Newt is an engineer, Romney is an administrator, Bachmann is an advocate, Santorum is a conservator, Paul is an organizer, Perry is an operator, Huntsman is an entertainer, and Obama is a mentor.
GOP offers a diverse field for 2012
As the presidential primary race heats up, the seven Republican candidates are fighting to define themselves in the minds of voters. In addition to experience, ideology, electability, and debate performance, temperament has arisen as a key factor by which candidates hope to be distinguished from their opponents.
Until now, “temperament” has served as a nebulous term, used to label candidates as “bomb-throwers,” “revolutionaries,” “executives,” and “flakes.” There has not, however, been any objective analysis of the varying temperaments of the candidates. Such an analysis is possible using the theoretical framework expounded by personality psychologist, David Keirsey, in his book, Presidential Temperament.
Keirsey’s temperament theory posits that every person has 1 of 4 temperament types: Artisan, Guardian, Rational, or Idealist. Furthermore, each of these 4 types can be divided into 2 subgroups, creating a total of 8 archetypes that characterize various personalities.
Fascinatingly, the 7 GOP candidates, plus President Barack Obama, account for all 8 of the archetypes, granting Americans a truly diverse field from which to elect their next president. The following is a breakdown of the candidates by temperament and archetype, including partial lists of other American political figures who have had the same temperaments.
The Artisans
Rick Perry
Archetype: Operator
Guiding Motivation: Risk
Political Figures: Lyndon Johnson; Andrew Jackson
As an Operator Artisan, Rick Perry is a pragmatic, political tactician. He is less concerned with the theory or accepted procedures of government than he is with getting things done. He is not particularly ideological, and he will adapt his policies to changing circumstances. He disdains structure and schedules, preferring the freedom to act as the moment demands.
Perry has never lost an election, and for good reason: Operator Artisans love nothing more than a good fight. Perry is driven by the thrill of risking and winning. He views the political “playing field” holistically: naturally sensing the relationships between the players, and perceiving opportunities to be exploited – both valuable skills in legislative maneuvering. Spontaneously adapting to real-time feedback, Perry is at his best in-person, but he loses some of his effectiveness as his audience becomes more remote. This can be seen in his slowness to connect with voters outside of Texas.
Perry also exhibits a populist streak reminiscent of another Westerner, President Andrew Jackson. Perry regularly decries the cronyism of the Northeastern financial establishment, and he argues against the Federal Reserve Bank with the same fiery style that drove Jackson’s assault on the Second Bank of the United States. Also like Jackson, Perry rails against the centralization of power in Washington, yet even Jackson fought hard to solidify Washington’s power once he seized the White House. Could the same be true of Perry?
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Archetype: Entertainer
Guiding Motivation: Reward
Political Figures: Ronald Reagan; James Garfield
When Jon Huntsman, Jr. dropped out of high school to play keyboards in his rock band Wizard, few would have guessed he would one day be an international diplomat and serious candidate for president. Yet, such is the nomadic life of an Entertainer Artisan – especially one who is the son of a billionaire father.
Huntsman is driven by reward, excitement, and novelty. He received his first taste of overseas adventure as a missionary in Taiwan, and the experience clearly had an impact on him, as he majored in international politics when he returned to the U.S. Since then, he has built his career negotiating abroad with foreign diplomats, a task well suited to his adaptable nature and his honed ability to quickly read and make personal connections with others. Like Perry, Huntsman thrives on real-time interaction to get things done, but he opts for persuasive, soft power compared to Perry’s aggressive, hard power.
Despite his often-sour debate performances, Huntsman typically does not take matters too seriously. He lives in the moment and is very in tune with his senses. He is a motocross enthusiast and music aficionado. He also has a natural ear for languages, speaking fluent Mandarin and Hokkien. Common for an Entertainer Artisan, Huntsman has a strong, individualist spirit, which has been exhibited most clearly by his easing of alcohol restrictions in Utah and his bold – almost Reaganesque – support for individual freedoms in China.
The Guardians
Mitt Romney
Archetype: Administrator
Guiding Motivation: Rules
Political Figures: Jimmy Carter; George Washington
On a return flight from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Mitt Romney was allegedly assaulted by SkyBlu, a member of the rap group LMFAO. The reason? Romney instructed Mr. Blu to raise his seat back before take-off. While the full facts of the incident are disputed, three things remain clear: (1) Sky Blu had his seat reclined before take-off, (2) that is against the rules, and (3) Romney’s scolding response to this breach of etiquette is a perfect example of his Administrator Guardian temperament.
For Romney, established protocol is the only route to success, and he has no qualms instructing others to follow it. His attention to logistics and standard operating procedures has served him well in business, and his insistence on frugality and strict adherence to the law helped him salvage the scandal-plagued 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Since Romney follows rules himself, he expects others to do likewise, and he has little sympathy for scofflaws and freeloaders. This is likely the main reason he supported the individual mandate in the Massachusetts health care law. He simply cannot abide a portion of the population getting by for free while the taxpayers foot the bill.
For Romney, the issue of the mandate’s constitutionality was an abstract question with little relevance to the situation at hand. Romney is not concerned with concepts and theories. He much prefers concrete facts, which he readily relays. Nearly every answer he gives in debate includes some number or figure ostensibly proving his point, but Romney inevitably loses the big picture in his sea of data.
As Thomas Jefferson wrote critically of another Administrator Guardian, George Washington, “His mind was great and powerful, without being of the very first order…and as far as he saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was slow in operation, being little aided by invention or imagination, but sure in conclusion…if any member of his plan was dislocated by sudden circumstance, he was slow in re-adjustment.”
While the same might be said of Mitt Romney, one thing is certain: during times of turbulence, a President Romney would make sure the nation’s seat backs and tray tables are in their full-upright positions.
Rick Santorum
Archetype: Conservator
Guiding Motivation: Traditions
Political Figures: George H.W. Bush; Gerald Ford
Rick Santorum has run a very peculiar campaign for the presidency. In some ways, it seems Santorum is running as a Catholic rather than as a Republican. Nearly every policy position he holds can be related to an issue of religion, morality, or traditional family values. While this is a rare approach for a candidate to take, it is perfectly in keeping with his Conservator Guardian temperament.
As Santorum is prone to say, his most important job in life is to protect and provide for his family. For Santorum, the family – not the individual or the state – is the most important unit of society. The family is the mechanism through which traditions, morals, and values are passed from generation to generation, and this process is of the utmost importance to Santorum. As a family man, Santorum has a soft heart, but when his values and traditions are threatened – whether by secularists or Islamists – he can display unmatched ferocity.
Santorum has a strong and systematic mind, but his independent thought is ultimately subservient to his professed beliefs and articles of faith. To some, Santorum is an intolerant bigot, but in reality, he harbors little ill will. His support for Welfare Reform and Compassionate Conservatism highlights a genuine wish for the well-being of others, as well as a natural concern for the efficient allocation of resources. Much like for Mitt Romney, though, the constitutionality of morality laws is a mere abstraction for Santorum, and he sees little conflict in supporting government overreach if it achieves his desired outcome.
The Rationals
Ron Paul
Archetype: Organizer
Guiding Motivation: Principles
Political Figures: Herbert Hoover; John Adams
It has been said that Ron Paul is the most principled candidate in the race, and this fact cannot be stressed enough. As an Organizer Rational, Paul stands among a group of American Presidents who stood by principle to a fault. John Adams and John Q. Adams both held stubborn principles that alienated them from their peers and contemporaries, while Ulysses S. Grant and Herbert Hoover’s strong principles prevented them from taking effective executive action to stem economic crises.
The strength of an Organizer Rational is his systematic analysis of abstract principles. His conclusions are the result of rigorous, logical deduction, and he asserts them without compromise. One need only recognize the debt owed to John Adams’ tenacious pursuit of American Independence to see the value in a man like Ron Paul. His principled stands are intelligent, consistent, and courageous, but a President Paul could turn out to have all the shortcomings of his Organizer Rational predecessors – a reluctance to act and an inability to cooperate.
That the powers of government should, on principle, be limited and separated, is an axiom for students of American government. However, for students of American history, there have been instances when strict adherence to this axiom has led to folly (Hoover’s inaction at the start of the Great Depression), while deliberate, temporary, and partial suspension of this principle has led to great gains (Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase and Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus). The key trait in a president is the wisdom to know the difference.
Newt Gingrich
Archetype: Engineer
Guiding Motivation: Ideas
Political Figures: Abraham Lincoln; Benjamin Franklin
Newt Gingrich is a cheating, disorganized, undisciplined genius who sabotages himself every time he succeeds – or so people say. Yes, Gingrich is personally flawed, complicated, and seemingly contradictory, but the question is: would that make him a bad president?
Gingrich is often overwhelmed with a manic flight of ideas, the breadth of which makes him appear scatterbrained. This is not a trait favored by the modern electorate, but such absentminded eccentricities were quite common among America’s founders, many of who were Engineer Rationals – including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin.
Many of these men, especially Franklin, had their share of sexual controversies, and, while this fact says nothing about the morality of their – or Gingrich’s – actions, it is hard to imagine Franklin facing much opposition were he on the ballot in 2012. As for the charge that Gingrich is too undisciplined and disorganized to be president, one might consider that Abraham Lincoln – another Engineer Rational – used to keep important documents in his stovepipe hat.
This is not to say that Gingrich holds a candle to these great men. Still, his penchant for new ideas, his fascination with science and technology, and his sheer enthusiasm for the theories of the Enlightenment give off a glimmer of America’s storied greatness. Gingrich speaks the language of the men who, without irony, referred to the United States as a “grand experiment.”
The catch is this, as Lincoln once warned prophetically – and unknowingly – about himself: “Towering genius disdains a beaten path.” America’s governmental architecture was forged and refined by Engineer Rationals during times of serious peril and enormous change. If Gingrich is elected, it is likely a sign that both are coming.
The Idealists
Michele Bachmann
Archetype: Advocate
Guiding Motivation: Ideals
Political Figures: William Jennings Bryan; Samuel Adams
Upon graduating high school in 1974, Michele Bachmann traveled to Israel to volunteer on a kibbutz, “a unique rural community…dedicated to mutual aid and social justice; a socioeconomic system based on the principle of joint ownership of property, equality and cooperation of production, consumption and education; the fulfillment of the idea ‘from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.’” Such a utopian pursuit is surprising for a Republican presidential candidate, but it is practically characterological for a young Advocate Idealist.
Envisioning a better – if not perfect – world is the lifelong calling of an Advocate, and Bachmann is no exception. She has since disavowed the socialistic principles behind kibbutzim, but she retains a strong Zionist bent, persistently advocating for the rights of Israel based on her Christian interpretation of history. Bachmann no longer looks to human solutions for a perfect world, but looks forward to the fulfillment of religious prophecy for the redemption of the world.
In the present, though, social justice is extremely important to Bachmann, and her Christian beliefs channeled her youthful passions toward pro-life causes, in pursuit of which, she began praying on sidewalks outside of abortion clinics – her first exposure to political activism. While Bachmann has since added a legal career and a diverse congressional record to her resume, the trajectory of her life is still firmly focused on social and religious issues.
In this, she is reminiscent of the perennial, turn-of-the-last-century, Democratic presidential candidate, William Jennings Bryan, who built his reputation championing economic causes, but whose passion was always the continuation and spread of strong Christian morality. Like Bryan, Bachmann’s ultimate hope is future world peace through Christian ideals, even if that means reluctantly waging war in the present. As Bryan once said, “We may well pray for the coming of the day, promised in Holy Writ…but universal peace cannot come until Justice is enthroned throughout the world… Until the right has triumphed in every land and love reigns in every heart, government must, as a last resort, appeal to force.”
Barack Obama
Archetype: Mentor
Guiding Motivation: Ethics
Political Figures: Eleanor Roosevelt; Benjamin Rush
A more in-depth analysis of President Obama’s temperament can be found here.
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Sources:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/12/12/mitt_romneys_next_target_gingrichs_temperament__112365.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2010/0216/Mitt-Romney-attacked-by-irate-passenger-on-airplane
http://townhall.com/columnists/ricksantorum/2005/11/17/the_conservative_future_compassion/page/full/
Mr. Atkins
I did not read this book, but I did read Dr. Keirsey’s “Please Understand Me” about 11 years ago and I have a few comments and questions. Keirsey actually defines 16 different personality types and the archetypes he chooses do not match yours. His book is based on Carl Jung’s work. He provides a self-test with 70 questions which help the reader analyze themselves. He also cautions the reader to beware of misunderstanding the results as many other factors, such as gender, IQ, age and culture determine where a person would fit into the continuum of human personality. Each of the four preferences has a weak to strong score that can make two people of the same type quite different. I was quite pleased to find that I am an ENTJ with the archetype of Field Marshall, as in George S. Patton :>) who would not be a good president but was a great general.
Questions: I assume these are your evaluations and not Dr. Keirsey’s, correct? Have you determined the 4 letter designations for these candidates such as Artisan = ISTP? I don’t understand how an Introvert, as indicated by the first charater in the letter quartet, can be a candidate. I would think that anyone running would be an extrovert. Can you explain?
My evaluation of Obama is ESFJ (Seller) and the books says: “Here is a person who, like a balloon filled with hydrogen, is likely to escape the earth (in his abstract attitude). He needs to have a string attached so that he can be hauled down to earth now and then. In a sense, he needs to be “sold on reality” so indifferent is he to it.” Then again maybe he is just Satan (Hebrew: הַשָּׂטָן ha-Satan), "the opposer". After all what is Obama in favor of except himself?