Obama's Presidential Character

     Based on James Barber's theory on presidential character, Barack Obama could be described as a passive-positive president.  By definition, a passive-positive character type is driven by hope and optimism, and a strive for cooperation. Downsides of this are the fact that they typically have low self esteem and are easily discouraged, which is masked by their superficial optomism.  Obama shows strong signs of these qualities.  In the beginning of his presidency, he had a difficult and disappointing meeting with opposing Congressmen.  To the press afterwards, he remarked that the meeting was "wonderful" and that he "continues to be optimistic".  This was obviously a cover-up of what he was really feeling about the meeting.  After being torn apart verbally by the people you are supposed to be compromising with, nobody would really have that good of an attitude.  He hides his real feelings though superficial  enthusiasm, as any passive-positive would do.  Also, passive positives have a soft spot and just want to be loved.  The same is true for Obama, who was under the impression that all of America loved him, until he got the wake-up call of the Midterm Elections, which left him in shock and sadness.  Passive-positives also have a great deal of optimism, which shows in Obama's campaign movement titled "Change" and "Hope".

     Passive-positive character type is not the best fit for our political climate.  With our current divided government, we cannot afford having a president who is not persuasive or assertive.  Obama is not aggressive and can't assert his power well.  The only area he executes well in is in his work as Commander in Chief, simply because there are not many restrictions or the threat of opposition to set him back.  In normal legislature and policy making, he cannot persuade well enough or assert his power effectively.  This passive disposition and inability to intimidate makes him seem like a joke to Congressmen and big time CEOs, who at one time failed to show up to a speech Obama made about certain banks.  For the 2016 election, we cannot elect another passive positive president who doesn't get the respect that someone in his position deserves.  An active positive president would be the best fit for president because they will be active enough to really achieve for the legislature they want to be passed and for the respect any president deserves.  However, they should not be completely active positive, as there are good elements in each character type.  A combination of active positive (in general), the strive for cooperation of a passive positive, the aggression and energy of an active negative, and the protection of the rights and proper ways executed by passive negatives would make the best presidential candidate for any time period.

The pictures I chose portray the difference between what Obama puts out to the public, his superficial optimism like in the "Hope" campaign, and his true inside conflicts with self esteem he encounters when he can't achieve the results he desires.