Is it possible to foretell how a president will lead based on a set of indicators culled from past precedents? That’s a hard call — but John Dean is willing to take his chances in his latest column about the future of America’s highest office.

FindLaw:

Now the good news. After observing candidate Barack Obama, and reading his two memoirs, “Dreams from my Father” and “The Audacity of Hope,” I strongly believe that he is a prototypical “active/positive” president — under the criteria of Barber’s analysis. For that reason, allow me to further draw from Barber’s work, to highlight the portrait of an active/positive president’s key characteristics — quoting Barber’s analysis as follows — for it provides a portrait of the coming Obama presidency, if Barber is correct:

A conviction of capability. The President soon reaches the conclusion that despite weaknesses he knows about, he is fully able to meet the challenges of the job.

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#barack obama#george w bush#john dean#president#richard nixon#white house