The key to understanding politicians is to realize that what you see is not necessarily what you get. In many cases, the politician is not a singular individual, but rather is made up of two distinct personalities: the public figure and the private person.

The public face, the one that each politician wants you to see, is the great leader who loves everyone. Whenever you see a political candidate kissing a baby, you can be sure that you are seeing his or her public face in full bloom.

The private person is, on the other hand, the real individual. The degree of overlap between this persona and the public one is variable, but sometimes the distinction is revealed to be far broader than usual.

Such is the fate that befell former prime minister Brian Mulroney last Monday, when Peter C. Newman announced the publication of The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister. The interviews contained in the book were recorded by Newman over the course of Mulroney’s nine years in office, with the former PM’s nominal consent stemming from a discussion that had taken place years earlier.

The Mulroney tapes are at once incredibly frank, revealing and politically embarrassing for the former prime minister. His often profane words include rants about several politicians, and other key individuals. According to Maclean’s, Mulroney characterized Pierre Trudeau as a “coward and a weakling” who “conducted himself … like a cruel dictator.” He derided Jean Chrétien as a “mean dirty bastard” and “fucking stupid,” and as a politician who was effortlessly able to renege on his campaign promises to repeal the GST and NAFTA. Mulroney advised Kim Campbell, his successor as prime minister, to “keep your pecker up.”

Since the publication of Newman’s book, Mulroney has gone on the record as saying that while he feels “devastated” and “betrayed” by the public release of what he considered private reflections, he also blames himself for not being more wary of talking to a reporter.

With the public revelation of such private thoughts, Mulroney has now crossed the line that separates the politician’s private and public faces. But while he can no longer attempt to claim the disposition of a saint (as most politicians are wont to do), in many ways Mulroney has become more human since the publication of Newman’s book.

Part of the reason for the general public distrust of politicians is that we know their public faces are masks. Who else goes around kissing babies in their spare time? There is a fundamental suspicion for politicians based on their tendency to say whatever it takes to make them popular. Mulroney conducted himself throughout most of his career like a normal politician, the public never quite sure where his loyalties lay. But with the release of his candid interviews with Newman, the real Brian Mulroney is now on display for all to see.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with Mulroney’s unflattering characterizations of his political colleagues or his inflated sense of political importance—at one point he claimed credit for the fall of the Berlin Wall—it is indisputable that the former prime minister has now revealed his true colours to the public.

In a world where those holding public office tend to check their true personalities at the door, this can be a breath of fresh air. But, unfortunately for Mulroney, in this case the effect is akin to an embarrassing fart.

—With files from Maclean’s