-Caveat Lector- > http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/03/national/03HUTS.html?pagewanted=all > > January 3, 2001 > > Arnold Hutschnecker, Therapist to Nixon, Dies at 102 > > By ERICA GOODE > > Dr. Arnold A. Hutschnecker, who for many years served as Richard M. > Nixon's psychotherapist and who once said that Nixon "didn't have a > serious psychiatric diagnosis" but had "a good portion of neurotic > symptoms," died on Thursday at his home in Sherman, Conn. He was 102. > > Dr. Hutschnecker, whom Nixon began seeing in the early 1950's and who > visited the president twice at the White House, was the only mental > health professional known to have treated a president. Although he > would not talk about it while Nixon was alive, in recent years Dr. > Hutschnecker had discussed the treatment in several interviews, most > notably those quoted in "The Arrogance of Power," by Anthony Summers, > a biography of Nixon published last year. > > In his book, Mr. Summers reported that Nixon first visited Dr. Hut > schnecker, a specialist in psychosomatic illnesses, in 1951, after > reading the doctor's best-selling book, "The Will to Live," which > dealt with complaints like insomnia and hypertension, impotence and > chronic fatigue. > > Initially, Nixon, then a senator, consulted Dr. Hutschnecker because > of pain in his neck and back, Mr. Summers wrote. But Nixon continued > to travel to New York to visit the doctor's Park Avenue office, and > the doctor visited Nixon in Washington. > > When Nixon became president, his aides urged him to sever the > relationship with Dr. Hutschnecker, but the two men maintained contact > by telephone, and Dr. Hutschnecker twice visited the White House, > ostensibly to discuss national issues. > > In the meetings with Nixon, Mr. Summers wrote, Dr. Hutschnecker > apparently acted not only as therapist but also as adviser and > confidant. > > Harriet Van Horne, a journalist who lived next to the building where > Dr. Hutschnecker had his office, is quoted in the biography as saying: > "I once asked a building employee, `Does Mr. Nixon visit friends at > 829?' `Naw,' came the reply. `He comes to see the shrink.' " > > The doctor last met with Nixon in 1993, according to the biography, > when Nixon asked him to accompany him to Pat Nixon's funeral. > > Dr. Hutschnecker was born in Austria and educated in Berlin. After > reading "Mein Kampf," he became a vocal critic of Hitler, family > members said, referring to him in public as a pig. Patients who had > joined the SS warned Dr. Hutschnecker that he was in danger, and in > 1936, he left Germany for New York. > > He was certified in internal medicine and psychiatry, and practiced as > an internist for many years, but he was intrigued with the > interrelationship between mental and physical problems and by the > early 1950's was specializing in psychotherapy. > > He married Florita Plattring in 1934; she died in 1966. He is survived > by a sister, Greta Hutschnecker Plattry, and nine nieces and nephews. > > To his family, Dr. Hutschnecker was known as an enthusiastic > disciplinarian, who chided his younger relatives to "chew each bite 33 > times for proper digestion." > > In 1973, in Senate committee hearings on the nomination of Gerald R. > Ford to be vice president, the committee questioned Mr. Ford about > rumors that he had been treated by Dr. Hutschnecker. Mr. Ford > emphatically denied it, calling the idea "way-out unreliable." > > The doctor was outspoken about the emotional pressures on politicians. > In the 1950's, he suggested that "mental health certificates should be > required for political leaders, similar to the Wasserman test demanded > by states before marriage." > > But he objected to the notion that neurotic men could not be great > leaders. "Is there one man of stature who has not gone through the > tortures of the damned and who has not gone to the rim of an abyss > before his upturn to a meaningful and creative life began?" he asked > in a 1972 Op-Ed piece in The New York Times. > > The key to whether neurosis was a problem, he continued, lay "in the > personality structure of the man who strives for leadership, and > whether his drive to power is motivated by creative or destructive > forces, whether he wants to serve the people or whether he needs the > people to serve him and his ambition." > > In a Times piece written at the time of Mr. Ford's confirmation > hearings, Dr. Hutschnecker denied treating Mr. Ford but contended that > "the help a political leader might seek under stress to secure his > emotional stability is not weakness but courage, and is as much in our > national interest as it is in his." > > In 1970, Dr. Hutschnecker achieved notoriety as the author of a > confidential White House report on crime prevention. In news reports > of the time, the report was cited as urging that all 7- and > 8-year-olds be tested for violent and homicidal tendencies, and > recommending that the most serious juvenile offenders be treated in > camps. But in a 1988 letter to The Times, Dr. Hutschnecker said his > report fell victim to "malevolent distortion" by the media. > > "It was the term `camp' that was distorted," he wrote. "My use of it > dates back to when I came to the United States in 1936 and spent the > summer as a doctor in a children's camp. It was that experience and > the pastoral setting, as well as the activities, that prompted my use > of the word `camp.' " > > Dr. Hutschnecker remained active into his 90's, but his last years > were spent in a wheelchair and he had difficulty speaking. His study, > Mr. Summers said, was "cluttered with the bric-a-brac of a long > professional life, including a photograph of Richard Nixon - inscribed > in 1977 `in appreciation of friendship' - and a Nixon gift of ivory > elephants." > > ----------------------------------------------------------------- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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