Personality and U.S. Presidents in the 21st Century
Liz Flanders
PoliSci 391
Personality and U.S. Presidents in the 21st Century Paper
10.19.10
The presidency of the United States is arguably the most important position to hold in the entire country. The president is the figurehead of the country; the person people look to for reassurance and the person they blame when something goes wrong. Of the forty-four presidents that our country has seen to this day, each of them has their own distinct character and personality. Some will argue that the personality of the president shapes their performance in office. One of these people is James Barber, author of the book The Presidential Character. In his book, Barber makes an argument concerning the impact of personality and presidential performance. He believes that the character of the president matters above all, and through his system of personality types, citizens will be advised in choosing the right president through some clear criteria. Barber organizes his theory of presidential character into four different trait-based dimensions. The first two dimensions are activity and passivity, measuring how much energy and activity each person devotes to his presidency. The last two dimensions are positive and negative affect, measuring the person’s feelings about what they do as president, whether they experience political life as happy or sad, enjoyable or discouraging. These baselines lead into four basic character patterns – active-positive, active-negative, passive-positive and passive negative. Barber argues that every president of the United States can be placed into one of these categories. Active-positive Presidents would be highly energetic and active, while truly enjoying their duties as president and having high levels of self-esteem. They would be flexible and adaptive to different situations and set specific goals to achieve. Sometimes active-positive presidents can get into trouble from a sense of arrogance and lack of understanding why others do not
PoliSci 391
Personality and U.S. Presidents in the 21st Century Paper
10.19.10
The presidency of the United States is arguably the most important position to hold in the entire country. The president is the figurehead of the country; the person people look to for reassurance and the person they blame when something goes wrong. Of the forty-four presidents that our country has seen to this day, each of them has their own distinct character and personality. Some will argue that the personality of the president shapes their performance in office. One of these people is James Barber, author of the book The Presidential Character. In his book, Barber makes an argument concerning the impact of personality and presidential performance. He believes that the character of the president matters above all, and through his system of personality types, citizens will be advised in choosing the right president through some clear criteria. Barber organizes his theory of presidential character into four different trait-based dimensions. The first two dimensions are activity and passivity, measuring how much energy and activity each person devotes to his presidency. The last two dimensions are positive and negative affect, measuring the person’s feelings about what they do as president, whether they experience political life as happy or sad, enjoyable or discouraging. These baselines lead into four basic character patterns – active-positive, active-negative, passive-positive and passive negative. Barber argues that every president of the United States can be placed into one of these categories. Active-positive Presidents would be highly energetic and active, while truly enjoying their duties as president and having high levels of self-esteem. They would be flexible and adaptive to different situations and set specific goals to achieve. Sometimes active-positive presidents can get into trouble from a sense of arrogance and lack of understanding why others do not
Bibliography: Baker, Peter. "Education of a President." The New York Times 12 Oct. 2010: 1-8. Dickinson, Tim. "The Case for Obama." Rolling Stone Magazine 13 Oct. 2010: 1-5.