70
to go on out West, but I wanted to finish the semester for
the credit. In one of Dr. Merriam's classes there was a great,
big burly fellow walked in one morning, and he started a series
of lectures on psychopathology and politics. I have a copy
of the book out there now. The man was Harold D. Laswell,
who later became a very well-known person in the academic world
as a member of the faculty at Yale, and ended up I believe in
Columbia.
P: Right, very great person.
L: Did you know him?
P: No, but I knew of him, of course.
L: Yes, he was a friend of Manning's, Manning met him later on. I
don't know how much of this he told Manning or anything, but
he began to lecture on the motivation of people in public life.
I remember specifically one person in public life that he mentioned.
He didn't give a name, but he mentioned the case of a man in the
state of Indiana who devoted his time and energy and his wealth
for the blind. DidI mention this to you the other day?
P: No, this is new.
L: And, he didn't know why but he became ill. Something happened,
the program wasn't going right, and the man became ill. So he
went to an analyst, Freud, I believe, was still alive at that time. .
P: He was.
L: .and there were few psychoanalysts in this country. And
Laswell was one who had been psychoanalyzed and, I suppose,
would have qualified if he had been a medical doctor. I guess
Laswell had interviewed him and analyzed him. After a period of
some months, it was discovered that when he was a very small child
he had a pet cat and older boys had caught the cat and pulled its
eyes out. He'd grieved for a long time about this blind cat, which
he took care of when he was a little boy. Then, when he became
grown and became a wealthy man, it was natural that he devoted
his time on projects for the blind in the state of Indiana. But
he was never a person to run for office or anything like that.
After that was brought out, the man became well. He was no longer
sick. I can remember thinking well, one way in the future society