Obama's Character Type

I believe that Obama best fits Barber's character type of active-positive. This is shown through his hard work and dedication to the job. An active-positive president is somebody who has high self-esteem, enjoys being on the job, and is committed to reaching compromise and setting new goals. Obama meets these requirements. He did everything he could to get a new health care law passed and for that bill to become a part of the government's role. Aside from getting health care laws passed, he has been productive enough in reach decisions with the newly gained Republican majority. The two are making compromises and haven't really run into much trouble. However, Obama needs to be much more aggressive. Something that is happening during his presidency now is all the foreign affair and foreign relations problems. ISIS is becoming and issue along with Iran wanting to have a great deal of nuclear power. Obama cannot jut let these things go and hold them off. When the Republicans recently wrote a letter to Iran and went behind Obama's back, he should have dealt with that way more than he actually did. That was disrespectful on the Republicans side and the only power they have on foreign relations is to declare war. Everything else is basically in Obama's hands. So, during a climate like there is today Obama needs to be able to put his foot down and let everyone know that he has the most powerful position within the democracy. That is something that he is lacking and needs to work on for the rest of the Presidency including the fact that the Republicans have full majority. Some of the active-positive traits will come into play as far as compromise goes and getting things accomplished but in order for that to actually occur, he needs to be a little more aggressive. I think that voters in 2016 will be looking for someone who is a mix of active/passive positive. This is because they have high self-esteem for their work while also having good success but can also be cooperative and open to change. They will also be a little more harsh and not so soft when it comes to politics.