I do believe that a "shrink" would have a field day with him: poor kid, hard-working mom, daily heard stories from the women mill workers on how bad life was, portly, bad eye... rejected by the big boys and kept out of west point and out of the highest circle of influencers so he was driven (maybe bitter). His life worked out fine...his kids life worked out fine so in the end, he won.
I recall reading once that when veterans knocked on the door of Gen'l Sherman he would give them a buck and before sending them on their way, being that they were down and out, Sherman would send them to Butler as he was the keeper of government patronage. Or if no jobs at Butler's fingertips he would send them to one of the veteran's homes for which Butler was the President...and travel there for free