One of my favorite times back in the days of working for The Washington Post Company was the executive retreat when veteran journalists of the Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine were invited to take us behind the scenes and share their personal insights about the sitting president and the political issues of the day.
One year, in a Q & A session with Bob Woodward, someone put forward a question about the egocentric nature of the president. (This was in a pre-Trump era.)
Woodward made his mark as an investigative journalist in covering Watergate. But, his trademark became “behind the scenes” books of presidents (Bush, Obama, Trump) and other Washington institutions — 13 best sellers. He was good at gaining access to confidential information and gaining the trust of presidents. So good, in fact, that his media ventures created a net worth estimated at $15–25 million.
He did not hesitate to answer the question, but only after a burst of laughter.
He said that all of the presidents were egocentric. Left unanswered was the question, were some more egotistical than others.
Turns out, we are all egocentric. As Mark Leary, Ph. D., writing in Psychology Today observes:
“Egocentrism has been used in a number of ways over the years, but it comes down to…
