Analyzing Senator Obama's handwriting

Barack Obama visited the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem on Thursday and followed the custom of placing a handwritten prayer into an opening between the stones. Within minutes a local seminary student had yanked the note out of the wall, and by Friday morning a photograph of Senator Obama's private prayer was published on the front page of an Israeli newspaper.

The Jewish people haven't survived for thousands of years by being trusting.

The Associated Press sought to confirm the authenticity of the prayer note by publishing the handwritten letter that Senator Obama left at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial when he visited on Wednesday. "The handwriting was similar," AP writer Aron Heller reported.

Well, okay.

America Wants to Know can now analyze Senator Obama's handwriting and disclose to you the true personality traits it secretly reveals.

Recently we subjected President Bush's handwriting to our penetrating gaze (See "Analyzing the president's handwriting") and, after all, fair is fair.

(We haven't seen a sample of Senator John McCain's handwriting, but if you can point us to one, e-mail Susan@ExtremeInk.com.)

Here are the two samples of Senator Obama's handwriting:




With a little help from Dr. Hugo von Hagen, Ph.D., author of the 1902 book, "Reading Character from Handwriting," America Wants to Know will now endeavor to amaze you with our sketchy talent for graphology.

First we'll tell you what we found, and then we'll tell you where we found it. This will allow you to stop reading before you learn just enough to peek at everyone's handwriting and ruin all your relationships.

The traits that show up over and over in Senator Obama's handwriting are clearness, level-headedness, simplicity, exactness, perseverance, moderation, order, diligence, carefulness and independence.

Perhaps that's about what you'd expect.

But there were a few things you might not have expected.

Senator Obama's handwriting reveals a strong sexual imagination, but it does not indicate sexual frustration or infidelity.

The senator's handwriting reveals an extremely analytical method of thinking. He is not particularly intuitive -- he doesn't suddenly arrive at a conclusion without knowing how he got there. He is not especially methodical -- he doesn't wait for every single fact to be assembled in front of him before he makes a decision. Rather he has the type of mind that takes everything apart and analyzes all the components, seeking to understand how everything works.

Senator Obama's handwriting does not show signs of deceitfulness, but it doesn't show indications of great openness or frankness, either. His writing indicates reservedness and discretion.

There are repeated indications of good taste and an appreciation for culture and art.

We were surprised to see that Senator Obama's handwriting shows a strong indication of low self-esteem.

Senator Obama's handwriting reveals a man who is controlled by his mind and not by his emotions, a man bordering on coldness, a man who is calm, diligent, and careful. He is not an idealist pursuing intellectual flights of imagination. He is not a preening, careening egomaniac.

From his handwriting, we would guess that Senator Obama will disappoint people who expect grand plans to change the world. He doesn't appear to be interested in lofty ideals. He looks more like the grind-it-out quarterback who will pick up three yards here, six yards there, and end the season with a Super Bowl ring.

Now, if you don't want to know how the trick was done, click here and we'll take you someplace else.

You want to know about the sexual imagination first, right?

If you look at the letter "g" in the samples above, you'll see a wide loop below the baseline (the lower zone indicates physical matters, while the upper zone reveals interest in ideas). Loops like that indicate imagination; the wider they are, the greater the imagination. When the upstroke of the loop returns all the way to the baseline it indicates fulfillment; if the g-loop ended below the baseline, it would indicate frustration.

The straight, even baseline of Senator Obama's writing is an indication of faithfulness. If the letters in each word seemed to rest on a wavy line, that would be an indication of infidelity.

The slant of a person's writing is an indication of whether the mind or the emotions exert stronger control over them (and no, it doesn't matter if they are left-handed). Senator Obama's writing is just about perpendicular, which means he is controlled by his mind. Vertical writing also indicates coldness and an apparent lack of feeling. If his writing slanted far to the right, it would mean he was strongly influenced by his emotional responses. If the writing slants to the left, it's an indication of emotional withdrawal, suppressed feelings, pretension and disguise.

Good taste and culture are indicated by the clear writing, the letters that look like printed characters instead of cursive, and the amount of space on the left and right side of the pages.

Low self-esteem shows up in the t-bar crossed very low on the stems.

Independence is indicated by the clear writing, the block-capital letter "I," and, if we remember correctly, the short stems on the letter "d."

Reservedness and discretion are shown in the letters "o," "a" and "g," which are closed at the top and bottom in neat circles. If they were open or gaping at the top, it would mean frankness or talkativeness. If they were open at the bottom, it would indicate hypocrisy or dishonesty. If they were covered by a penstroke that looked like a drapery on the upper-left or upper-right corner of a window, it would indicate deceit or self-delusion. None of those things are present.

The heavy, even pressure of the writing shows resoluteness, diligence and perseverence, which are also indicated by the angular letter forms and the straight line of the writing.

Carefulness is shown by the short t-bar dashes and the orderly writing. The moderate height and relatively thin loop of the "l" indicates cautious thinking.

Lofty ideals and visionary plans would show up as letters reaching high above the baseline, big loops in the upper zone, and t-bars that are crossed above the stem instead of through it. None of those things are present in Senator Obama's handwriting.

The "v" shapes in the letters "m" and "n" indicate analytical thinking. The deep "v" indicates intelligence.

The way the letters in each word are connected, not separated in places, shows a logical, practical person who is less likely to invent intuitively and more likely to execute effectively.

The simplified letter forms that lack a first or last stroke (like the letter "y" at the ends of words, for instance), indicate simplicity, modesty, calmness and clear judgment. Simplified letter forms are also an indication of intelligence.

Notice those occasional uncrossed t-stems? Here's what Dr. von Hagen has to say about that:

"Some persons make no dash or stroke whatever, but bring the last penstroke of the t to an abrupt end. We can, without much trouble, locate 'ability to stick to one's purpose' in the writer, bordering on obstinacy, especially if they run strongly marked throughout the entire writing. Such a person will hold to his views, no matter what may happen, and if confirmed in connection with other signs of energy, such natures will brush aside unmercifully all, who may be in their way, so that they may win and carry out their purpose and design."

Since Senator Obama crosses most of his "t" stems, this harsh assessment should be dialed back in intensity. But there's definitely an indication of determination and a willingness to do what it takes to win.

Or maybe that's just the way they teach handwriting in Hawaii.


Copyright 2008

Update: Certified graphologist Carole Rule (www.HandwritingExplained.com) advises that our sketchy talent for graphology has mistakenly identified low self-esteem in Senator Obama's handwriting. We're happy to share her e-mail:

From: Carole Rule
To: Susan@ExtremeInk.com
Subject: Obamas handwriting
Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 10:09 am

There was one mistake in particular. His t bars do not indicate low self esteem because they are connected to the next letter. In this case they need to be in the mid zone and it would be low goals not esteem. However he has star shaped T's when they start a word another indication of tenacity and persistence. The figure 8 g is an indication of literary ability and the curve of several of his letters f, b, p are an indication of feeling pressure from the future. An anxiety of how things will turn out. His words end with a squared look an indication of forcefulness and determination. Sort of this is my decision and he will not be moved. The long end stroke on many of his words show he keeps others at a distance and he will trust few if any totally. The short looped d stem is sensitivity to criticism of himself personally and the desire to be unique, one of a kind and not labeled or pigeon-holed.

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