New York Times columnist David French is an Evangelical Conservative. He is decidedly not a Democrat, a leftist, or even a centrist. But in his recent column about the deal slated to hand Tik Tok to a small group of American investors, he describes President Donald Trump as the worst sort of crony capitalist. This when “crony capitalism has reached a new low.” French concludes , “There is no law holding [Trump] back. Instead, we are left to the whims and desires of a man who cares about only himself, a man who is willing to discard any law or standard to satisfy his insatiable lust for power.”
French’s use of the word “lust” overlaps precisely with how Todd Pittinsky and I define it in our book, Leaders Who Lust: Power, Money, Sex, Success, Legitimacy, Legacy.* Our definition of lust is simple, even prosaic. Lust is a psychological drive that produces intense wanting, even desperately needing to obtain an object, or to secure a circumstance. When the object has been obtained, or the circumstance secured, there is relief, but only briefly, temporarily. Then the craving, and the quest, begin anew.
If you assume, then, as French does, that Trump has a “lust for power” then you assume several things at the same time.
- That Trump has a ceaseless craving to control.
- That this craving is, as French notes, “insatiable.”
- That this craving is all-consuming.
- That this craving will last as long as Trump does.
- That this craving will not be stopped or slowed by anything or anyone in any conventional way. Such as, for example, the rule of law or reliance on a traditional norm. If then, Trump is to be stopped or even slowed it will have to be in a way that historically is unprecedented.
Americans who dislike and distrust Trump need to understand that leaders who lust appeal to followers. Trump was not rammed down America’s throat. He was freely elected and, if a presidential election were held today, it’s possible he would be voted in again. As we observe in our book, “leaders who lust can and often do appeal to followers pulled in by the leader’s obvious, sometimes even ostentatious passion, by their fierce ambition, and by their relentless determination.”
It’s precisely because leaders who lust, especially for power, appeal to followers who seek a savior, those of us not so inclined need to understand how high and steep our climb.
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*Cambridge University Press, 2020.