[NeedsNewNameNow]

NFs are going to be the Ralph Naders and Martin Luther King Jr. activists pushing for a cause they believe in, rather than doing the grunt work needed to run full fledged presidential campaigns. They say Obama is an NF,but even if that's true, the Idealist temperament is the one that's missing from the presidency. Currently,Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton and Bush Jr. are all Artisans.

The types of the presidents are much debated. They often have a public persona that may be different than their real selves. I have seen most of the ones you mention typed as NF
Carter - INFJ
Reagan - ENFJ
Clinton - ENFP

[Brian1]

The types of the presidents are much debated. They often have a public persona that may be different than their real selves. I have seen most of the ones you mention typed as NF
Carter - INFJ
Reagan - ENFJ
Clinton - ENFP

Keirsey typed Reagan and Clinton As Artisan Performers, This could be just me, but Artisans have the ability to take on a persona for the moment they are in, Bob Dylan is a great example of this,people thought he was this idealist folk singer, then he went electric,Madonna is another shapeshifter.

Keirsey Temperament Website - Portrait of the Artisan® Performer (ESFP)

http://www.keirsey.com/idealist_pres...residents.aspx,
Keirsey Temperament Website: Artisan Presidents

[Bropenhauer]

I don't think Keirsey knows anything about what he is talking about, much less an understanding of cognitive functions.

[aus2020]

If you want a president who is inspirational and makes people feel good - ENFJ

If you want a president who is effective and gets things done, even if unpopular at the time - ENTJ

That sounds like comparing Obama's presidency to that of FDR. But are we talking about the US or any country? Theoretically any of the 16 types could be successful presidents, depending upon their skills, knowledge and decision making style, as well as the circumstances of the political environment in which they are in. However, defining success is often also a subjective matter of opinion.

With the political gridlock that is the US congress and it's lack of bipartisanship, I think it would be difficult, but not impossible, for a president of any type to change the direction of where the country is going.

[MyName]

My five favorite presidents and what I think their types are

Monroe-INTP
Madison-INTJ
Jefferson-INTP
Eisenhower-ESTJ
Hayes-ENFJ

[Brian1]

And why do you like Hayes? I'm just curious. Interesting typing there, I'm still new to typing people...mainly presidents.

My five favorite presidents and what I think their types are

Monroe-INTP
Madison-INTJ
Jefferson-INTP
Eisenhower-ESTJ
Hayes-ENFJ

[Brian1]

I don't think Keirsey knows anything about what he is talking about, much less an understanding of cognitive functions.

I'm still in the process of reading up on these things. However,long before I ventured into Psycology I was more grounded in Political Science, and taking your view that Keirsey doesn't know what he's talking about, I would think that from a political science point of view,and philosophical point of view, reformers would rather work on the outside against the state, to make the state more in keeping with its values. In my philosophy class, the part on Aristotle, and the Nicomachean Ethics, of how a man should best live, man should live his life to making his state or country, a better place to live. Dr. King said "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live." Dr. King again. "An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law." I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed; We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. Dr. King would be an Aristotelian, trying to make his state better, and if we take this further of how to best live, moral virtue as conscience choice, Aristotle said" They do not take small risks, and are not devoted to risk taking, but they will take big risks, without regard for their life, because a worse life is worth less than a great life. Indeed they do few things, and are slow to start on things, unless there is great honor involved," then we can include Medgar Evers,Malcolm X,Ralph Nader,Gandhi, even too an extent, Abraham Lincoln, of people not worrying for there life by trying to make society better. Somehow I don't see the typical politician like John Edwards, George W. Bush,Bill Clinton, as moral in virtue to make society true to it's ideal, they would rather have power for power's sake. So scratch Keirsey go with the Nichomachean Ethics. It's been awhile since I sat in a philosophy class, but I learned Aristotle the second time I took philosophy and I got a B. I had to write a lot and not miss any class, and read a lot. God I hate reading philosophy.

[MyName]

And why do you like Hayes? I'm just curious. Interesting typing there, I'm still new to typing people...mainly presidents.

He was the first president to really attempt civil service reform and did good work on racial issues and prison reform. I mostly like him because he was independent, and one of the few incorruptible politicians in The Guilded Age.

[Brian1]

He was the first president to really attempt civil service reform and did good work on racial issues and prison reform. I mostly like him because he was independent, and one of the few incorruptible politicians in The Guilded Age.

That's a different take on him, I hadn't read before. I'm going to have to do some reading now. All I know about him is the election of 1876 with him and Samuel Tilden and Hayes's First Lady, "Lemonade Lucy" Hayes, for her refusal to serve alcohol.

[MyName]

That's a different take on him, I hadn't read before. I'm going to have to do some reading now. All I know about him is the election of 1876 with him and Samuel Tilden and Hayes's First Lady, "Lemonade Lucy" Hayes, for her refusal to serve alcohol.

Yeah, he didn't actually have anything to do with the scandal with Tilden, that was alll between the corrupt party bosses at the time.