The Presidential Character by James Barber
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In his book The Presidential Character, James David Barber tries to accomplish what voters have been trying to do in America for over 200 years--set forth a way of predicting how a candidate would do in the White House. While this may seem a near-impossible task, Barber is clearly able to indicate the nature of the office being sought, the characteristics sought in a candidate, and the characters of a number of the men who have worked in the Oval Office. Barber uses these characteristics and his analyses of specific presidents as a way of determining after the fact what one might ask before the fact in deciding how a certain character trait will serve for good or ill in a man (or woman) in the White House. Barber himself refers to his work as a "strange book" that was written over a period of 25 years. Ultimately, it is a book that raises as many questions as it answers but that at least starts the reader considering the nature of the issues involved in selecting a President or a candidate for any other high office.Barber begins with a consideration of that elusive component so much discussed in the last election, character, as part of a pattern by which Barber believes we can judge how a given candidate will behave and perform in office: The burden of this book is that the crucial differences can be anticipated by an understanding of a potential President's character, his world view, and his style. Barber feels that a President's personality is patterned and that
. . .
emplified in those who have been in the office since Theodore Roosevelt (a time-line selected apparently from the view that the Presidents of this century have more in common with each other than they do with earlier Presidents). The types are described as baselines, or guides for defining Presidential types. They describe ways in which the President applies his character in situations calling for some action: active-positive, active-negative, passive-positive, passive-negative. The active-positive type shows a congruence between being very active and the enjoyment of the process, indicating relatively high self-esteem and relative success in relating to the environment. Active-negative is a contradiction between relatively intense effort and relatively low emotional reward for that effort. Passive-positive is a receptive, complaint, other-directed character with a life searching for affection as a reward for being agreeable and cooperative rather than personally assertive. Passive-negative is a character type that is in politics because the individual thinks he ought to be:
They may be well adapted to certain nonpolitical roles, but they lack the experience and flexibility to perform effectively as political leaders. . .
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1263
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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