John Gartner, assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Medical School profiles the three Emanuel brothers (White House chief of staff Rahm, Endeavor talent agency founder Ari, and head of bioethics at the National Institutes of Health Zeke) as classic examples of hypomanics.
[Rahm] Emanuel displays many characteristics of a hypomanic temperament. This mildly manic disposition–which is not a mental illness–comes with assets that could propel someone to the top of his field: immense energy, drive, confidence, creativity, and infectious enthusiasm. I have found through interviews and historical accounts that hypomania has animated many leaders, from Alexander Hamilton and Andrew Carnegie to Emanuel's former boss Bill Clinton.
But it also carries a cluster of liabilities: overconfidence, irritability, and especially impulsivity that often pitches the hypomanic into hostility. Drives are heightened and impulse control is weakened, making the hypomanic brain like a Porsche with no brakes. In keeping with his hypomanic temperament, Emanuel doesn't need much sleep and he can't stay still. "He's like a shark that always has to keep moving or he dies," says John Lapp, who worked for Emanuel. And, like Clinton, Emanuel is highly creative, not least because his hyperkinetic mind can't stop generating ideas. "He's an idea machine," Sabato says.
There's something very American about an over-the-top personality running the White House staff
