Lee Richards, 25 January 2012
One of the more bizarre releases of British Government papers to the National Archives this month includes a strange set of correspondence from 1961 between Robert Jenkins MP and the Prime Minister’s Office. Using phrenological ‘analysis’, Jenkins claims President Kennedy to be superficial beyond belief and a political adolescent and brands President de Gaulle as egotistical and almost a megalomaniac.
Robert Jenkins was the Conservative MP for the London constituency of Dulwich. He was also a long term practitioner and advocate of the pseudo “science” of Phrenology. Measuring the bumps and shape of a person’s head apparently is enough to look deep into their psyche, to read their personality, and in Robert Jenkins’ view, phrenology “allows one to assess the capacity of individuals”. Jenkins had been studying phrenology for over 40 years and had more recently broadcast on the subject on television. Before him, he claimed, British First World War leader, David Lloyd George was also a brilliant phrenological amateur. Jenkins confessed:
I, at least, have no shadow of doubt as to [phrenology’s] truth and the enormous benefit which I believe could result in a Statesman knowing in advance for certain, the mental qualities of both opponents and friends with whom he has to negotiate, particularly in the realm of international affairs.
In a private meeting with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s Parliamentary Private Secretary, Jenkins offered his phrenological skills in order to provide the Prime Minister with assessments of world figures including U.S. President John F Kennedy and French President Charles de Gaulle. Jenkins said the assessments would be secret and that he would not require any “acknowledgement” for his services. Macmillan was amused by the idea and requested Jenkins to furnish manuscripts on Kennedy and de Gaulle.
Jenkins’ phrenologic delineation of de Gaulle was sent to the Prime Minister in September 1961. In a covering letter, Jenkins wrote:
…the Science of Phrenology does not claim to do more than estimate the capacities of an individual. Those skilled in the Science draw their conclusions from observing the cranial formations and make their deductions in the same way that a doctor gives a diagnosis …you will observe that I have been extremely critical but I have endeavoured neither to overstate or under-estimate, but to warn in no uncertain way. I have pulled no punches.
as egotistical and bordering on megalomania.
President de Gaulle had been the Second World War military commander of the Free French forces. However, his relationship with both President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill during the war was often strained and he felt himself sidelined in the important decision making processes. As the post-war President of French, friction continued with both the U.S. and Britain with international diplomacy becoming turbulent at times. De Gaulle partially withdrew military cooperation with NATO, demanded the withdrawal of American nuclear weapons from French territory and famously said “non” to British membership to the European common market.
Jenkins' estimate of de Gaulle certainly did not pull any punches and was highly critical of his personality. His delineation of de Gaulle began:
His head is angular and irregular in shape and therefore he is unbalanced in his thinking and judgement.
The largest brain organ generally directs the actions of an individual. President de Gaulle’s largest organ is Firmness which indicates a substantial amount of will-power, determination and obstinacy. He is persistent and tenacious and too much inclined to be guided by prearranged ideas and is almost certain to defeat his own purpose in the end, by the exercise of this indomitable will-power.
He also has a very large organ of Self-esteem which, although it gives him dignity, he can endure no restraint and is very ambitious for notoriety and distinction. He will be egotistical, pompous and over-bearing and his own mind will exaggerate too much, his limited opinions and capabilities.
The delineation also suggests that de Gaulle “lacks caution and will often act hastily and from impulse rather than judgement” and that he is “lacking in original thought and the ideas he puts forward are usually brought about by proxy. He is inclined to be vague and pointless in both ideas and their communication.” His egotism makes him love himself more than his country:
He venerates France and as a Frenchman is proud of his country’s antiquity and culture but his love of France is much less than his actions and statements would lead one to accept. His egotism is so great that he believes that he is the embodiment of France.
Jenkins concludes his assessment of de Gaulle:
In my opinion, it is a tragedy that at this moment de Gaulle presides over the destiny of France and wields such power in the affairs of Europe.
His inflexible determination and obstinacy are not backed by an intelligent mind. His actions and thoughts are governed by feelings and sentiment and not by reason and judgment …His inordinate vanity and his genuine belief that he, himself, is a great man, result in a mental condition approaching megalomania.
To get the best out of him, he should be astutely flattered. As one of his attitudes to life is to disagree automatically, the frontal attack is useless …It should be remembered in this connection, that his patriotic urge is based more on his admiration of de Gaulle than of his country. He is a man of very decided opinions and often may stupidly be prepared to go to the stake for them.
Jenkins finished by asserting that the only way to tackle de Gaulle was to stand up to him and in that way he will learn to cooperate with solving the vast problems confronting the western world.
The following month Jenkins provided Macmillan with an even more stinging assessment of President Kennedy, although with the caveat:
What I say I believe to be accurate but not having measured his cranium and never having seen him in the flesh, but only in photographs, it is impossible to give a full diagnosis, particularly as his hair is bushy and I am naturally not prepared to guess the measurements underneath.
But he added:
It is with great regret that this delineation is so critical and derogatory of President Kennedy, but I should be failing in my duty if I did not state what I believe to be the truth regarding his mental qualities.
assessed as superficial beyond belief and a
political adolescent.
The phrenological delineation of President Kennedy begins by saying that the largest organ in Kennedy’s brain is that of language and, therefore, he “possesses quite superlative powers of flexibility of utterance and fluency of speech. This organ of language is the dominant factor in his make-up.”
The delineation continues:
He will talk with ease and will throw out the same idea in many forms of expression, frequently amounting to tautology. He will buy up such ideas as he has been able to borrow, in a multitude of words and may thereby, temporarily mesmerise unwary listeners.
He has a much greater command of words than ideas …his superficiality is beyond belief.
Jenkins also accuses Kennedy, more often than not, of failing “to comprehend the reasons, principles and causes of things and will not always see the force of logical arguments. He will be injudicious in planning and may have great difficulty in seeing the end from the beginning. He is slow to draw inferences and unskilful in adapting means to desired ends.” In Jenkins phrenological opinion Kennedy copies rather than initiates and lacks originality of thought, his actions are governed more by public opinion than his own judgement and that Kennedy “has less brain capacity than any past President of the United States.”
He asserts that Kennedy could never have got this far without the backing of competent advisers and predicts he will have a severe nervous breakdown in the future.
The delineation’s summary of the President is that:
His judgement on world affairs should not be trusted owing to his lack of those mental qualities that give powers of reasoning, making nice distinctions, and formulating plans.
He is very agreeable, loves the limelight and, like de Gaulle, is amenable to praise and flattery, if subtly applied.
His intuitive knowledge of people is good and he handles them well.
In the course of time, his countrymen will discover that his glowing personality and bubbling exuberance are merely masks to hide the mind of a political and mental adolescent.
The conclusion is rather arrogant and naive in its predictions:
I submit that his incapacity for steering his country on the right course must soon become apparent to the citizens of the United States of America.
When the moment comes – and it is not far distant – that the statesmen of the Western World realise that Kennedy is unreliable because of his lack of judgement, reasoning powers and constructive ability; that will be the moment for the British Prime Minister, Mr. Harold Macmillan, with his unparalleled knowledge of people, both individually and in the mass, to assert his leadership of the West once again, and take command of the negotiations which will take place during the next few years between East and West.
On reading the delineation, and no doubt taken aback by his frank opinions of other world leaders, the Prime Minister dryly wondered what Jenkins would make of “yours truly”.
Although offering to write further assessments of other prominent world statesmen, including the Soviet leader Kruschev, it appears Jenkins’ unique insights were no longer required, not even for amusement. The Government file containing the correspondence was closed for 50 years.
Source: TNA file PREM 11/3458