Psychobiography aims to understand historically significant individuals, such as artists or political leaders, through the application of psychological theory and research. Through its merging of personality psychology and historical evidence, psychobiography may be considered a historical form of therapeutic case study: it represents a growing field in the realm of biography. "I had my ambitions---yes---as every American boy worth his salt has. And I dared to dream this vision of the White House, ---I, the humblest of the humble, born in a lowly pioneer's cabin in the woods of Kentucky. My dream came true, and where is its glory? Ashes and blood. I ... have lived with aching heart through it all and envied the dead their rest on the battlefields."