Presidential Myers Briggs Types

Well, Barack Obama seems to be the Democrat du jour currently, and I'm starting to come around as well. Granted, I'm not really sure what he stands for, but he does seem to be a charismatic young fellow and the JFK connections are mounting: both likable, about the same age, only served 1 Senate term, and although half of me thinks America still isn't ready for a Black president, the other half of me is starting to think that maybe Black is the new Irish.

Now of course he still has to get past Hillary and Edwards (who we shouldn't count out). And even then, he'd have to overcome the uber-experienced middle-man McCain. But he definitely has a chance.

Anyway, all this way-too-early 2008 election talk got me thinking about whether Myers Briggs could give us any insight to who might be our next chief executive. Here is my best guess (my opinion + random internet seaches) at the personality types of our modern presidents and the top current candidates.

Kennedy: ESFP - SP
LBJ: ESTJ - SJ
Nixon: ENTJ - NT
Carter: INFJ - NF
Reagan: ESFJ - SJ
Bush I: ISTJ - SJ
Clinton: ENFP - NF
Bush II: ISTJ - SJ

Hillary Clinton - INTJ - NT
Barack Obama - ENFP - NF
Edwards - ESFP - SP
John McCain - ESTJ - SJ
Giuliani - INTJ - NT

Looking it over I notice... very little. We seem to be mildly biased towards J presidents (6 out of 8) and I guess that makes sense. Who wants a president who's always stopping projects in the middle or running late? But all the others are fairly equal.

When I looked at them by temperment though (the 2 letters), some patterns stuck out. First of all, our last 5 presidents have either been SJ or NF: with SJs being known for being responsible and protective whereas NFs feel your pain and are known for inspiring. And these types are completely linked to political party, with the SJ presidents being Republicans and NF's Democrats.

This seems to fit with some common stereotypes of the two parties, with Republicans being more inclined to want a Guardian (another name for SJ) and Democrats wanting an Idealist (another name for NF). But what does it mean for this next election? Well, if this is true, then maybe that is one reason why Democrats seem so attracted to Barack. And it does also shed some light on issues Hillary has been having. People often say she's too cold, a critique NTs get. I always thought this showed people were uncomfortable with a woman being tough. Maybe its more that people are uncomfortable with a Democrat being too cold.

Not sure if this means anything. Feel free to add your own anaylzations (or just to tell me to get a life, it is January of 2007).