7. General George S. Patton – ISTP
Throughout his military career, but especially as a general officer, George S. Patton displayed a flamboyance which often irritated his fellow officers. He carried a pair of ivory-handled revolvers rather than the standard issue .45 automatic used by the US Army as a sidearm. He also affected a riding crop carried as a swagger stick, which he used to emphasize points when in animated discussions. A highly polished helmet crowned his head when in modified dress uniform. He used what can gently be termed colorful language in speeches and when addressing reporters and troops. Patton enjoyed appearing in public wearing high riding boots as well as riding pants. He ensured his image went out to the public via the press, as one of the first officers to employ a full-time press secretary on his staff.
Nonetheless, Patton is frequently identified as having an ISTP (Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, Perceptive) personality type. Such types often lack interpersonal skills or are indifferent to them. They also exhibit a disregard for organizational hierarchies, except for what it takes to circumvent them. That is certainly the public image Patton presented when it served him to do so. But it also served to get him into considerable trouble with his superiors, both during World War II and in its immediate aftermath. Still, it’s difficult to regard George Patton as an introvert, and many sites instead assign him the MBTI of ESTP, listing him as an Extrovert. It’s fitting. Patton generated controversy in the army, in the press, and in the public eye in life. He’d probably prefer to do so in posterity as well.
