Cult of Personality?

diane

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Can you fill that out just a little more? Do you mean his army? They definitely loved him all to pieces. They were probably his best contribution to the war - he did with the AoP what Lee did with the ANV. They were a loose, undisciplined, hard drinking army that had gotten used to losing - he changed all that except the losing. Winning was the change Grant brought! The generals who followed McClellan after he was dismissed had a very good army to use. But as far as the AoP was concerned, they were so devoted to McClellan that Lincoln referred to them as "McClellan's Bodyguard".
 

Joshism

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Can you fill that out just a little more?
Cults of personality are most common in, though not limited to, totalitarian regimes. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao, Saddam, and North Korea are all well-known examples. Usually it's a government propaganda technique once a leader is in power but it doesn't have to be. Trump had one even before he was elected and Gandhi is accused of having one in India.

A cult of personality involves portraying "an idealized and heroic image of a leader, often through unquestioning flattery and praise." The result is idolization, reverence, and loyalty far above and beyond the individual's actual accomplishments.

What got me thinking about this was how incredibly upset the AOTP was when McClellan was removed in late 1862. Units were ready to riot or even launch an insurrection. McClellan's reviews, proclamations, and messiah complex had cultivated his irrational loyalty. It's way out of proportion to Mac's actual accomplishments.

Contrast to Lee with the ANV, which is probably the only thing comparable in the war. Lee's soldiers were skeptical about him from the beginning and he slowly earned their respect and admiration through a series of victories, some bold and arguably brilliant.

The biggest knock against the idea is the time period. A true cult of personality requires mass media. McClellan was undoubtedly popular with some newspapers of the era, but had no direct or even indirect control of their message. Photography being in its early days soldiers couldn't hang pictures of McClellan in their tents. He could make up for some of this with his personal presence.
 

diane

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Thank you! That really helps.

Perhaps the modern era is the place for a cult of personality - we see it in celebrities, more so in the Golden Years of Hollywood than now. It requires the cooperation and willing use of the press - or total control of it.

The interesting thing about the newspapers of the CW era is they came out of a time of prosperity for most of the country, expansion and the growth of a possible world power - they could show Americans what was possible beyond the borders. If you promote a national spirit of 'manifest destiny' for example, you would need a figure appropriate to the idealism. War interrupted that only - in that sense, both George McClellan and Robert E Lee would fill the bill. The press created other soldier heroes such as Stuart and Forrest, who added thrill. Soldiers do this, which is why Americans kept electing victorious generals to the presidency, starting with Washington.

This may be what happened to McClellan. As you point out, he believed he was the Savior of the Union, the only one who could do it - and that does fit with the cult personality's view of themselves. It was always there - he was born a golden boy with great expectations. Without the war he would have been a successful businessman, maybe even a Vanderbilt, which takes the same type of ego directed to society rather than war. The role of Hero of the Nation was extravagant...and insured a 'way out' if one failed. I've always thought inside McClellan's head was a frightening place! But - if you need a rock star for the people, he was an excellent choice.
 

Joshism

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Perhaps the modern era is the place for a cult of personality - we see it in celebrities, more so in the Golden Years of Hollywood than now. It requires the cooperation and willing use of the press - or total control of it.
While I don't think celebrity fandom is dissimilar to cults of personality, I think there are some key differences.

A cult of personality is more religious - the leader as a savior of the nation.

A cult of fandom is more about...I guess jealousy or covetousness is the best way to put it. The desire of the fan to be, or to be with, the celebrity.
 

5fish

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Here is an article that argues. George McClellan had a messianic complex. It was a very godly man and thought god purpose for him was to be "the savior of the union"... Its a good read... It has a part about Lincoln questioning God's will... Deus Vult...


In an 1894 article for Century Magazine, James B. Fry, formerly on McClellan’s staff, wrote, “The belief that he had been called to ‘save the country’ had seized upon him….[T]he strong religious element of his character served to fasten the conviction and blind him to the obligations and influences which governed him at other times. Under the power of this hallucination he was insensible of his own weaknesses and errors.

T. Harry Williams bluntly stated that McClellan “developed a Messianic complex.

James B. McPherson echoed that in his 1988 Pulitzer Prize–winning Battle Cry of Freedom, claiming that “McClellan’s letters to his wife revealed the beginnings of a messiah complex.

Stephen W. Sears offered: “Taking the role of God’s chosen instrument might be dismissed as nothing more than a harmless conceit but for the effects it produced on his generalship. It was at once the prop for his insecurity and the shield for his convictions. With Calvinistic fatalism he believed his path to be the chosen path, anyone who raised criticisms or objections…was at best ignorant and misguided and at worst a traitor.”
 

5fish

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diane

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While I don't think celebrity fandom is dissimilar to cults of personality, I think there are some key differences.

A cult of personality is more religious - the leader as a savior of the nation.

A cult of fandom is more about...I guess jealousy or covetousness is the best way to put it. The desire of the fan to be, or to be with, the celebrity.
You're correct, although there are religious aspects to celebrities as well - Elvis lives! I think people saw a hero in McClellan who reflected what they needed to see, not what he really was. The press made him their darling for that reason...and Little Mac did not want to disappoint. If he stepped down a little and dirtied up his uniform, he just might do that. If the king does not move off his throne, he can never trip.
 

diane

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Here is an article that argues. George McClellan had a messianic complex. It was a very godly man and thought god purpose for him was to be "the savior of the union"... Its a good read... It has a part about Lincoln questioning God's will... Deus Vult...


In an 1894 article for Century Magazine, James B. Fry, formerly on McClellan’s staff, wrote, “The belief that he had been called to ‘save the country’ had seized upon him….[T]he strong religious element of his character served to fasten the conviction and blind him to the obligations and influences which governed him at other times. Under the power of this hallucination he was insensible of his own weaknesses and errors.

T. Harry Williams bluntly stated that McClellan “developed a Messianic complex.

James B. McPherson echoed that in his 1988 Pulitzer Prize–winning Battle Cry of Freedom, claiming that “McClellan’s letters to his wife revealed the beginnings of a messiah complex.

Stephen W. Sears offered: “Taking the role of God’s chosen instrument might be dismissed as nothing more than a harmless conceit but for the effects it produced on his generalship. It was at once the prop for his insecurity and the shield for his convictions. With Calvinistic fatalism he believed his path to be the chosen path, anyone who raised criticisms or objections…was at best ignorant and misguided and at worst a traitor.”
I saw this discussed in another good article some time ago - that slant was not so much about religion but mental health. There was a fad in history of attributing mental disorders of all sorts to all sorts! It seems to me there is a difference in a man who believes he, basically, IS God (take Henry VIII) and a man who believes he is on a mission from God. If this were the case, McClellan should have behaved more like Stonewall Jackson - that general was 100 percent on a mission from God! I would suggest McClellan's complex was not a messianic one but a martyr one. Heroic defeat can be just as rewarding as triumphant victory.
 
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