Presidency Researchers Say that the History Channel, Time Magazine, and PBS Overlooked Scientfic Evidence on the Qualities of Successful Chief Executives

Determining the personal qualities of a successful president is a scientific question, researchers say, and give the answers they have found.

(PRWEB) February 1, 2005 -- In a recent special on the History Channel, Bob Woodward asked Dick Cheney to state the most important quality of a successful president. Time Magazine and PBS (Frontline; www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/ shows/choice2004/leadership/ ) have posed similar questions to others who have worked in one or two administrations. Researchers who have studied this issue say this approach is open to bias and that the issue can be addressed scientifically.

There are several daunting limitations to an informal approach, such as interviewing members of the current administration. First, Bushs eventual standing with history is unknown, so attempting to relate his traits to presidential success in general is premature. Secondly, how would Cheney know if courage" is more important than achievement-drive, good judgment, or compassion? Everyone knows that the Bush team values decisiveness and courage. It is pretty unlikely that that Cheney, speaking in public on presidential virtues, will cite intellectual brilliance, flexibility, and capacity for hard work as key success factors, as Clinton staffers might. Clearly, loyalties and values have influenced much of the discussion n this topic.

In contrast, researchers Steve Rubenzer, Tom Faschingbauer, and Deniz Ones spent years identifying success factors from a objective, scientific standpoint. The analysis, conducted by one of the worlds leading experts on the personality and job performance of managers and CEOs, began by attempting to objectively measure more than thirty personality traits for all the presidents. The researchers enlisted 120 respected biographers to rate the presidents they studied on several standardized personality questionnaires. Results were then related to ratings of presidential greatness from previous polls of historians. In this way, the researchers obtained the best available measures of personality, the best available criteria of presidential success, and utilized objective, statistical procedures to relate the two. The researchers emphasize that each one of these steps is absolutely crucial to an objective analysis. The lack of objectivity is one of the reasons that Republicans repeatedly speak of the importance of character and courage, whereas Democrats emphasize compassion.

The researchers found that the most important qualities of a successful president are Assertiveness (almost never mentioned by armchair commentators), Achievement Striving, Intelligence and intellectual breadth, and low Straightforwardness - the tendency and ability to lie successfully (!). Five other qualities are also important. The researchers work has been described as the starting point for all future debate about the intricate connection between a president's personality and his leadership" by eminent psychology professor Dean Simonton and author of Why Presidents Succeed. Noted historian Tim Blessing said, All previous attempts to understand presidential psychology and its importance simply pale beside this work.." The results were published in Personality, Character, and Leadership in the White House: Psychologists Assess the Presidents, Potomac Books, 2004. More information, including reviews, are available at www.TestingThePresidents.com.

Additional contacts: Don Jacobs (703-661-1548), Tom Faschingbauer (713-523-7718); Please note that we are presently unable to receive email sent from our website.

###