Ronald Reagan
FDR
- People expected Reagan, as a president, to live up to the heroic characters he portrayed in movies
- This personality didn't come across while in office, and he had to put on a persona
Active Positive
- His personality caused him to approach the presidency with enthusiasm and a drive to lead and succeed.
- he was very proactive in creating jobs after the great depression and that led to the development of the New Deal and his great success.
Qualities
most likely to enjoy Presidential success
- readiness to act
- high optimism
- overall fondness of the presidency
Examples
- FDR
- Harry S. Truman
- JFK
- Jimmy Carter
- Gerald Ford
Passive Positive
Qualities
- low self-esteem, compensated by an ingratiating personality
- superficially optimistic
- has a desire to please
Barack Obama
Examples
- William Howard Taft
- Ronald Reagan
- Warren G. Harding
- After looking at Barber's Model we decided that Obama would be a passive-positive president
- He obviously has a desire to please
- His Obama-care plan is a great example of this
Barber believed that personality played a huge role in determining whether a President will succeed or fail in office
The James David Barber Model
- Perspective has a lot to do with what category you would place a certain President in
- If the person is in a different party than you, you are more likely going to see them in more of a negative light
- If you like a candidate as a person, you will probably see them as a positive personality
Meredith, Katy, Margaret, and Jennifer
This model is outlined in the book, The Presidential Character: Predicting Performance in the White House.
Barber believes that Presidents can be categorized as having "positive" or "negative" attitudes, and as being "active" or "passive."
- Calvin Coolidge
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Active Negative
Qualities
Examples
- lack of joy after deriving much effort on tasks
- aggressive
- highly rigid
- having a general view of power as a means to self-realization
Examples
- Woodrow Wilson
- Herbert Hoover
- Richard Nixon
- strong sense of duty
- low self-esteem compensated by service towards others
- an overall aversion to intense political negotiation
Qualities
Passive Negative
Richard Nixon
- His long career as a military leader leads to his strong sense of duty
- He was a really aggressive President
- The majority of laws passed during his presidency had to do with war and service to others
- His Active Negative attitude make him prone to failure
- His aggressive nature make him do whatever was necessary to be re-elected
- Example: Watergate
Dwight D. Eisenhower