Hillary Clinton was asked a direct question on Friday night in South Carolina: Are you an extrovert or an introvert?
Her answer: “I am an extro-introvert.”
Clinton, who is often panned for not giving a straight answer, explained that while she likes time alone, she also realizes that in the job she is seeking, it is necessary to go out and meet people.
“I love being, like I love being with people. I love all of the excitement and I like meeting people and hearing their stories,” Clinton said at an MSNBC-sponsored Democratic forum in South Carolina. “But I also like time alone. And I like to think and relax and sleep and stuff like that. So I guess I’m a little of both.”
Clinton regularly talks about her love of reading and spending time at home, but has shown on the campaign trail that she does like to interact with people. As her campaign has picked up momentum, for example, she has spent more time on the rope line, taking selfies with people and chatting.
Clinton is not the only candidate with a bit of introversion.
Jeb Bush admitted in September that he usually isn’t the life of the party, embracing his introversion.
“One of my personality strengths is that I’m an introvert, which puts me in the minority, apparently, amongst politicians. Normally people that run for office, they’re extroverts. I’ve overcome introversion, if you will, because I love people,” Bush said.
He added: “I actually think that it’s a strength of leadership though, that it’s an advantage to be a little more introverted, because introverts I think have a greater ability to listen to people, they have a greater ability to try to understand the other side a little more. It’s not all about me, and I think we need a little bit of leadership, particularly in Washington.”
