Ik kan me geen enkel onderwerp inbeelden waarover binnen de "type community" meer gezegd en geschreven is dan over de typevoorkeuren van de huidige Amerikaanse president. Dick's analyse lijkt me zeer interessant en met zijn stelling als zou Obama van het type ENTP-Rational zijn komt hij trouwens op exact dezelfde inschatting uit als Dr. David Keirsey, de bedenker van Temperament Theory en auteur van "Presidential Temperament". Overigens is dat onderwerp intussen één van mijn "hobby horses" geworden, of noem het een wat uit-de-handgelopen hobby. Voor de niet-ingewijden geef ik graag in bullet-pointstijl enkele wetenswaardigheden mee uit Keirsey's boek:

• de auteur heeft met een team van assistenten (ter info, o.m. Linda Berens, mijn mentor), geschiedkundigen en biografen het temperament van de eerste 43 presidenten (tot en met George W. Bush) in kaart gebracht;
• wegens inconsistenties in de bio- en bibliografieën van de vroegste presidenten stelt Keirsey zelf vraagtekens bij de uitkomsten van de eerste 25;
• vanaf de 26ste, Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), is hij echter rotsvast overtuigd dat de types die hij aan de namen verbond allemaal correct zijn; 
• vanaf John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) - deze inbegrepen - zouden alle presidenten ooit wel eens een of ander persoonlijkheidsinstrument hebben ingevuld, waarvan Keirsey beweert kennis te hebben en op basis waarvan zijn prognoses bevestigd werden; 

Uit Keirsey's bevindingen zijn volgende dingen toch wel het vermelden waard:

• van de 43 voorgangers van Barack Obama was er niet één van het Idealist temperamenttype (ENFJ, INFJ, ENFP, INFP);wel 20 Guardians (ISTJ, ESTJ, ISFJ, ESFJ), naast 14 Artisans (ESTP, ISTP, ESFP, ISFP) en 8 Rationals (ENTJ, INTJ, ENTP, INTP);
• na Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) heeft geen enkele Rational nog het Witte Huis bewoond (tot en met George W. Bush, wel te verstaan); 
• van de 14 Artisans werden er 7 verkozen (50%) voor een 2e ambtstermijn); van de 20 Guardians slechts 6 (30%);sinds Truman (1945-1953) werd geen enkele Guardian meer herverkozen; 
• in de periode waarvan Keirsey zeker is van zijn prognoses, vanaf 1900 dus, is iedere eindstrijd waarbij één van de twee kandidaten een Artisan temperament had, uitgedraaid in het voordeel van deze laatste; 
• slechts 2 presidenten hadden een opleiding als ingenieur genoten en beide waren Rationals - alle 20 Guardians komen voort uit slechts 3 takken van opleiding (rechten, leger of business) - de 14 Artisans komen uit 8 richtingen (rechten, leger, onderwijs, openbare diensten, journalistiek, exploratie, copywriting en business).

OK, dus Dick ziet Barack Obama als van het type ENTP-Rational. Zou best kunnen en daarmee staat hij dan bij de (naar ik schat) 60% van hen die daarover her en der hun visie hebben gegeven. Om en bij de 30% (eveneens mijn eigen schatting) ziet hem eerder als ENFP-Idealist.

En ik dan, vraagt u? Wil u dat écht weten? Juist, ik zit inderdaad bij die overblijvende 10% met een nog andere visie en die zet ik hierna graag even uiteen. Ik zeg er vooraf wel bij dat mijn uiteenzetting in het Engels opgesteld is. Dat komt omdat ik enkele weken geleden een mailtje aankreeg van één van mijn Amerikaanse trainees (uit een workshop in maart 2008, toen bij zowel de Democraten als de Republikeinen de voorverkiezingen nog volop aan de gang waren). Hij eindigde met een P.S. waarin hij een vraag stelde. Mijn antwoord daarop volgt meteen daarna.

Doe ermee wat u wil, zolang u maar niet gaat denken dat ik van een andere planeet kom ...

"P.S. Marc, are you certain that Obama is a Rational? Rationals have never beaten Artisans! I suspect that Obama is an Idealist."

"Now let's talk about Barack Obama's temperament type for a minute. Am I sure that he is a Rational? Absolutely not, in the same way I'm not at all convinced that McCain is Artisan. Let me explain what I mean but first - at the danger of creating the perception I'm being defensive - I want to say that at the time we had the session in Richmond (March 2008) both McCain and Obama were pretty much unknown quantities to me. What I mean is that I hadn't really studied and observed either of them until they won their respective pre-elections. This was not the case with Hillary Clinton whom I "knew" a lot better of course. When I said at the time that McCain was Artisan and both Clinton and Obama were Rational, I had taken that information literally and at face-value from the websites of David Keirsey (www.keirsey.com & www.personalityzone.com); he is after all the inventor of Temperament Theory.

I'm certainly not claiming to know more or better than Dr. Keirsey but in actual fact when the real campaigns got on their way I very quickly started having doubts about Obama and McCain; Clinton being Rational was clear to me though. So I started checking some more fora and expert websites and could see that I wasn't the only one with doubts, particularly about Obama. The thing that makes it awfully difficult to determine politicians' temperament - which Keirsey repeats time and again - is of course the fact that the large majority of times we see and hear them when they are in a role, when they're acting and even though they appear to be spontaneous very often they're not.

When going to Keirsey's website you'll find that even until this day he maintains that Obama is an Inventor Rational, which corresponds to the MBTI type-code ENTP and I'll admit he does behave like one on many occasions, particularly during his speeches. But on the other hand I read during the final month of Obama's campaign that his speeches were written by ... a 24-year-old Belgian public relations graduate who had joined the campaign team as a volunteer to go canvassing for votes. At some stage Obama's professional speechwriter was taken seriously ill at a crucial moment in the campaign and many poeple were starting to panic, but this guy from Belgium put his hand up and asked if he could have a go at it. He could and besides having done a great job Obama also liked communicating with this youngster, i.e. the chemistry was optimal, so the kid stayed on as the newly appointed chief speechwriter.

The interesting thing this fellow said in the newspaper article is that whenever Obama would not be happy about one or more phrases in the draft, invariably it would be because he found them "too idealistic and intangible, too abstract, too far into the future and not down-to-earth enough". What I find odd about these being Obama's reasons for not liking the lines is that I'm almost sure they are exactly the same Rationals or Idealists would give, but as reasons why they LIKE them - instead of disliking!

Besides all this there have been a few occasions however, where Obama definitely has been spontaneous and where I believe his true preferences became visible. One was when he was on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno, where he described his bowling style as resembling the Paralympics. Do you really believe an Idealist would make that kind of comment? I didn't think so either; this was a 100% impulsive answer you would only expect an Artisan to give (and regret it a nano-second later).

Another example is just from yesterday in fact, at the press conference during his trip to Nicaragua and right after his meeting with Chavez. An American reporter asked Obama to comment on the widespread criticism that the perception this visit is creating would turn out counterproductive and in conflict with the interests of the USA in the long run. The president simply responded with the question if anyone could explain to him "how it can be that a friendly handshake with Mr. Chavez and a brief but positive conversation with him could possibly jeopardize the USA's long term interest and strategy in Central America". That's certainly not what I would have expected a Rational to say. Challenge a Rational about any strategy issue and he'll be more than happy to explain to you until you turn blue in the face why this cannot and will not have any negative effect like some people fear. This is precisely what Rationals do: they eat and breathe strategy! Instead of doing that Obama asked "give me cold, hard facts and show me the logic of your hypothesis that this might backfire against the USA". Here I'd say: that's got "Artisan" written all over!

One more element that supports my view is the action speed Obama has demonstrated since he took office, starting with the reversal or nullification of no less than 800 decrees his predecessor had issued. Can you in fact recall any other president who in his first 3 months of tenure executed or implemented as many specific and concrete decisions as Obama has? This kind of quick action-mindedness is again quite typical for the Artisan, while Rationals usually think a bit longer before acting and Idealists would - before anything - want to ascertain that everyone agrees with the plan. Guardians, on the other hand, would in the first place attempt to bring stability into the organisation, i.e. the country by safeguarding, protecting and reinforcing what works well and by improving, modifying and repairing what doesn't. But it is highly unlikely they would facilitate the momentum (or at least create the perception of it) for magnitude of change the country needs, or many people think it does.

So if you ask my opinion I'd say Barack Obama is ESTP-Artisan, which is really not all that distinct from the ENTP-Rational that David Keirsey and Dick Otter think he is.

Before drawing the line, a quick word about John McCain, who I've seen displaying behaviour that fits the Guardian temperament type much more than Artisan. I mean that I have heard a lot more traditionalism and more persistent conservativism in McCain's statements than I would expect to hear from an Artisan. The way he's been holding up the image of being a war-hero is certainly symptomatic of this. And what to think of the speech he gave to acknowledge Obama's victory. At the end of it John McCain stated that from that moment on he was going to support the new president and called all those who voted for him (McCain) to do the same. At first glance this seemed like a very noble act by a man standing tall in defeat; the fact is that his own party almost lynched him for having made that statement.
Of all 4 temperaments, there's just one of which the people that identify themselves with it, effortlessly demonstrate this degree of compliance to the establishment, this sense of duty, such obedience to a higher authority and this much unconditional respect for rules and regulations. I am indeed talking about the Guardian temperament, of course.

Now, are you ready for my bottom-line conclusion? Assuming my hypothesis is correct, i.e. that John McCain has a Guardian and Barack Obama an Artisan temperament type, what I described above would produce an interesting twist by means of which history could be restored. With that I mean that the tradition having begun in 1900 - according to some very extensive research - is in fact being maintained today, namely that never in the history of the United States of America, has anyone ever defeated an Artisan presidential candidate.

Wouldn't that be just funny?"