Political Trade Secrets: Winning Campaigns | Elections | Politics
Jul 29, 2026 ¡ 1 hr 25 min ¡ 15 segments
đď¸ Political Trade Secrets: The Legacy of Congressman Tim Murphy: The Late Psychologist, Navy Reserve Officer, Author, & Mental Health Reformer Shares Wisdom on Navigating Congress, Trauma, & FaithâŚ
Tim MurphyGuest
Dustin OlsonHost
Well, I think it's fascinating being a licensed psychologist and being in what might be the capital, not just of this nation, but of the world for narcissism and the most powerful city on the planet.

And I would love to get your thoughts on, is it true that people think that there's a lot of narcissists in Washington, D.C.? And what is the psychology of power?

Sometimes it can be a tremendous self-absorption that one is the whole center of the universe.

Everything matters in terms of what I think, not anything else, in the most extreme version, almost sociopathic and solipsistic.

But in order sometimes to deal with the battles of life, to push forward to get something done, there's a certain amount of narcissism that a leader needs to have.

That is to believe what I'm doing is right and I have to push this issue and sometimes push people out of the way, convince people what it is.

If a person is in office and they're always straddling issues, never quite making decisions, you don't get a lot done and it's hard to lead.

George Washington in his younger life really wanted to be a British officer and had some tremendous defeats as a young military leader.

I think it was 2021 or so, and the Battle of Fort Necessity lost tremendously, in part because he was so convinced that he was gonna be doing things his way that he failed to look at the whole field and what was going on, all the dangers around him.

They may run because they have a particular issue that they feel is important for them.

They may feel that they somehow are destined to do that as a family member or something else.

Well, I think it's fascinating being a licensed psychologist and being in what might be the capital, not just of this nation, but of the world for narcissism and the most powerful city on the planet.

And I would love to get your thoughts on, is it true that people think that there's a lot of narcissists in Washington, D.C.? And what is the psychology of power?

Sometimes it can be a tremendous self-absorption that one is the whole center of the universe.

Everything matters in terms of what I think, not anything else, in the most extreme version, almost sociopathic and solipsistic.

But in order sometimes to deal with the battles of life, to push forward to get something done, there's a certain amount of narcissism that a leader needs to have.

That is to believe what I'm doing is right and I have to push this issue and sometimes push people out of the way, convince people what it is.

If a person is in office and they're always straddling issues, never quite making decisions, you don't get a lot done and it's hard to lead.

George Washington in his younger life really wanted to be a British officer and had some tremendous defeats as a young military leader.

I think it was 2021 or so, and the Battle of Fort Necessity lost tremendously, in part because he was so convinced that he was gonna be doing things his way that he failed to look at the whole field and what was going on, all the dangers around him.

They may run because they have a particular issue that they feel is important for them.

They may feel that they somehow are destined to do that as a family member or something else.
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