What Can We Expect from President Donald J. Trump?

So three days into his Presidency, we have a few Executive Orders, some Cabinet appointments, and essentially an Inauguration Speech to go on. Is it fair to draw any comparisons yet?

I say it is. Not only was there a President very much like Donald Trump in the not-so-distant past, but there was one very much like his predecessor. Yes, I am talking about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover.

The Barack Obama-Herbert Hoover Connection:

President Herbert Hoover and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover

President Hoover was an Intuitive Thinking (INTJ) President who was elected during a time of massive economic turmoil in order to restore economic prosperity to the nation through radical means. He was an intellectual (a former Stanford  University professor) with ties in East Asia (China) who decided to use untested Keynesian economics to fight the stock market crash of October, 1929. In spite of a scandal-free Presidency, growing poverty and ecological crises (the Dust Bowls and heat waves) marred his Administration and he ranks among the most hated of all Presidents.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama

President Obama was also an Intuitive Thinking (ENTP) President elected shortly after the second worst economic meltdown in 100 years. Also an intellectual (a former Harvard Law Professor) with ties to Asia (he attended elementary school in Indonesia), people hoped his fresh approach to politics would restore integrity to government and rejuvenate the US economy. Although statistical economic indicators showed that the economy had rebounded and his Administration was squeaky clean, true poverty in America increased by close to 50% and racism cannot be dismissed for the massive hatred and contempt many people expressed toward the Obamas. It did not help matters that President Obama did little to change the hawkish policies of the previous Administration that he promised to eliminate when he was elected. The Obama Administration will most likely not be remembered fondly.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Populist

FDR, American Populist

Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s was not the politician we read about in history books, the one who delivered inspirational speeches as America was attacked at Pearl Harbor. FDR was a rich New Yorker who belonged to a political party mostly populated by… let’s be blunt here… poor white trash from the South.

He was brash and impulsive and disobeyed orders from President Woodrow Wilson (the head of his party) not to run for U.S. Senate in 1916. (He lost that race, by the way.) He was a womanizer whose wife hated the spotlight (but could masterfully manipulate the media when she put her mind to it).

Does this sound like anyone?

Trump’s Inauguration

FDR, Techno Junkie

In 1930, radio was a brand new technology and the majority of households in the United States did not yet own one. In spite of its reputation as a decade of poverty, the 1930s saw an explosion of technological advances in the realm of crystal radio technology and even television broadcast technology. By the end of the 1930s, most American households owned at least one radio.

President Roosevelt took advantage of this new technology to disseminate his propaganda directly to the American public live on the airwaves via his Fireside Chats.

FDR Fireside Chat

Eighty years later, what would be the equivalent of a fairly new technology like AM Radio? Perhaps…

Window-side Tweets

FDR, the Family Man

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was not afraid to involve his children in his Administration. His son, James Roosevelt, often walked him to the podium when he delivered historically significant speeches, such as his “Infamy” speech on December 8, 1941.

President Franklin Roosevelt leaning on son James Roosevelt’s arm

President Trump has left the care of his business affairs to his eldest son, Donald Trump, Jr., and speculation is that the formal duties of First Lady will be left to his eldest daughter, Ivanka Marie Trump-Kushner, so that his wife can devote her full time to taking care of their youngest son.

FDR, the Hate-monger

Don’t say you didn’t see this one coming. In 1942, President Roosevelt ordered the internment of all civilians of Japanese descent, including women, children, the elderly, and even babies.

Internment of Japanese Americans

This marked one of the worst civil rights periods in America since the end of the Civil War. Although some German immigrants were also interned, the government was quite a bit more selective about whom it locked up, basing policy purely on immigration status, rather than on racial traits.

Perhaps President Trump was looking at this model as a blueprint when he decided to offer a wall between the United States and Mexico in his campaign speeches.

What Does All of This Mean?

I think I have thoroughly made my case documenting why Donald Trump, intentionally, or unintentionally, will be very similar to Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a President. I am talking more about pre-WW2 FDR, not hawkish Roosevelt, so don’t start thinking apocalypse and nuclear war.

1. President Roosevelt was not really a very good Chief Executive. He pitted his Cabinet members and staff against each other like a competition and nothing really got accomplished.
2. Because of FDR’s isolationist policies, the Depression lasted much longer than it needed to. One only need look at The Netherlands or Nazi Germany (reprehensible as that nation was) to see how quickly other nations rebounded from the stock market crashes in the 1920s. President Trump has already stated in his Inauguration Speech that he plans to repeat such isolationist policies in his Administration.
3. FDR borrowed a lot of his predecessor’s failed policies and re-branded them as his own (like the New Deal). We can already see that Trump plans to do this with Obamacare.
4. FDR did take advantage of Great Britain’s military/economic crisis at the advent of WW2 to loot their economy, bringing prosperity to the United States. We might see a similar situation with one or more major European nations if the European Union dissolves.
5. President Roosevelt managed to keep the United States out of WW2 for nearly three years while it raged on in Europe and longer in Asia. Do not assume that President Trump will be a war hawk.

It is easy to look back at trends from history and see them repeat in the future. Life is not that mysterious when you know what you seek. It is pretty predictable.

War is for Sensors, Peacetime is for Intuitives, Part Two

So in the previous blog, I analyzed a wartime drama to demonstrate the difference in how Sensors and Intuitives behave during wartime and peace. There are larger ramifications to this difference, especially with the upcoming elections, specifically in the United States. (I am focusing on those because I live in the USA and am most familiar with the candidates for President in the USA.)

Most of the candidates running for United States President in 2016 are ENTJs on the MBTI typing scale; however, realistically, they are not viable candidates and will probably drop out of the race soon. I will focus my discussion on the five frontrunners:

2016 USA Presidential Frontrunners – I tried to pick flattering photos of each!

As a full disclosure on this blog, I have signed up to volunteer with one of the campaigns.

However, I will not endorse any particular candidate on this blog and will attempt to explain why certain candidates are better under the general future trends for the United States than others, based on their personality types. As you can see, there are duplicates on several political stances, so there is actually some variety among the frontrunners based on personality as well as political stance.

To reiterate, one candidate is a far left intuitive, one candidate is an intuitive centrist, one candidate is a centrist sensor, on candidate is an intuitive conservative, and one is a conservative sensor. Unless your political preference is on the far left, you have duplication based on whether the candidate is a sensor or an intuitive.

Briefly, when has the United States been at war? Numerous times, but the major wars have been:
The Revolutionary War: Commander in Chief: George Washington – ISTJ
The War of 1812: Commander in Chief: James Madison – INTP
The Mexican War: Commander in Chief: James Knox Polk – INTJ
The Civil War: Commander in Chief: Abraham Lincoln – INTP
The Spanish American War: Commander in Chief: William McKinley – ESFJ
World War One: Commander in Chief: Woodrow Wilson – INTJ
The Spanish Civil War: Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt – ESTP
World War Two: Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt – ESTP, Harry S Truman – ISFJ
The Korean War: Commander in Chief: Harry S Truman – ISFJ
The Vietnam War: Commander in Chief: Lyndon Baines Johnson – ESTP, Richard Milhouse Nixon – INTJ
The Gulf War: Commander in Chief: George Herbert Walker Bush – ISFJ
Operation Enduring Freedom: Commander in Chief: George Walker Bush – ESTP, Barack Obama – ENTP

Each time America has been through a war, it has emerged victorious. However, sometimes it has gone through horrendous economic times immediately afterwards. Sometimes it has gone through periods of dynamic economic growth. I believe much of this has had to do with the type of leadership in the White House immediately after the war ended. Presidents set the economic style and policy for the nation by appointing Federal Reserve officers, Treasury Chairmen, and deciding how to deal with Congress when budgets are presented to them.

The Buck Stops Here

The period after the Revolutionary War was a period of terrible poverty and economic instability for the new United States under Sensor George Washington.

The period following the War of 1812 saw an economic boom in the United States, especially after the completion of the Erie Canal Project, which led to the explosion of growth in New York City. That was when Intuitive James Madison was in office.

During the period following the Mexican War, ISTP Zachary Taylor’s shortsighted policies led to short-term gold rushes and economic booms in the economy, but long-term economic instability and inequality that led to the civil war and the growth of huge tenements in urban areas. Few people benefited from the technological advances in telegraphy and railroads that were widely touted in the early 1850s.

Likewise, the period following the Civil War was a period of horrific poverty in the South for decades under the leadership of Sensor presidents like ISTJ Andrew Johnson and ISFP Ulysses Grant and even Benjamin Harrison (ISTJ) and Grover Cleveland (ESTJ).

Let’s fast-forward to the Roaring Twenties. Woodrow Wilson (INTJ) led the nation into an economic boom after World War One. There were a few rough bumps under Warren Harding’s (ISFP) scandal-ridden administration, but the party continued under Silent Cal (Calvin Coolidge – INFJ) through 1929.

Contrast this with the debacle that followed World War Two’s economic boom. ISFJ Harry S Truman nearly lost his reelection bid after a spectacular victory against Japan because of his phenomenal bungling of the economy on the homefront and horrific housing shortages for returning veterans and their brides.

That was close!

Does this sound familiar? Kind of like ISFJ George H.W. Bush’s landslide loss in 1992 immediately after his spectacular victory in the Gulf War only a year earlier?

Deja vu – It’s the ECONOMY stupid!

Almost immediately after Bush left office, Intuitive Bill Clinton led the economy into a boom cycle that lasted the duration of his presidency.

Let’s talk about Vietnam. Vietnam was a very unpopular war, but a lot of people became quite prosperous from that war.

The Graduate, 1968

Richard Nixon, to his credit, fulfilled his promise to the American people to withdraw American forces from that war. Sadly, his unscrupulous campaign tactics will be his enduring legacy and he left office under a cloud of suspicion and disgrace and an appointed Senate Whip was left to complete his term after his elected Vice President had already been removed from office before he was.

Gerald Ford was an ESFJ, and his successor, Jimmy Carter was an ISFJ. Both Presidents were Sensors and lacked the long-term vision necessary to set long-term goals for the economy. The country started a downward spiral of double-digit inflation and double-digit unemployment following the withdrawal from the Vietnam War. This was called malaise.

The Malaise drew to a close when ENFP Ronald Reagan was elected to office and the Reagan Era began.

Of course, not since 1929 has any President mismanaged the economy as badly as ESTP George Walker Bush did as Operation Enduring Freedom died down in 2007. To say that the economic meltdown was caused by war is a hideously gross oversimplification; however, the burgeoning domestic problems, especially the real estate market, needed to be addressed, while he was busy playing Generalissimo at a war that had really been won by 2004. Multiple unaddressed, neglected factors led to the epic economic meltdown in 2008. This is a direct result of having a President with no vision of the future in office.

Economic forecasters state we’re at the beginning of a thirteen year bull cycle in the stock market, which is expected to peak in the mid 2020s. Bin Ladin was neutralized in the Middle East in 2011. Most of the American troops were cleared out of Afghanistan and Iraq. Unemployment is at record lows not seen since the 1960s. President Obama is leaving a nice situation for his successor. Um… then again, so did Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1945. That is no guarantee for success. We, as a voting public, still have a responsibility to make a wise choice in leaders.

There is a clear pattern in history. After wars, Intuitive Presidents make better decisions in managing the economy than Sensor Presidents do.

We have three frontrunner candidates who are Intuitive personality types, and, fortunately for the public, they span the range of political views. There is someone for everyone, whether you are a Socialist, a Centrist, or a Far Right Conservative.

Intuitive Candidates

They  would probably be better equipped psychologically for the economic challenges that lie in the future over the next nine years than the other two frontrunners.

 

War is for Sensors, Peacetime is for Intuitives, Part One

While recuperating from an illness recently, I had time for marathon of a great 1980s series I haven’t seen since… well, the 1980s. It was a British series about female POWs in the Japanese concentration camps during World War Two. The series is called Tenko.

If you would like to read up on the series without watching it, please catch up here.

There were 31 episodes, including the five-year reunion episode, which are all worth watching. I would prefer that you watch them and read my blog afterwards, as this is a very important historical topic and this blog is loaded with spoilers.

REPEAT, THIS BLOG IS LOADED WITH SPOILERS. CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED.

Before I go on, here is the series, starting with Season One.
When you have another ten hours of free time, go ahead with Season Two.
Season Three deals with the end of the War and communist insurrections in Singapore and Malaysia. You will not want to miss it because you can find out who made it out of the camps alive.

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO STOP BEFORE THE SPOILERS.

First, of course, let me divide the characters up into MBTI types.

The Sensors:

Guardians:

Dorothy Bennett ISFJ Unhealthy Enneagram Type 6

Marion Jefferson ESFJ Unhealthy Enneagram Type 2

Brigadier Clifford Jefferson ISTJ Healthy Enneagram Type 6

Nellie Keene ESTJ Healthy Enneagram Type 6

Verna Johnson ESTJ Unhealthy Enneagram Type 3

Miss Hasan ESTJ Enneagram Type 8

Captain Sato ESTJ Unhealthy Enneagram Type 6

Artisans:

Sister Ulrica ISFP Unhealthy Enneagram Type 4

Colonel Yamauchi ESFP Unhealthy Enneagram Type 9

Sylvia Ashburton ESTP Healthy Enneagram Type 8

Blanche Simmons ESTP Unhealthy Enneagram Type 7

The Intuitives:

Idealists:

Lady Joss Holbrook INFJ Enneagram Type 1

Domenica “Metro Goldwyn” Van Meyer ENFJ Extremely Unhealthy Enneagram Type 3

Jake Haulter ENFJ Enneagram Type 2

Shinya INFP Unhealthy Enneagram Type 9

Stephen Wentworth INFP Enneagram Type 2

Lillian Cartland ENFP Diabolical Enneagram Type 2

Rationals:

Dr. Beatrice Mason INTJ Unhealthy Enneagram Type 6

Rose Millar ENTJ Unhealthy Enneagram Type 3

Kate Norris ENTJ Healthy Enneagram Type 3

Bernard Webster ENTJ Enneagram Type 8

Dr. Natalie Trier INTP Healthy Enneagram Type 5

Christina Campbell ENTP Very Unhealthy Enneagram Type 7

TURN AROUND NOW IF YOU DO NOT WANT ANY SPOILERS

You were warned.

I must say, Tenko succeeded in creating the most diabolical ENFP I think I have ever seen on camera in my life (other than a few Third World dictators on the evening news). I don’t think I have ever seen such a sweet personality type resort to such malice on film before. Only in a prison camp could The Helper become the arch-villain who sells out the life of The Fieldmarshal for a jar of jam and leave you feeling sorry for said Fieldmarshal in the process. Oh. My. God. And I’m not just saying that because I’m an ENTJ myself. Okay, maybe a little. But still.

Beyond the emotional reaction to this series, the first two seasons were devoted to the actual course of the war itself, and the last season took place during the months immediately following the war as the survivors settled back into their homes in Singapore and returned to England. And yes, the series does take place in Singapore and on a nearby island in Indonesia (Sumatra?). This is probably why there are so many ENTJ characters in the series – Singapore has the highest concentration of this personality type in the world at over 5%, compared to 1.5% worldwide. There were some other characters in the series as well, many “red sweaters” who died before their characters were fully developed, some who were not really much different than the others being discussed here.

Before the War:

Colonel Jefferson, Rose Millar and Bernard Webster bickering over petty matters at Raffles before the War.

Sensors:

The Guardians:

Dorothy Bennett lived a cloistered, sheltered life with her husband and infant daughter, Violet. She was invisible and essentially disappeared among her husband’s possessions. Marion and Clifford Jefferson had a very troubled marriage and were discussing a separation so that Marion could spend more time with their adolescent son in England. Clifford’s military career was stagnant as a Colonel. Nellie had a cryptic love life and a very promising nursing career. Verna ran a high end hotel. Not much is known about Captain Sato or Miss Hasan.

The Artisans:

Colonel Yamauchi’s daughter recently moved to Nagasaki to marry.  Sylvia Ashburton lived a privileged life in a class-conscious society. Blanche Simmons did not.

Intuitives:

Idealists:

Lady Joss Holbrook was a Suffragette actively protesting around the world to earn the right to vote for women in England and North America. Domenica Van Meyer married an older man for money and the two despised each other because  she could not bear a son for him. Jake Haulter had been kicked out of an exclusive school in England for having a tryst with a maid. Stephen Wentworth did volunteer work for the poor in Singapore. Lillian Cartland and Marion Jefferson had been roommates in private school as children – the popular Marion thought Lillian was a rather weird child.

Rationals:

Rose Millar had overcome her scholarship background to become a wealthy journalist. Her boyfriend, Bernard Webster, had a popular radio show in Singapore. Dr. Beatrice Mason was the chief of surgery in a hospital in Singapore and decided to throw herself into her work to compensate for her awkwardness with either gender in the dating world – and given enough alcohol, she shows definite proclivities toward both, it is clear. Kate Norris was looking forward to building a future with her boyfriend, Tom, while working hard at her nursing job. Dr. Natalie Trier moved to Indochina to escape her brother’s radical politics and do her medical research undisturbed. Christina Campbell was dealing with her mother’s recent death and starting to face the realities of being biracial in a very racist society.

War Sets In:

Torpedoed – the war just got real

Sensors:

Guardians:

Dorothy Bennett loses all of the relationships that hide her true self and discovers her own identity. She learns to become a businesswoman on her own, selling herself, literally, in the camps. Marion Jefferson has her chance to shine. She becomes the leader of the women in her camp and becomes the popular girl she has craved to be since she was a teenager, even though she just lost her best friend in a shipwreck. Colonel Jefferson jockeys for promotions and becomes Brigadier Jefferson by the end of the war. Nellie, Verna, Miss Hasan and Sato, however, lasted through most of the war by being other people’s henchmen and lackeys, but died by the end of the war.

Artisans:

Sister Ulrica and Colonel Yamauchi manage to survive the duration of the war, although they suffer internal conflicts because of their strong feelings and the horrors that are going on around them. Sylvia and Blanche are repeatedly punished for their stubbornness and eventually die in the camps.

Intuitives:

Idealists:

Lady Joss Holbrook is repeatedly punished for her passive resistance in the camps, but always manages to survive. She seems to understand her limits. Domenica Van Meyer complains incessantly throughout her incarceration. Shinya seems desperate to prove his bravery even though he is ill-suited for warfare, first by shooting and maiming a popular prisoner, then by taking a fatal wound during an Allied strafing of the camp shortly before he is scheduled to transfer out to a combat unit. Stephen Wentworth disappears. Lillian Cartland engages in one of the most evil informant acts I’ve ever seen in a concentration camp movie, as she sells out two prisoners for a jar of jam for her son, who is not even that hungry compared to the other prisoners.

Rationals:

Dr. Beatrice Mason  must cope with a lack of medical supplies when treating her patients. She is humbled when she meets Dr. Natalie Trier, who has done a far better job under the same circumstances. Dr. Trier, however, is sent back to Vichy France and certain death under a repatriation program, and Dr. Mason must take over her research. As her eyesight deteriorates, Kate Norris begins to take over her duties as doctor and decides to pursue medical school after the war ends. Meanwhile, Rose Millar mourns the loss of everything she has acquired as her life deteriorates from bad to worse. As she and Bernard sneak out of the camps for a rendezvous in the wilderness, they are caught and he is killed and she is severely wounded. Her spirit broken, she never recovers and eventually dies a few months later. Christina Campbell has a privileged status among the prisoners as Colonel Yamouchi’s personal assistant and translator because of her mixed race. She begins to discover her biracial identity.

After the War:

Tom’s funeral – Kate is free to pursue medical school.

Guardians:

Marion Jefferson drifts into alcoholism as her friends drift their separate ways. She feels like “everything is uncertain” and no longer knows what meaning her life has. Brigadier Jefferson feels overwhelming guilt that his wife suffered the brunt of the war while he was in an office behind the lines. After some initial setbacks, Dorothy Bennett’s career skyrockets.

Artisans:

Sister Ulrica reunites with her friends while recuperating from the war. Colonel Yamouchi is visited while awaiting trial for war crimes. It is implied by the final episode that both are killed as society returns to normal.

Intuitives:

Idealists:

Jake Haulter meets up with the group and helps the ladies adjust to life in Singapore. Stephen Wentworth runs a welfare society for the poor in the Chinese section of town and recruits Lady Joss Holbrook, Dr. Mason and Christina Campbell to help. Lady Joss Holbrook is accidentally killed during a mugging after surviving so much throughout the war. Domenica Van Meyer returns to her home and is eventually widowed and remarried to a British officer in Malaysia.

Rationals:

Dr. Beatrice Mason copes with her deteriorating eyesight by volunteering at the clinic at the welfare society. Kate Norris begins medical school. Christina Campbell teaches English to Chinese students at the welfare society, but eventually becomes enraptured by communism and destroys her life by becoming a militant radical and ends up in prison after her friends probably killed Sister Ulrica.

The Universal Conclusion:

Sensors seemed to do better during the war up to a certain critical point, at which everyone’s life began to deteriorate. During crisis situations, Sensors seemed to come out ahead. When the crisis passed, the Sensors seemed at a loss what to do, and Intuitives once again regained the advantage in life. There were certain personality types that just did not seem to do well under any circumstances. Enneagram Type 8s seemed to fare the worst under POW camp circumstances, followed by Type 3s.

As our society adjusts to peace after an extended war in the Middle East and hundreds of thousands of Millennials return and readjust to civilian life, shows like Tenko (which was based on the wartime memoirs of a POW camp survivor) offer a mini-paradigm of what to expect in the next few years. Some personality types that did very well under wartime conditions might not fare so well in civilian society, whereas those who were least successful under battlefield conditions might shine when they return home.