Psychoanalytic Assessments of Character and Performanceexclusive categorizations. Rather, from the perspective of this frame-
work, it remains to be determined in each particular case just how
each of the character elements is related, individually and in combi-
nation, to the essential elements of leadership performance. With
this framework, each element requires the reality of data to give it
meaning, and any particular package of elements represented by an
individual's psychology is a matter that emerges from the data, not
from placement in a category.
The framework also does not make or require a priori assumptions
about the way(s), if any, each or several of the character elements are
related to the twin pillars of presidential performance, judgment in
decision making and political leadership.
Applying the Framework
The theory underlying the framework of analysis developed in The
Psychological Assessment of Presidential Candidates (Renshon 1996b)
focuses on selecting American presidents. Yet, as noted in the book,
it was not intended to be a theory of presidential character. The
framework consists of two parts: a theory of character and a theory of
presidential role performance.
Let us first consider the importance of ambition in presidential
candidates. The book argues that the nature of the modern presi-
dency and what was needed to obtain it made high ambition more of
a given than a variable. That is, almost all candidates could be
assumed to have strong ambition since the investment necessary to
try and obtain the office would mitigate against those who didn't
"really want it." Even Ronald Reagan, whose somewhat passive exec-
utive style in the presidency has been much commented on, spent
many years and much time reaching for that office.
Of course, the fact that most modern presidential candidates are
highly ambitious still leaves open the questions of what their skills
are and whether these skills support or impede the candidate's ambi-
tion. It is possible that one's skills support the level of one's ambi-
tions, are greater than one's ambitions, or don't measure up to one's
ambitions. Also, the assumption of high ambition in the presidency
leaves open the issue of the relationship between skills arid ambition
on the one hand and political performance on the other.
The uniformly high ambition of modern presidential candidates