case study of François Duvalier. Often when assessing leadership behavior through
a psychobiography, researchers have focused on a detailed review and assessment
of the individual’s upbringing, their first encounter with a position of power, key
political mentors, the political environment in which they came to power, how
they assembled a powerbase, who they surround themselves with, among other
things. Specific to the study of dictators, Moghaddam (2013) argues the importance
of taking a holistic approach and examining trait-based explanations for
their behavior as well as situational context and group characteristics. To avoid
reductionism, leadership personality, to include that of political dictators, must
be examined in the context of the cultural environment in which they live and
operate (Runyan 1981). For this reason, we carry out a psychobiography, a type
of at-a-distance approach, to assess the leadership of François Duvalier and better
understand how a physician charged with healing human ails, transforms into a
political dictator that does not hesitate to take human life to enhance his own.
A psychobiography, as it sounds, takes a detailed look at a person’s biographical
history and applies psychological themes to help assess a person’s life
and gain understanding about their leadership behavior (Lasswell 1930; Post 2003;
Schultz 2005). Through a content analysis of written and/or recorded material, the
information assessed focuses on a leader’s upbringing, and the social and political
development into their adult years. Here, the statements of the leaders themselves,
in addition to their biographical and sociological information, are assessed to infer
their political psychological make-up (Cottam et al. 2004). Through psychobiographies,
political psychologists assess personality traits like that of “The Big Five”
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