Political Leaders

Unlike what holds in the arts, sciences, chess, and sports, political leadership is not always counted as a major domain of giftedness or talent. Even so, several classic investigations included notable political leaders along with eminent scientists and artists. For example, Francis Galton's 1869 Hereditary Genius has a whole chapter devoted to prime ministers, presidents, and other heads of state, and Catharine Cox's 1926 Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses examined illustrious politicians and revolutionaries among other professions. Whether or not political leadership can be considered as talent or giftedness depends on a scientist's stance on the causes of effective leadership. On the one hand, some investigators hold that political leadership depends on being the right person. On the other hand, some researchers defend the proposition that such leadership is actually contingent on being at the right place at the right time. The former position is sometimes called the great man theory, the latter the Zeitgeist theory. However, researchers in this area more often frame the debate as concerning the relative impact of individual and situational variables.