Theodore Roosevelt: 'Dominator' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Ronald Reagan: 'Actor' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

John F. Kennedy: 'Extrovert' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

George Washington: 'Good Guy' LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

George Washington leads the list of presidential "Good Guys," according to the The Personality and the Presidency Project. By Michael Zitz

Date published: 2/11/2006

By Michael Zitz

TWO EXPERTS on the psychol- ogy of leadership place George Washington in a small group of U.S. presidents they call the "Good Guys."

Steve Rubenzer and Thomas R. Faschingbauer authored the 2004 book "Personality, Character & Leadership in the White House: Psychologists Assess the Presidents."

Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, both of whom are widely believed to have beaten serious depression problems by becoming workaholics, were rated higher than 90 percent of Americans on focusing on their goals, according to the book, which includes input from a number of doctors and historians.

President George W. Bush, Rubenzer and Faschingbauer conclude, "most resembles Andrew Jackson and Ronald Reagan."

The authors began the Foundation for the Study of Personality in History in 1994 with a study on presidential personalities, inspired by criticism of President Bill Clinton, who they classify as an "Extrovert," along with John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt.

Rubenzer is a clinical psychologist in Houston. Faschingbauer is a retired clinical psychologist who has taught at Duke University Medical School and the University of Texas Medical School in Houston.

George Washington was born in Westmoreland County and grew up at Ferry Farm in Stafford County before moving to Mount Vernon in Arlington.

Richard Lahey, a National Park Service historian at Washington's Birthplace in Westmoreland, wouldn't disagree with the "Good Guy" assessment, but says the first president "was a hard guy to get your arms around--someone who was extremely private and always disinterested in having his personal life in the press."

Lahey said Washington didn't like "to talk to anybody but his friends" about private matters.

Today, Lahey noted, politicians are forced to talk ad nauseam "about how they grew up. Washington wasn't that way. Washington was reserved about his feelings."

"Personality, Character & Leadership in the White House" concludes that today, honesty and straightforwardness make success in the White House difficult, in spite of polls that show that's what the public says it wants. The authors conclude that, "A president's character has no relation to how good historians judge him to be."

Washington did do a good job of "spinning" his image in one way, though.

Date published: 2/11/2006