Evelyne
2009-01-04

Obama
After reading Dreams from my father, I'd rather think that Obama is INFJ, a visionary person. very equilibrate between F and T and between J and P.

Guest
2009-01-03

title
To me Barack Obama is strongly and clearly both intuitive and perceiving. He sees the larger patterns and gets the big picture. And I definitely see him as perceiving rather than sensing. He is better than most at recognizing other viewpoints even when he doesn't agree with them, and he seems a lot more open to new information even if it doesn't entirely agree with the view he already has of the way things are. NP (18.9%) and SJ (46.4%) are more likely to group together in any case than NJ (7.8%) and SP (27%) (which means 70% of intuitives are perceiving and 63% of sensing types are judging). I could just as easily believe he is either Feeling or Thinking, which is to say he is very balanced between these two. I can also easily believe Obama tends more introverted than extroverted. However I think he would have to remain relatively close to the middle. Some people automatically assume that anyone who runs for office (or anyone good at speaking and with social skills) must be an extrovert. This is flawed outdated thinking. The author of "Good to Great" was the first widely-published business writer to burst this bubble just eight years ago. Now we know 40% of top CEOs have introverted tendencies, but the perception is still there that leaders are nearly always extroverts. That said, it is probably far more difficult for a very introverted person to run for the nation's highest office than it is for an introvert to become the leader of some of the world's largest or wealthiest corporations (Bill Gates at Microsoft, Warren Buffet at Berkshire Hathaway) It's harder to picture any strongly introverted person on the presidential campaign trail that many hours a day for more than a year. The definition of an introvert is not that they are shy or lack social skills or are not good public speakers - it is that they need time alone to recharge. It's true that a lot of famous actors and actresses are actually introverts and put up with constant public attention. Still, I would think someone who was strongly introverted would be so totally drained of all energy through a presidential campaign. I'd say Obama is strongly an intuitive perceiving type, and he's closest to the middle on IE and FT that it's really splitting hairs to argue too much about those two. And being close to the middle on both introvert-extrovert and thinking-feeling is a good thing, because a balanced person on those two traits makes for the most capable and effective president overall, and is what we most need today.

bob
2008-12-29

Re: The Types of Politicians
John, I generally agree with your perceptions, except for McCain and Bush. I see McCain as more ESTP (Maverick) and am not really sure about Bush though I lean toward E, S, T and J. Also, I'm still thinking about Obama. bob

John Hawksley
2008-12-24

The types of politicians
Bill Clinton = ENFP Hillary Clinton = INTJ Barack Obama = ENFJ Joe Biden = ENTP John McCain = ESTJ Sarah Palin = ESFJ Mitt Romney = ENTJ Al Gore = INTJ George W. Bush = ISFJ?

Guest
2008-10-27

Done!
The spelling has been corrected. Thanks.

Guest
2008-10-27

Spell Obama's name right!
The survey has it as "Barak" vs. "Barack" .

Guest
2008-09-15

Obama. Introvert.
You can see it in his speeches. And I think that he is a P type. People mistake him for being wishy-washy, when actually he just thinks as a P.

Guest
2008-08-26

obama enfj
Surely Hillary is INTJ and Bill is ENFP. My suspicion, however, is that Obama is ENFJ. McCain is ESTJ. Biden is definitely ENTP.

Guest
2008-06-20

Hillary's Type
OomKoning, There are plenty of sites around the www that make a fairly good case for viewing Hillary as an INTJ. Simply google here name and "INTJ" and I think you'll find plenty of decent rationales for that view. But, I'll offer a few of my perspectives. First, I look more at here life starting with her time in college to her election to the Senate. Over that period, her politics clearly are liberal and feminist. Here "letters from Wellesley" (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/us/politics/29letter.html?pagewanted=1) indicate a moody, reflective individual engaged in self-psychoanalysis...much more characteristics of both I and N than E and S. She also expresses increasing disdain for her Republican upbringing and her conservative father. And, though she proclaims herself an "actor" (E) more than a critical observer (I), here activism is very much in keeping the that of the INTJ architect of social systems in that she chooses to go her own way and set out her own vision. Her leadership of the universal health care movement during Bill's presidency also seems very INTJ in that she had a grand vision for social change, yet the implementation ("politicking") was a failure. I hazard to guess than more than a few INTJs have had difficulty transforming their grand internal vision (Ni) into concrete reality (Se). As for being Hillary being an ESTJ, I think some people might take this view if they look only at her career beginning with her membership in the Senate. Her politics since this time clearly have taken on a more pragmatic, moderate, and tradition al stand on social issues...something that expresses the SJ nature of the Guardian temperament. However, I view this behavior more as her more sophisticated ... and less radical ... political persona. As for Obama, I'm still exploring. Rating his type will be part of the next Poll. Thanks for expressing your opinions. bob

OomKoning
2008-06-17

Hillary is ESTJ
Some people who know quite a bit about MBTI categorized Obama as an INTJ. I was skeptical, but now that I've read 'Audacity of Hope' I can see where they're coming from. Hillary is definitely not an INTJ - not strategic nor out-of-the-box. She may be an ESTJ - wants to be in control, but doesn't have the mental agility to be truly visionary. http://www.personalityzone.com/user/KipParent/view/blog/rating-the-candidates-7-personality-as-the-differe.html