There is little aggreement on George W. Bush's Enneagram type. Most often he has been typed as 6w7, 7w8 or 9w8. I've limited the choices in this poll to these and closely related choices in order to minimize the space the poll takes on the web page. If you check "Other" or would like to give some justification for your choice then feel free to leave a comment. There is no login required to do so, but the comment won't appear until I approve it (I'm trying to limit the spam).

George Bush is definitely a THREE. I can't believe it wasn't even a choice in the above poll! The guy is overly concerned with his image, and relies on trusted friends of his dad to guide him and tell him how to act, what to think, how to behave, and what to say. He adjusts himself to fit the situation like a chameleon, disdains intellectual pursuits, and goes to Nine under stress.

Hi Dave,

Back in 2000-2001, during the presidential campaign, I was working at the Research Department of the DNC, doing opposition research on George W. Bush and his financial supporters. Since I was an Enneagram enthusiast, I did an enneagram profile on my understanding of Bush, which was widely publicized on the internet. I typed Bush as a counterphobic 6w7 at that time...

http://www.9types.com/writeup/enneagram_bush_alt.html

As time passed and Bush's handling of the Iraq War and surrounding circumstances fleshed him out further, I saw that my initial impression was only a partial snapshot of the man. He is much more calculating and instinctual than I had seen at that early point, so I now lean toward 7w8 in my assessment of Bush.

The 8 wing brings a strong instinctive, "shoot-from-the-hip" management style. Even Bush describes himself as an instinctive decision-maker -- in fact he uses that exact word.

I still see Bush, oddly, on a sort of 6-7-8 continuum. He is a very complex personality who defies some of the more common nostrums about the Enneagram, for instance, that every person is locked into one primary type. I believe that some people are "spread out" over a greater bandwidth, so that their personalities span a wider arc than is typical.

So in Bush's case, he definitely shows some 6 traits which are obvious in his father (George H.W. Bush is most commonly described as a 6w5.) I think these traits may have come from unconscious emulation of some of his father's attributes.

But Bush also shows some elements of the instinctive, no-nonsense, impulsive, even amoral leadership style of the classic 8.

So we're forced to interpolate between 6 and 8 to see the real Bush, and when you compare his core personality style against the classic attributes of the 7, you actually see a great correlation.

You see:

1) Addictive, impulsive, and excitement-seeking behavior earlier in his life.

2) A man who is outgoing in the extreme.

3) A man who pursued diverse careers (oilman, congressional candidate, baseball team owner, governor,) in rapid succession.

4) A man who habitually cracks jokes in the middle of serious events (speeches, summit meetings, etc.)

One attribute of a "typical" 7 that Bush does not display is intellectual curiosity. However, I would argue that this is not a necessary attribute of 7s, it's just something commonly seen in them. Most 7s are outgoing. Bush is extraordinarily outgoing, even for a 7. I believe this attribute has blunted the normal intellectual curiosity you would see. For instance, Bush isn't intellectually curious about public policy nuances or foreign cultures. But he is fascinated by interpersonal dynamics and the people around him.

All in all, George W. Bush is not one of the easier people, or presidents, to type.

Wonder if anyone agrees with me on any of this.

-Joe Tangredi