Thomas Jefferson

I'd be surprised if he was, but that description makes it seem possible. I just can't see him being an INFJ though, but who knows - I'd have to see him in action.

 

It's hard to say, but I'm not inclined to say so, just because he seemed very capable at moral compromise (I think most INFJs tend to take a harder line when it comes to their personal sense of right and wrong). He was conflicted about slavery, as the article points out, and there is actually a lot of scholarship about Jefferson and his relationships with his slaves. For example, I believe he traveled a lot with Sally Hemmings, the slave who bore a child from one of the "Jeffersons".

Also, as president, he make a total 180 on his ideas of small government. He had extremely firm convictions prior to taking the presidency; once in office, he abandoned those completely. He believed that if the Constitution didn't expressly authorize something then it was out the question; yet that did not prevent him from signing the Louisiana Purchase and generally advocating the expansion of federal power.

I think it's this kind of politician-like turn around in his life, and his failure to deal with slavery, that kind of make me question any INFJ-ish qualities.

That's not to say that he may have been one at some point. People change over their lives. The MBTI is not set in stone. He very well could have been during the revolution, and then changed when he became president.

 

Yes it is.

 

Thanks for that Satya. Certainly the most intimate and personal look at Thomas Jefferson ive read. (Its been a long time) I have to say though, that it seems more like a column in a gossip magazine than a factual account. Did the original article have references or footnotes?

At any rate he sounds like a great guy to hang with. Wish I had a time machine.

 

I am reading his auto biography right now not even half way thru. There is a lot to read. I find his personal letters to the people he associated with facinating. He was a shrewd buisness man atleast that is my impression of him. I think a lot of times people forget just how hard it was in his times to stand straight for what you believe in. The country was in a very delicate state and you had to be able to change your mind. People were trying to make America fail and he had to be flexible enough to over come all the obsticles that were put in his way. I think he was definatly a feeling type. And like myself it is easier to give out medicine than take it. He went against his original feelings about expanding the government. But from what I have read about him it seemed to bother him also. He was a conflicted man because he had to make comprimises to get things done. Problem is 200 years later it seems that nothing has really changed in our government. I feel that every president of the united states has done the same thing as him. Which has allowed the removal of our basic freedoms from us. And the country that he invisioned has vanished from the earth. We are but a shadow of what we could be..

 

Supposedly he was an INTJ, but I can definitely see INFJ. I really resonate with his mind.

 

INTP

 

INFJ? Funny, because if there were some NT's here, they would be claiming Jefferson as one of their own based on his intelligence alone.

Personally, nothing at all is known about him from my perspective. I'll have to learn more and come to a decision.

 

I'm an ENTP. I'm not claiming him as one because he was an INTP, therefore to claim him as one would make me wrong. I dislike being wrong.

 

I cannot see him as an INFJ at all. You can tell from his picture that he is a firm logical person T and the glimpse in his eyes make me think N. INTJ is about right!

 

Oh, there's no doubt that Thomas had strong logical skills. One doesn't have to be a T to excel at logic, though. It's entirely possible that Thomas might've just been an INFJ who spent his younger years working hard to develop his Ti, in which case there's no doubt that he would've been able to match any NT he came across on logical terms.

 

There are three spelling mistakes in that.

 

I could much more easily see him as an INFJ than an INTJ, but still lean towards him being an INTP. He clearly used introverted thinking, not extroverted thinking. He was a man of principle, not pragmatism.

(I'm inclined to see Alexander Hamilton as his shadow, ENTJ.)