An oedipal battle between Bush and Bush

Intense rivalry between father and his wayward son has given way to mutual concern about the family legacy

THE TIMES: THE White House was in no mood this week to discuss President Bush’s psychological state after an election defeat that he himself had described as “a thumping”. Tony Snow, Mr Bush’s press secretary, said: “The President is not a guy who — he doesn’t get on the couch — what he does is [say], ‘What it is, is what it is’ ”.

But if the President ever did lie down on a therapist’s couch, any psychoanalyst worth the name would begin by asking about his relationship with his father, George H. W. Bush. The 41st US President is a figure that his son, George W. Bush, the 43rd President, has variously ignored, clung to, sought the approval of and competed with. Some commentators have long since taken to describing an oedipal struggle between them.

Bush v Bush: an oedipal battle between men of rigid beliefs by Tom Baldwin

Mark Alexander