Checkpoint: Intelligence Versus Wisdom
Essay by rickpitcher • October 27, 2012 • Research Paper • 322 Words (2 Pages) • 1,433 Views
Checkpoint: Intelligence versus Wisdom
Richard Pitcher
PSY/220
April 5, 2012
Mr. Adams M. Miller
Checkpoint: Intelligence versus Wisdom
I chose to do this paper on Richard M. Nixon, and the Watergate break in. In June, 1972 it was obviously clear that the people of the United States was reacting to this event with a lot of emotions, because this was the first time that a President had been linked to a criminal act. President Nixon used his emotional intelligence to help persuade the American people that he was innocent of any crime. He did this so well and with a straight face he boldly lied to the American people all the way up to his resignation. He had us all believing that maybe they made a mistake and that our President just might be innocent.
I do not think that President Nixon's downfall was due to his emotional intelligence , but to his lack of successful intelligence. According to Bolt, M. (2004). Pursuing human strengths: A positive psychology guide. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. To be successfully intelligent Robert Sternberg suggests, one must think well in three different ways: analytically, creatively, and practically. Tacit knowledge is a important component of successful intelligence. It involves "knowing how" more than "knowing what" and is crucial to achieving important life goals. President Nixon was not using tacit knowledge when he was trying to apply his successful intelligence. He was unable to analytically asses his situation. He tried to change his environment by firing people in his administration and he tried to tamper with evidence and that did not work.
It seems to me that President Nixon lost some of his wisdom. President Nixon could not apply his knowledge to this particular problem and solve it. In my judgment President Nixon lacked successful intelligence and the aspects of wisdom that he lacked were accurate perspective, efficient use of knowledge, and his reasoning ability.
Reference
The History Page. (2000). Retrieved from http://www.historyplace.com/untedstates/impeachments/nixon.htm
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