Did George Washington have Aperger's?
I woke up in the middle of the night, and it took a lot self control to stop myself from going to the computer to try to answer the question: "Does anyone theorize that George Washington suffered from Aperger's syndrome?"
Not much to my surprise, I found a couple of reference like this:
Traits that make some people think he might have had Asperger's Syndrome are that he grew marijuana, was worried about being buried alive, and allegedly had to borrow money for his inauguration ceremony. One hypothesis is that he grew marijuana to self-medicate Asperger's Syndrome, self-medicating being something that some people with autism spectrum disorders, ADD, or depression do with intoxicants. Another is that his fear of being buried alive and thus instructed that burial be postponed three days to be sure he was dead indicates a perseverative fear and adherence to an ineffective ritual, a trait occurring in some people with Asperger's Syndrome. The need to borrow money is thought to possibly indicate the poor money management skills of some people with Asperger's Syndrome.
But none of the traits mentioned had anything to do with the reason I thought he might have had Aspberger's: the reason I thought he might is that he recorded and (presumably) adhered to 110 specific rules to maintain dignified behavior.
I think a hilarious, and not completely implausible, actor's portrayal of George Washington might be done by showing Washington as a complete spazz trying desperately to obey these 110 rules he's set for himself.
(By the way, I often try, and fail, to adhere to these, myself.)
posted by VMM at 7:00 PM
5 Comments:
Ferling's Almost a Miracle really gives you a decent sense of the guy, as does Johnson's book.
What doesn't fit is his scope. He ran his plantation, he led exploratory expeditions, he was active in politics, he officered in two wars. I think he was just really industrious, and a bit compulsive.
This bit from Ferling is interesting:
"Washington was not an outgoing man, especially when surrounded by the likes of his colleagues in Congress, virtually all of whom were college graduates and many were lawyers. Probably at an early age, he had found it safer to listen and learn, particularly when in the company of better educated more cosmopolitan sorts. That taciturn manner had become an ingrained habit by middle age. His public demeanor was one of gravitas. Some thought him cold, and to be sure he could be aloof. Abigail Adams, John's wife, who first met Washington later that year, described him as a mana of 'dignity which forbids familiarity.' It was likely a strategy that he adopted early on, a ploy to keep others at arm's length in order to hide what he feared were his weaknesses. Few ever got close to him, and in the real sense of the word Washington may never have had a true friend. Rather, he tended to look on others in terms of their usefulness to him."
Ah, so maybe the correct diagnosis is "psychopath."
I'll have to check these out. I still haven't read any books about George Washington, Father of Our Country, Psycho and Spazz.
Take a sonofabitch to beat a sonofabitch.
As I think about it, maybe the modern example of Washington's vain, methodical personality was Montgomery.
I confess my ignorance, here: most of what I know of Montgomery is from the movie Patton.
Patton and Montgomery were flawed, arrogant military tacticians at best with an almost arrogant and dangerous disregard of the political character of war.
Washington founded a nation which articled, accomplished and disseminated universal humanist principles. Mere generals are asses of burden compared to this. I'll take that kind of psycho any day.
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