Occupation: President
Notable Because: He wrote the Declaration of Independence and ran the USA for two terms.
Type: INTP (Best guess: INPTfjse)
Among the INTPs featured in this book, Jefferson is unique because his T preference was very “soft.”
Note the amount of F traits he exhibited.
Evidence for INTP
• Liked to work alone and in silence; when he was Plenipotentiary to Europe and affairs got particularly busy, he would take his work and seclude himself in a nearby monastery where it was forbidden to speak aloud within the building. He would stay there for up to a week. The
original name for the house he built (Monticello) was “the Hermitage.” (I)
• Did not like being in the center of attention and shied away from public speaking (I)
• Described as shy, silent, private, reserved, distant, withdrawn, taciturn, impenetrable and reclusive (I)
• He always kept his library and study locked; nobody was allowed in unless Jefferson himself let them in (I)137
• Preferred to observe, take notes, write out his ideas on paper or listen--anything rather than actually participate in discussions (I)
• Constantly reading; he owned ~6,000 books in his library (N)
• Wrote that it was “easier to write ten letters of business than one of the intangible affections of the mind.” (T)
• Good mathematician (Favors INT)
• One person described his first meeting with Jefferson as follows, “I found his appearance serious—nay even cold, but before I had been two hours with him, we were as intimate as if we had passed our whole lives together.”1 (“Serious” and “cold” indicate INT. But note that it did not stay that way.)
• Observed that if he chose not go to college, then one quarter of his time would be wasted entertaining expensive company (INT emphasis on productive use of time rather than socializing.)
• Described as calm, cool, cold; having a “glacial exterior and almost eerie serenity.” (NT composure)138
• Love for knowledge (NT)
• Founded his own university, for which he designed the curriculum (NTs place value on education)
• He studied law and associated disciplines for five years (twice as long as the normal term, but he enjoyed his studied, which were particularly broad). Became an able lawyer. (NT)
• Enjoyed chess (NT)
• Described as being a curious intellectual and as taking interest in the life of the mind (NT)
• During a romantic affair, he described how he was “Living from day to day, without a plan for four and twenty hours to come...” (P; even in love, Judgers want a plan.)
• He did not have a set bedtime; if he was reading a good book or if he had guests over who were interesting, he would stay up 3 hours later. (P flexibility)
• Made excuses for putting off writing letters to others. For example, he referred to “that sort of procrastination which so often takes place when no circumstance fixes a business to a particular time.” (Indicates P; a Judger prefer to fix their business to particular times, even if the time must be arbitrarily chosen.)
• Could not control his spending on luxury items or stick to a set budget. (P favored over J)
• It took him 54 years to finish Monticello because he kept tweaking the design; parts of the half-built house were decaying from exposure to the elements even as others were finished (P; a Judger would find this modus operandi unnatural.)139
• Had a “distracted manner”140 (Favors INP absent-mindedness)
137 McLaughlin, 1998 138 Ellis, 1996 139 McLaughlin, 1998 140 Ellis, 1996
• Questioned the existence of God; would not let his daughter become a nun.
• Wide variety of diverse skills (Favors NTP over NTJ)141
“An American, who, without ever having quitted his own country, is at once a musician, skilled in drawing, a geometrician, an astronomer, a natural philosopher, legislator, and statesman.”
• Described as a “walking encyclopaedia” by his friends (favors INTP most strongly)
• Wore clothing considered out of date by his peers. Wore the same outfits over and over, to people’s amusement. Wore mismatched styles. (INTP disregard for dress)
• Designed his own house, his own university, his own state government (INTP architectural skill)
• Created many innovative inventions (INTPs are the type most likely to be casual inventors)
• Described as mild (Favors INTPs most of all Rationals, or, favors F)
• Spoke Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian; was studying native American languages, was interested in Welsh, Arabic, and Gaelic (Favors INTP love for languages)
• Hands off parenting (INTP favored) Evidence Against INTP
• Paid attention to details in certain areas (Favors S, particularly SJ)
• Had a “tender,” “vulnerable” disposition142 (Favors F)
• Was not bluntly truthful; for the sake of harmony, he preferred to tell people what they wanted to hear while managing to genuinely believe it himself143 (Favors F)
• Did not take criticism objectively; considered it a personal thing144 (Favors F)
• Tended to see the world in black and white moral dichotomies145 (Favors INFP over INTP)
• His temperament was described as somewhat feminine (F)
• Had strong need for harmony (F)
The Effect of a “Soft T” on the INTP Personality
Jefferson affords us with a good opportunity to study one of the many variations on the INTP personality. He preferred courtesy and tact to blunt truth, and was prone to telling people what they wanted to hear. He did this quite sincerely, even when the things he said to one group of people were seemingly opposed to what he said to another. He was also very sensitive to criticism, which he took personally.
Jefferson’s portraits do not show the INT death glare; rather, they seem to exude a sort of gentle friendliness. He was definitely one of the most idealistic of the Founding Fathers, and his theories and political views were often rather naïve. Ellis (1996) has noted that some of Jefferson’s ideas had an
“otherworldly, almost fairy-tale quality.” Even when the bulk of the evidence or the arguments of his friends had conclusively disproven Jefferson’s theories, he just kept right on believing in them despite any and all evidence to the contrary. All told, Jefferson was quite close to being an INFP.
141 Choiniere & Keirsey, 1992 142 Ellis, 1996
143 Ellis, 1996 144 Ellis, 1996 145 Ellis, 1996
The INTP Renaissance Man
INTPs are like information amoebae; they absorb everything that come within their voluminous grasp.
In this they are unlike the NTJs, who prefer to focus strongly on one particular area of interest.146 INTPs aspire to be Renaissance men and women who know about everything.
A good example of this phenomenon is Jefferson’s tendency to study anything and everything rather than just a few related subjects. The variety of knowledge he accumulated can be readily seen from the following story told about him:
On one occasion, while travelling, he [Jefferson] stopped at a country inn. A stranger, who did not know who he was, entered into conversation with this plainly-dressed and unassuming traveller. He introduced one subject after another into the conversation, and found him perfectly acquainted with each. Filled with wonder, he seized the first opportunity to inquire of the landlord who his guest was, saying that, when he spoke of the law, he thought he was a lawyer; then turning the conversation on medicine, felt sure he was a physician; but having touched on theology, he became convinced that he was a clergyman. "Oh," replied the landlord, "why I thought you knew the Squire." The stranger was then astonished to hear that the traveller whom he had found so affable and simple in his manners was Jefferson.
What Would You Save From Your Burning House?
So what would an INTP save from their burning house? Jefferson thought instantly of his books. The story goes, “...the first inquiry he made of the negro who carried him the news [of the fire] was after his books. ‘Oh, my young master,’ [the negro] replied, carelessly, ‘they were all burnt; but, ah! we saved your fiddle.’”
Makes you want to scream, doesn’t it? I suspect that modern INTPs would dive back into the flames to save their computers...and Kindles. (There's something very ironic about that name.)
Jefferson was mad for books—even by INTP standards. In building his personal library, he bought some 200 books a year, or one about every two days. He haunted the bookstores of Europe: “While residing in Paris, I devoted every afternoon I was disengaged, for a summer or two in examining all the principal bookstores, turning over every book with my own hand, and putting by everything which related to America, and indeed whatever was rare and valuable in every science.”
Speaking of fiddles (violins). Did you know that preferences for certain instruments are sometimes associated with personality traits? A study used the 16PF, another personality test, to ascertain that violin players tend to be more “intelligent, analytical, and experimental...with higher abstract reasoning skills” than people who preferred other instruments.147 This sounds something like NTP. Note that these same individuals also preferred the saxophone. Interesting.
Farming
Looking back throughout preindustrial history, I have often found myself wondering what the lives of illiterate farming and hunting/gathering INTPs were like. How does the need to achieve and build complex systems play out in a context without technology, reading, or writing?
Jefferson's farming activities provide us with a glimpse of what this might look like. During a period of faux retirement when he thought his public work was done, Jefferson decided to focus on his
146 Choinere & Keirsey, 1992 147 Hyden in Reardon, 2009
plantation. (Not that he actually did any of the labor or even supervised everyday farm activities himself—such things bored him.)
Up till this time, he had grown tobacco, which is known to be particularly good at destroying the fertility of soil. Deciding that his land's productivity had been ruined, he spent months designing a complex seven step, seven year long system of crop rotation intended to reclaim the soil. A long term payoff indeed, but INTPs play a long game. Jefferson also decided to plant wheat instead—a relatively new choice in Virginia at the time.148 Again, the INTPs is often on the cutting edge.
Jefferson also particularly enjoyed opportunities for projects that exercised his design capabilities, including his own house, a nail manufacturing facility, a flour mill, a canal, and a new threshing machine.149
So here we see the Rational strategic intelligence at work in an agrarian context. The relatives of preindustrial INTPs probably complained, “Why do you have to make farming so complicated?”
Jefferson and Madison (INTP) both had a mutual interest in what one early writer called “scientific farming.” Madison, for example, tested different breeds of animals and types of seeds to find out if they would be an improvement over the existing “technologies.” He would also assist those
performing their own agricultural experiments. Madison's NT love for the newest gadgetry also shows through in the fact that he built the first ice house in the state, which allowed him to have ice cubes in his mint julep on hot days. Like Jefferson, Madison was what you would call an early adopter.
In their letters to each other, Jefferson and Madison described what the various improvements they were testing out. These conversations were no different, in spirit, than those of two scientists
corresponding over matters of interest in their specialty field—only in this case the field was a bit more literal.
Marriage
What was Martha Jefferson’s Type?
There is only scanty information available on Martha Jefferson, but it is probable that she was an NF, maaaybe an NT.
• Everyone liked her; she had excellent conversational skills, and was a favorite of the family when growing up (EF favored)
• Vivacity (EP favored)
• She read constantly (Very good marker for N)150
• Described as angelic and saintly (NF favored)
• She preferred to read poetry and fiction (Favors NF more than NT)
• Described as having a “lively play of fancy” (NFs tend to be more fanciful than NTs)
• Described as being warm-hearted and gentle (F)
• She was a lively woman, but with a certain “asperity” of manner. Her granddaughter noted that she “had a vivacity of temper which might sometimes border on tartness” and there was one mention of how she brought up her daughter's naughtiness in a taunting manner. (T sharpness
148 Ellis, 1996 149 Ellis, 1996 150 Reardon, 2009
more favored, but this also includes a certain element of “mean.” Jefferson, a Thinker, quickly came to his daughter’s rescue in this case.)
• Danced gracefully and played a musical instrument particularly well (NFs are the most likely to play a musical instrument151, and dancers are also more likely to be “emotional” than average suggesting F.)
• Described as intelligent and particularly well educated (NT most favored)
• Described as witty (Favors NT slightly more than NF) Evidence for Judging/Perceiving
• Described as having a “somewhat impulsive disposition” (P)
• Described as having excellent sense (SJ most favored)
• Neat, orderly recordkeeping (J)
“Her receipt book was written in a light, straight, somewhat stiff Italian hand, her book of family expences regularly kept, her manuscript music book with the words of songs all fairly copied out and free from blot and blemish. Things that told of neatness, order, good
housewifery and womanly accomplishment.”2
So what we have here is a mishmash of traits that point weakly to NF. Let’s see if we can do anything with this mess.
For starters, I think we can fairly eliminate SPs; they don’t care for constant reading. In addition, the evidence for a Guardian is rather weak compared to that for NF and NT. Let’s start by making the assumption that she is an Idealist or Rational.
I would guess that Martha is either a “soft” Thinker or a “sharp” Feeler. The evidence for a Feeler seems somewhat stronger, particularly the description “angelic”--though this may be hyperbole on the behalf of the observer. Alternately, the “angelic” persona may simply be Martha’s public identity. This is not out of the question given that her daughter remembered a meaner streak. Still, the preference for poetry and fiction is strongly NF, as is the interest in the arts. (Note, however, that she would have also received training in the arts as part of a well-bred woman’s education.) It seems most likely that
Martha was an Idealist, though perhaps not an ideally developed one.
Was Martha an Introvert or an Extravert? The word “quiet” never came up in any of the fragmentary descriptions of her. Unless someone is directly described as an Introvert, it is a good rule of thumb to assume that they aren’t. People just don’t notice what is considered normal, i.e. Extraversion. There is also the fact that she was a favorite and everyone liked her. That kind of popularity is easier for an Extravert to attain than an Introvert. I would very tentatively say that she was an Extravert, though again, this is a leap.
That leaves us with the matter of her Judging and Perceiving preference--i.e. was she an ENFJ or an ENFP? The “impetuous disposition” is a strong argument for P, but the orderliness and tidiness of her notes would indicate J. I would lean slightly towards P because many such Judging skills are often learned, slightly undermining the value of this particular J evidence. Also, vivacity and lively character are often associated with ENFPs.
Best guess? Probably an NF, maybe an ENFP. We just can’t say for certain.
Relationship
Since we don’t know much about Martha, there's isn't much type-based information about the specifics
151 Marchant-Haycox and Wilson in Reardon, 2009
of Jefferson’s relationship with her. But there is plenty of evidence pointing to the fact that it was a deep and loving connection.
Although the couple’s granddaughter remembered Martha’s tartness of her character, she added that this flaw was not directed towards Jefferson. Rather, it “was completely subdued by her exceeding affection for him.” Besides this, the granddaughter noted, “my grandfather was tenderly attached to her [Martha].” Martha also made Jefferson’s home “comfortable, cheerful, pleasant, just what a good man’s home should be.”
Jefferson sacrificed career opportunities to stay with his wife, who was frequently ill. He twice refused the post of Plenipotentiary to Europe because he had promised his wife that he would not reenter public life for her sake. It was only after she died that he was willing to accept the post.
In her final illness, he never left her side. Their daughter noted,
As a nurse no female ever had more tenderness nor anxiety. He [Jefferson] nursed my poor mother in turn with aunt Carr and her own sister—sitting up with her and administering her medicines and drink to the last.
For four months that she lingered he was never out of calling; when not at her bedside, he was writing in a small room which opened immediately at the head of her bed. A moment before the closing scene [his wife's death], he was led from the room in a state of insensibility by his sister, Mrs. Carr, who, with great difficulty, got him into the library, where he fainted, and remained so long insensible that they feared he never would revive. The scene that followed I did not witness, but the violence of his emotion, when, almost by stealth, I entered his room by night, to this day I dare not describe to myself. He kept his room three weeks, and I was never a moment from his side. He walked almost incessantly night and day, only lying down occasionally, when nature was completely exhausted, on a pallet that had been brought in during his long fainting-fit. My aunts remained constantly with him for some weeks—I do not remember how many. When at last he left his room, he rode out, and from that time he was incessantly on horseback, rambling about the mountain, in the least frequented roads, and just as often through the woods. In those melancholy rambles I was his constant companion—a solitary witness to many a burst of grief, the remembrance of which has consecrated particular scenes ... beyond the power of time to obliterate.1
So pronounced was his grief that rumors floated around that Jefferson fainted at the sight of his
children. We have a letter in which Jefferson describes this period in his life; at this point he is slightly recovered:
It found me a little emerging from the stupor of mind which had rendered me as dead to the world as was she whose loss occasioned it. Before that event my scheme of life had been determined. I had folded myself in the arms of retirement, and rested all prospects of future happiness on domestic and literary objects. A single event wiped away all my plans, and left me a blank which I had not the spirits to fill up.1
Some less-than-enlightened internet type descriptions may lead people to believe that INTPs don’t experience deep feelings. One person, upon reading such a particularly deplorable description, was moved to ask incredulously, “Are INTPs even capable of love?” Nor are these questions limited to the internet. Otis (2005) noted that several of the INTP veterans in his PTSD sample had frequently been told by their significant other that they had no feelings. This account should wipe out all doubts that INTPs are not capable of forming deep connections.
One final thing of note is that Jefferson fell in love twice before meeting his wife and once or twice more after she died. This by no means fits the stereotype of the INTP human computer. It is true that Jefferson had a soft T, but it was a T nonetheless. As we shall see, Madison too fell in love multiple times.
Founding Documents
Jefferson, INTP, wrote the Declaration of Independence and his friend Madison, also INTP, wrote the
Jefferson, INTP, wrote the Declaration of Independence and his friend Madison, also INTP, wrote the