In Sickness and In Power: Illness in Heads of Government During the Last 100 Years - Couverture souple

David, Owen

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0413776891 ISBN 13 : 9780413776891

Editeur : Methuen Publishing Ltd, 2009

Synopsis

This study of illness in heads of government between 1901 and 2007 considers how illness and therapy - both physical and mental - affect the process of government and decision-making, leading to acts of folly, in the sense of stupidity or rashness.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

In Sickness and In Power looks at illness in heads of government, business and military leaders between 1901 and 2007. It considers how illness and therapy - both physical and mental - affect the decision-making of heads of government, engendering folly, in the sense of foolishness, stupidity or rashness. Owen is particularly interested in leaders who were not ill in the conventional sense, whose cognitive faculties functioned well, but who developed a 'hubristic syndrome' that powerfully affected their performance and their actions. As we learn here, they suffer a loss of capacity and become excessively self-confident and contemptuous of advice that runs counter to what they believe, or sometimes of any advice at all. Long fascinated with the inter-relationship between politics and medicine, David Owen uses his deep knowledge of both to look at sickness in political leaders. Owen expertly scrutinises such diverse political personalities as Sir Anthony Eden at the time of Suez in 1956; John F. Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961; the last Shah of Iran; and President Mitterrand of France who suffered from prostate cancer.The author also devotes a chapter to the hubristic behaviour and relationship between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair. The book ends by outlining some of the safeguards that society needs to address as a consequence of illness in heads of government.

Biographie de l'auteur

David Owen (Lord Owen) is Chancellor of the University of Liverpool and sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords. He was the British Foreign Secretary under Prime Minister James Callaghan from 1977 to 1979. He co-founded the Social Democratic Party in 1981 and led it from 1983 to 1990. As EU negotiator, he collaborated with Cyrus Vance, former US Secretary of State, to put forward the Vance-Owen Peace Plan for Bosnia in 1993. Before entering politics, he practiced as a clinical neurologist and psychiatrist at St. Thomas's Hospital in London. Lord Owen was Minister of State for Health from 1974 to 1976. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and sits on the board of Abbott Laboratories. He is the author of eleven books, including The Hubris Syndrome: Bush, Blair and the Intoxication of Power, In Sickness and in Health: The Politics of Medicine, Face the Future, and A Future That Will Work.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Methuen Publishing Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2009
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0413776891
• ISBN 13: 9780413776891
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 448
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible