ABSTRACT
So far we have been concerned with how the president interacts with the environment around him. The major components of his environment include the international situation; political, social, and economic conditions in our own society; institutional actors such as Congress, the bureaucracy, the courts, the press, and organized interests; and the public. In assessing how the president interacts with these various elements, we have dealt with the role of his personality in only a passing fashion. We shall now deal with it directly, first by considering to what extent an understanding of a president’s personality can help us explain his behavior as he attempts to shape and respond to his environment. We shall then address the question of whether some personality types may be more suited to the demands and responsibilities of the presidency than do others. Finally, we shall consider if it is possible to do a better job of screening the personalities of candidates who seek the office. Of course, all of these considerations presume that the personality variable can have a major impact upon presidential conduct-a matter to which we now turn.
