James David Barber | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 31, 1930 |
| Died | September 12, 2004 (aged 74) |
| Occupations | Author, political scientist |
| Known for | Presidential Character: Predicting Performance In The White House |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 4 |
James David Barber (July 31, 1930 – September 12, 2004) was a political scientist whose book The Presidential Character made him famous for his classification of presidents through their worldviews. From 1977 to 1995, he taught political science at Duke University.
Barber was born on July 31, 1930, in Charleston, West Virginia, to a physician and a nurse. In the 1950s he served in the United States Army as a counter-intelligence agent before attending the University of Chicago, where he earned a master's degree in political science. He earned a Ph.D. in the same field from Yale University.[when?]
He joined the faculty at Duke University in 1972, and became a full professor there in 1977. Before going to Duke he had taught at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.
Barber retired from teaching in 1995 and was active in St. Philip's Episcopal Church.
He is credited in the field of political science for being the first[when?] to examine presidents beyond case studies. He devised a system of organizing a president's character into either active-positive, passive-positive, active-negative, or passive-negative this system is laid out in his book Presidential Character: Predicting Performance In The White House.
