By most contemporary accounts, this kid was a mess, and failure would be his fate.
His father, who was rarely home, offered nothing but criticism and deemed his son a wastrel. His mother, too, was frequently absent, a socialite more interested in parties, pleasures, and other men. His schoolmasters in his elementary grades wrote negative reports about his academic performances and his character. As he himself would later state, “Where my reason, imagination or interest were not engaged, I would not or I could not learn.”
