In HBO’s John Adams, Paul Giamatti delivers a powerful portrayal of John Adams as an ESTJ 8w9, a personality type defined by conviction, blunt force of will, and an unshakable commitment to independence. This analysis explores how Adams’ ESTJ traits and Enneagram 8w9 core drive his fierce arguments, moral courage, and volatile temper throughout the American Revolution.
ESTJ 8w9 Characters
Why is John Adams from John Adams an ESTJ 8w9? Continue reading for my argument using cognitive functions! The headers for each section are clickable, so you can easily access more information about the dominant function and the Enneagram type, or discover more characters who share the type.
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Extraverted Thinking
John Adams’ first tendency when seeing a problem is to step in and solve it, which creates friction with the emotional personalities around him; he sees his younger son as a failure because he spends all of his time at Harvard drinking and carousing rather than getting an education that would allow him to go on and make something of himself, but instead of recognizing his individual strengths like a feeler would, John measures him by his lack of success and inability to create and maintain a structure. John determines the value of his children by what they can contribute, and pushes his older son, John Quincy, to further his education while in France, sending him off as an ambassador-adjacent at fourteen. He tells the French aristocracy that he tends fields and works hard so his children can attend the theater and enjoy the finer things in life.
He is comfortable ordering others around and delegating tasks (asking Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence), heading committees, and encouraging others to move into action. John believes in holding to a schedule, in being responsible, and in attending to work before all else. He also grows impatient with others’ inefficiencies and insults them because he feels they are not driven enough or are not facing the facts; he tells one member of Congress he would never look down on another man’s religious beliefs, but being a Quaker is doing them all a disservice.
Adams doesn’t trust the public to govern itself, so he believes in establishing a strong central government, which puts him at odds with Jefferson’s libertarian “people will behave if you leave them alone” viewpoint. His ability to put aside his feelings to do what is necessary to further their Revolution troubles his wife, who wishes he could be at home more.
Introverted Sensing
John starts out as a patriot who argues on behalf of the British at the “Boston Massacre” because he believes in the system of government which says all men deserve a fair trial, and once acting on their behalf, meticulously brings forth detailed evidence that allows him to win his case. (What were they shouting? Where were you standing when you heard someone scream, “Fire, damn you! Fire!”?). He bases a lot of his prejudices against the French on the long-standing after-effects of the French Revolution, and his disdain for their shallow, pleasure-driven lifestyles, which contrast with his earthiness.
While his job takes him frequently to Congress, he much rather prefers to be attending to his legal responsibilities as an attorney, or to his farm, where he tells his son to dig his hands deep into the rich earth and really feel it. John is frustrated enough with the current system to want to revise it, but reverts back to traditionalism in certain of his ideas (once rid of King George, he starts scheming how to address Washington with royal and aristocratic titles, because it seems wrong not to have them; it’s what is “done” in civilized countries, showing an introverted sensing approach of respect to things that last for centuries). He is frustrated with one of his sons, because the boy doesn’t adhere to socially appropriate expectations – he is too frivolous, careless, and pleasure-seeking.
Extraverted Intuition
While open-minded in some respects, a lot of John’s intuitions are negative rather than positive; he does believe in a grand future for America, but his judgments about the British are often harsh and expect the worst. Where other, more idealistic members of Congress hope for British reconciliation, Adams knows trying to placate the monarchy is useless, and that the response will be violent. While in the Netherlands, he works diligently to try to establish America as a country by gaining them loans, even before they have won the war, which proves difficult. (Once they win, the Dutch are only too happy to loan them several million dollars.)
While Alexander Hamilton is trying to shape the future with national debt, John argues against all of his financial decisions by calling him “short-sighted.” He makes private speculations with his wife in his letters about how history will interpret their lives and stories. John also pulls frequently from Greek myths in his public speeches, tying the present situation to some mythological tale.
Introverted Feeling
Abigail Adams calls her husband “petulant” on several occasions, because he did not get his way and starts to sulk. He is jealous of her friendship with Thomas Jefferson, and that she praises Jefferson (which she does merely to provoke John). His inability to relate to, understand, or execute his emotions makes him dismissive of others’ feelings, leading him to insult people rather than affirm them. He admits to this failing when he asks Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence for him, as Jefferson is not “obnoxious and unpopular.” This also shows in his disintegrating relationship with his son Charles, whom he constantly nags, berates, and tells off for being a lout, a fool, a drunk, etc. He has very little sympathy for Charles’s lifestyle or his bad choices, and is angry at him for not being a stronger person, which leads them to a semi-estrangement.
When overly attacked and criticized, John takes things personally; he gets very upset in London upon reading the papers, which call for him to be hanged as a traitor. His wife often has to remind him not to be pompous and use big words just to impress other people, because it doesn’t occur to him to think about how they will interpret his love of classic literature and Greek myths. When depressed abroad, John stops writing his wife altogether; he can’t face admitting that he is failing, and does not think of how she will feel in not hearing from him for months at a time.
The Enneagram 8
John is, in a word (his own words!), “Obnoxious and disliked,” because he suffers no fools and is brash, brazen, and attacks his enemies. He is more realistic about the force necessary to get England to listen to them than many of the others in the Congress, who think appeasement will work with the king. John immediately knows that is a waste of time, and that the only thing the king will listen to is an outright declaration of independence. He is such a firm believer in following what he thinks is right that he is willing to set all of Boston against himself, and risk his practice, to defend the British soldiers. Later, he alienates several members of Congress by calling them cowards, or saying that their Quaker-led pacifism is foolish.
Shocked when his cousin approves of a British dock master being tarred and feathered, John interprets this behavior as “barbaric” and concludes that people need governed, or they will fall into wicked and cruel behaviors. He tries to instill strong legislation to keep the public in line, which conflicts with Jefferson’s idealism, and leads to political arguments. Franklin gets him kicked out of the French court, because he thinks John’s inability to pander to the French and tell them what they need to hear is a liability; he has insulted them, demeaned their culture, and has become a “problem.” But this same bull-headedness is also what gets them loans in the Netherlands, what gets Washington the clothes and supplies he needs, and is partly what shapes the nation into a self-governing force.
It’s also difficult for him to be vulnerable to his wife, to admit when he feels jealous or insecure, and to find that special tenderness for his son, upon whom he is too hard.
The 9 Wing
When John cares about a friendship or a relationship, he is more careful with it, and aware that he has gone too far; he has to apologize to his wife several times, and is surprised when she is cross with him, because he does not like disharmony at home. Part of his annoyance at his son Charles is because Charles is causing a “fuss,” and is not just putting down his head and doing what he needs to do at school. He also knows when to back off, and to stop exerting force in a situation, which shows the influence of the 9 wing. Ultimately, what John wants is to eventually retire and live a peaceful life, outside of the constant conflict and fighting that comes from being in the Congress, in foreign courts, and then in the Cabinet. Though initially hostile toward Jefferson after their friendship dissolves over a political dispute, at the urging of their mutual friends, they reconcile and learn to tolerate each other’s differences.
