I'm "Crazy" About My Candidate

[PBrunsel]

Yes, even in American Presidential politics we must go back to the days when a person's own sanity was questioned. In American politics their have been reports of "crazy" candidates from William J. Bryan to Barry Goldwater.

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William Jennings Bryan was the first presidential candidate to attract the attention of psychologists. On September 27th, 1896, the New York Times published an editorial titled “Is Mr. Bryan Crazy?” The Times produced “proof” in the form of some extravagant and controversial stamens Bryan had made during the campaign. “No one can look through these statements without feelings that these are not adaptations of intelligent reason to intelligent ends.” The ending of the editorial was a letter by a noted psychologist that stated that Bryan was indeed crazy and if elected president he would be a “Madman in the White House.”

The publishing of that letter led to the Times led to a national rush to inspect “that madman from Nebraska.” On September 29th, 1896, the Times published a series of interviews with “noted New York alienists” [an alienist is a psychologist]. The headline was “Is Mr. Bryan a Mattoid?” The next day a report was published with huge writing “Paranoid or Mattoid?” Most psychologists concluded that Bryan was mentally unstable and was not fit to be President of the United States. It was left out that most were big donors to the McKinley Campaign.

In 1912 Bull Moose Nominee Theodore Roosevelt has his sanity questioned. Dr. Allen McLane Hamilton discussed the subject in the New York Times Dr. Morton Prince [a founder of the New Psychology Movement] wrote a long paper about TR’s mental capacity. A Chicago real-estate dealer promised to give 1,000 dollars to charity if it could be proven that Teddy Roosevelt was not insane. Of course this was proven by Dr. Prince and the 1,000 was given to the American Red Cross among other charities.

Even in 1964 sanity was a question. Fact Magazine polled 12,356 psychiatrists and asked them the question “Is Barry Goldwater psychologically fit to be President of the United States?” Only 2,417 replied and the results showed: 1,189 said “No” and 657 said “Yes” and 571 were undecided. All major psychiatrists dismissed the poll as partisan politics, but it was but another bump in the Goldwater ’64 Campaign.   

[A18]

Goldwater was great. As for William Jennings Bryan and that socialist Teddy Roosevelt, they're crazy in my book!

[J. J.]

I believe Goldwater successfully sued the magizine for libel, one the few times a public figure was successful in that type of action.

Edit:  Yes he did, and here is the link:  http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=396&invol=1049

[A18]

Hasn't the Supreme Court since ruled that due to the first amendment, a politician can't sue for slander/libel?

[Erc]

Hasn't the Supreme Court since ruled that due to the first amendment, a politician can't sue for slander/libel?

They can, but they can only succeed if there's...oh, what's the phrase...purposeful and malicious disregard for the truth, or somesuch.

[A18]

Still a really dumb ruling. If you're too much of an idiot to have an clue what you're saying, you should either shut up or get sued.

[Emsworth]

They can, but they can only succeed if there's...oh, what's the phrase...purposeful and malicious disregard for the truth, or somesuch.

I believe the exact phrases are "actual malice" and "reckless disregard" for the truth. (The case in question is New York Times v. Sullivan.)

[A18]

Overturning that ruling would be great!