ABSTRACTContent analysis measures of imagery for the achievement, affiliation‐intimacy, and power motives were applied to Richard Nixon's 1969 first inaugural address The resulting motive profile–high achievement, high affiliation‐intimacy, and average in power motivation–was validated through a systematic analysis of the course of Nixon's everyday behavior as reported in the memoirs of six aides, and was also used to explain several paradoxes of Nixon's politica