At a NATO meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 28, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice slipped a paper to President George W. Bush informing him that coalition forces in Baghdad had transferred power to an interim Iraqi government.
“Mr. President, Iraq is sovereign,” Rice wrote. “Letter was passed from [Paul] Bremer at 10:26 a.m. Iraq time. Condi.”
In felt-tip pen, Bush replied, “Let FreeDom reign!”
The White House quickly released a copy of the handwritten note to the press. We asked Sheila Kurtz, president of the Manhattan-based handwriting-analysis firm Graphology Consulting Group, to tell us what the president's penmanship says about the man.
Can we learn anything from the president's handwriting with regard to his feelings on the nation's role in Iraq? The letter “D” is capitalized in the word “freedom.” Does that tell us anything?
It does. The capital “D” in freedom indicates that he wishes to stand out in any crowd, and at the same time is exquisitely sensitive to anyone who might direct criticism his way.
The exclamation point is quite large. Is that, say, phallic?
No, but the dot on the end of it is hooked -- he has a lot of hooks throughout his writing. The hooks are tenaciousness, and they're at the end of “freedom” and “reign” and also the exclamation point [has a hook]. That's a lot. Sometimes tenacity is a good trait, but when a person has so much tenacity it's very hard for them to change course. No matter what warning signals will be sounded they can't change course. They stick to what they believe. And so tenacity at times is so sticky that it can severely interfere with their flexibility, productivity, and imagination in all areas.
We hear a lot about his decisiveness …
I didn't say decisive. I said tenacious.
Yes, but you said he doesn't want to change his mind.
Exactly, exactly. There's a lot of inflexibility. That could be every area. It could be strategy, tactics.
His “e's” are very tight -- there's not a lot of white space in there.
Exactly, there's no white space. That indicates a narrow-minded or tunnel-mindedness, which goes along with the tenacity, and that means that he takes almost nothing else but what he already knows into his decision making. Narrow-mindedness or tunnel-mindedness is someone who is not really open to other ideas or other suggestions if it doesn't match what he thinks. He's just sort of narrow -- he just holds on to whatever his ideas are, not what someone else's are.
What struck you about Condoleezza Rice's handwriting?
It's a very good flow, there's a very good rhythm. I can't tell [Bush's] slant because it's written on an angle, but hers just barely goes to the right. You can tell from slant how emotional someone is. She very rarely would act from impulsiveness.
What about some of the individual letters?
In the words “Mr. President,” the “m” tapers down, the second part of the “m” gets smaller. She also has that in the word “time.” That is diplomacy and tact. She would do very well in difficult situations with people who are difficult personalities. And her “f” is very balanced, and that's very organized. That's persistence in there, too. She's analytical, you can see that in her “m's” and “n's.” She's not intuitive at all.
How do you know that?
There are usually a lot of breaks between the letters, and there aren't any in this … . She is a perfect employee for him.
Deferential and loyal?
Oh, yeah. Exactly.
Kevin Canfield is a writer in New York.
