Word: barbering
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...attempting such psychopolitical analysis is James David Barber, chairman of the political science department at Duke University. In a new book, The Presidential Character (Prentice-Hall), he divides the chief executives into four tidy categories...
...Barber has studied political psychology, but a character analysis far from the couch must be treated with a certain skepticism. His scheme obviously leaves a lot to be examined: Is exuberance, for instance, so easily distinguished from anxiety? Kierkegaard did not think so. Still, Barber's concept is fascinating, if not final. Since Barber's express purpose in writing his book is to encourage a hard look at men before they reach the White House, TIME asked him to estimate what kind of President George McGovern would make. Barber's analysis...
Active-positive, without a doubt. "McGovern pours it on night and day." He wastes no time, leaving a scant 20 minutes to get from his Washington office to National Airport. But does he strive for the presidency out of a compulsiveness rooted in childhood insecurity or out of enjoyment? Barber feels McGovern is clearly exhilarated by politics, and not just recently: "Back in South Dakota, he used to go to county fairs and spend hours standing in the sun, shaking hands. He really likes...
This contrasts with Nixon, says Barber, who does not appear to enjoy politics, though he works as hard at it. An active-negative like Nixon is "always concerned with how he is managing his feelings. McGovern is not interested in raking over his own psychology...
...Barber sets particular store by what he calls FIPS, an acronym for a politician's First Independent Political Success, which sets a pattern for the way a President will approach problems. McGovern's FIPS occurred when he revived the Democratic Party in Republican South Dakota singlehanded. "Judging by this episode, he would display a marked degree of organization and a persistence in tackling what might seem to others a hopeless cause." McGovern has learned to sit down and deal with people on issues, he says, in contrast to a Lyndon Johnson who always sought out his opponent...