By Liz Murray Garrigan/Illustrations by Zach Trenholm

Handwriting analyst Pat Peterson does her best, and pretty convincing, forgery of President Bill Clinton’s signature. Then she starts talking about what’s wrong with the leader of the free world.

”Look at the L’s,“ Peterson says. ”L’s, in particular, illustrate a person’s philosophy of life.“ She points out that Clinton’s L’s are relatively short, that they don’t reach for anything. ”Bill Clinton has no philosophy of life,“ she says. ”There is no higher power. His spirituality ends with himself. Conscience is the key word here, and Bill Clinton’s handwriting really doesn’t show a conscience.“

Clinton’s a left-hander with a left-leaning slant to his John Hancock. The fact that he doesn’t slant his writing to the right, as young children are taught to do in school, Peterson says, is possible evidence of a ”basic distrust and rebellion toward authority figures.“ Clinton, the son of an alcoholic stepfather, is a ”rebel,“ she suggests, because he didn’t have ”an initial authoritative figure“ in his life.

Lately, most of the discussion about Clinton has focused on an extremity, but not the one that’s traditionally used to put pen to paper. And voters these days seem to be learning more than they really want to know about the president and other public figures.

Nevertheless, Peterson’s comments about Clinton do seem to fit in with what we know about the man—both as a president and as a private person.

Thinking we might come up with some equally revelatory information, the Scene asked four out-of-state handwriting analysts to study the penmanship of some of Nashville’s potential 1999 mayoral candidates. The handwriting analysts readily agreed. Oddly enough, so did most of the potential candidates. Five names are most frequently mentioned as candidates for mayor: former state legislator Bill Purcell, who has already announced his candidacy; former Mayor Dick Fulton and Vice Mayor Jay West, both of whom say they’ll run for the job if Phil Bredesen doesn’t try for another term; Metro Council member-at-large Ronnie Steine, who says he’s mulling the idea; and Radnor Baptist Church pastor Paul Durham, who is also investigating the race. Of course, there’s Bredesen himself.

Except for Bredesen, all of the would-be candidates graciously agreed to submit brief samples of their handwriting, along with a signature, for the specific purpose of having it analyzed.

Only Bredesen declined, through an aide, saying he is not a candidate and adding that he has other, more important city business to attend to. It should be noted that Bredesen has repeatedly said he hasn’t decided whether he will run again. And, in fact, it is not clear, because of two conflicting parts of the Metro Charter dealing with term limits, if he is even eligible for another term.

Since Bredesen’s signature is part of the public record, we lifted it from a letter on file in the Scene office. We submitted it to the analysts with no accompanying examples of hishandwriting.

We sent the collection of samples off to the four analysts, who have varying degrees of experience. Beyond the samples themselves, the only other information the experts were given is that all six men are potential mayoral candidates and that Bredesen is the current mayor. Apparently, the character traits revealed by a person’s handwriting are so subconscious that they can hardly be disguised. That means that even a simple signature may be giving us a hint as to what these guys are really like, whether we want to know or not. Here are excerpts from the analysts’ observations:

Phil Bredesen

Mayor Bredesen’s signature is ”almost straight up and down,“ indicating an emotionally detached, get-to-the-point personality, according to Dr. Dave David, a Boston OB/GYN who took up handwriting analysis years ago as a hobby and founded the Boston Institute of Graphoanalysis and Graphotherapy.

”The more a person’s writing is slanted to the right, the more emotionally expressive he is,“ says David, who makes frequent radio appearances as a handwriting analyst, ”whereas the straight up-and-down handwriters just want to know the facts and be logical.“

Bredesen’s background was in computer programming before he became a health-care executive and, later, a politician. To this day, his colleagues and his critics still consider him more of a bean counter than a back slapper.

Peterson, an analyst based in Illinois, has a company called Write Psychology Inc. and is retained by corporations to study the writing of job applicants. She says that, based on his signature, Bredesen appears to be the most ”mayoral“ of the bunch. The large P and B in his signature indicate ”bravado,“ she says. Bredesen has ”neat problem-solving ability, a sharp mind, and he’s good at theoretical thinking,“ Peterson says. ”He is going to be perceived as being arrogant, and he can even be perceived as being a little vain.“

For anyone who knows the mayor, Peterson’s assessment seems to be right on. Even Bredesen’s most vocal critics don’t doubt his intellectual prowess or his skill at solving problems and putting together deals. The criticism the mayor most often receives deals with the kinds of projects that attract Bredesen’s interest; people also charge that he appears to think a lot of his own abilities.

Bredesen separates his ”public side from his personal side“ and ”can be confidential,“ Peterson says. (The mayor, remember, declined even to submit samples of his writing for this story.)

”He ends his signature with a straight line, which indicates caution,“ Peterson says, in the same way that a grocery store customer might add a line after writing in the amount of his check. ”It says personal vagueness, a certain amount of personal secretiveness, diplomatic impenetrability.“

Ellen Bowers, a Columbus, Ohio-based handwriting analyst who is president of Graphex International, suggests Bredesen ”works hard“and may have a ”stubbornness“ about him that can be both positive and negative. ”It can be positive when he needs to move forward on an issue or idea,“ she says. ”It can be negative when he is the one who may need to make changes.“

Paul Durham

Shatzie Wilson, a handwriting analyst based in Tulsa, Okla., who does, among other things, personnel analyses for companies, gathered that Durham is an ”idea man“ and ”quite versatile.“ The lone preacher in the bunch, Durham not only takes to the pulpit at Radnor Baptist Church every Sunday but also dabbles in business and spends considerable time in his role as chairman of Metro’s Traffic and Parking Commission.

Both Wilson and Peterson suggest that Durham’s ego is sensitive to attack. ”He tends to hear some criticism where none is intended,“ Peterson says.

Bowers says that, if Durham were elected, ”legacies of past accomplishments would probably adorn his office walls and desktops.“ That’s not a terribly risky prediction, but it would probably turn out to be accurate. Durham’s office walls at Radnor Towers, the high-rise retirement home he owns near his church, are covered with pictures of the pastor posing with high-powered friends.

Bowers also says Durham would be ”likely to promote established traditions of the city, although with a flair and a sense of humor.“

Like the other handwriting analysts consulted by the Scene, David did not know Durham is a preacher. Nevertheless, he picked up on the fact that Durham is ”a good storyteller,“ adding that he ”tends to exaggerate, can himself be gullible, and lets a lot of people in close to him.“ Durham’s possible mayoral candidacy may, in fact, be a symptom of gullibility. Observers aren’t necessarily dismissing his chances of winning a competitive countywide political contest, but they are wondering how a Baptist preacher would fare as mayor of an increasingly cosmopolitan city, a place where growth is often connected with an increasing population of transplants.

David also characterizes Durham as a ”good listener“ who ”can be talkative.“ Bowers adds that Durham ”enjoys the stimulation of mental challenges“ and predicts that he would be an ”on-the-move“ candidate, speaking”here and there and everywhere.“

Richard Fulton

Peterson suggests that former three-term Mayor Richard Fulton is ”bored by routine and inactivity.“ And at 71, an age when most people would be thinking about retirement, Fulton is, in fact, once again raising money for a campaign to regain Metro’s top job. Because he has never really allowed his involvement in politics to lapse, he has gained a broad perspective on the cultural changes in politicking over the years.

David says Fulton may be like many other public figures, in that ”he wants people to like him, and it bothers him when people don’t.“

Fulton likes to make an ”event of entering a room or a meeting, yet he will deflect credit for a job or work well done from himself to others,“ Bowers says. It is a fact that Fulton has been a public figure for a long time—he served as mayor from 1975 until 1987, and he was in Congress before that. During Fulton’s terms as mayor, meetings had a more ceremonial style. On at least one occasion, he signed legislation using multiple pens so that he could give them away, in presidential fashion, as keepsakes.

At least two of the handwriting experts described Fulton as very expressive and a fast talker, traits that are not generally associated with the former mayor. But all seemed to agree from his handwriting that he has many good leadership characteristics—describing him as a good organizer, eager, idealistic, and skilled at delegating.

Peterson characterizes Fulton as ”persistent.“ As a former mayor and active citizen, in fact, Fulton has continued to demonstrate an interest in development and infrastructure issues in Metro. He’s been consistently concerned with the redevelopment of downtown and Church Street, and he’s never forgotten the sort of nuts-and-bolts issues that many Metro Council members think have been given short shrift during Bredesen’s tenure.

Bill Purcell

Purcell’s close associates describe him as a thoughtful intellectual giant who can dissect complex issues with relative ease. Bowers describes him as ”mostly an unpretentious person [Purcell drives a Saturn] who has worked behind the scenes but now is putting his energies into the mayoral race.“ However, Bowers also describes Purcell as ”a mentally tough-minded person whose motivation comes from an understanding of the theory of a situation or issue.“

An attorney, Purcell is also a children’s policy expert at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies. During his time as majority leader in the state House, and during his entire time in the Legislature, he was quietly effective. He amassed a lot of respect from a powerful, if small, circle of Capitol Hill insiders. After he announced, several years ago, that he wouldn’t run again for his East Nashville seat, Purcell became a solid state director for the Clinton/Gore ticket in Tennessee.

David characterizes Purcell as an ”intense“ personality, good at forgiving but not forgetting, and ”sensitive to criticism about his ideas and philosophies.“Bowers says Purcell thrives on being ”involved.“ That’s precisely the kind of word grassroots community leaders such as Purcell generally like to attribute to themselves.

David further characterizes Purcell as ”loyal“ and ”sarcastic.“ Friends familiar with Purcell’s sharp wit and his sense of humor would probably agree.

Peterson characterizes Purcell as being able to ”project to distant goals.“ The first to enter the mayoral race, Purcell shocked observers of politics when he declared last summer—fully two years out—that he would be a candidate. But Purcell had, by then, already cleverly defined his candidacy in terms of issues he knew would be timely later. Issues such as rising crime and decreasing confidence in public education are at the top of his list.

Ronnie Steine

Several of the handwriting experts identified Steine as being different from the rest of the pack. According to Peterson, he has an ”aesthetic appreciation,“ evidenced by the fact that he prints. Wilson described him as someone with ”cultural interests,“ who ”could be an artist.“

True to form, Steine is widely recognized as a supporter of the Nashville arts scene. He is both an institutional patron and an individual collector, and he unashamedly uses his position as a Metro Council member-at-large to encourage cultural growth in Nashville. Steine has been very much involved in the development of a downtown arts center, which will probably be funded jointly by Metro, the Frist Foundation, and individual donors this year.

Wilson also characterizes Steine, who is the executive director of the Oasis Center, an agency that counsels troubled teens, as ”articulate.“ That’s not a description that fits more than a handful of Steine’s 39 fellow Metro Council members.

Steine is also a ”good mediator“ who ”relates well to projects and planning“ and is good with ”facts and figures,“ Peterson says. As chairman of Council’s Budget and Finance Committee last year, Steine actually shepherded the 1998 Metro budget through Council. Aware that the legislative body wouldn’t pass Bredesen’s budget, which included a 73-cent property tax increase, Steine and a select group of Council members crafted their own budget, calling for a 54-cent property tax increase, and that was the version that passed.

Jay West

David picked up on the fact that ”Both of [West’s] parents were or are involved in his life.“ Like Fulton, West has been around politics a long time. His late father, Ben West, was mayor of Nashville from 1951 to 1963, giving the younger West an early exposure to local politics. His father allowed Jay to sit in when department heads came to the family’s home for breakfast meetings.

”At all times, he presents an engaging, accommodating, nice-person image,“ Bowers says. According to Peterson, West is ”adaptable, cooperative, and gets along with ease.“ Both of those assessments are consistent with West’s seeming dislike for confrontation.

Widely regarded as a genuinely pleasant guy, West is more often seen smiling and joking rather than embroiled in overly serious, controversial, or dramatic political banter. He is, David says, ”a good storyteller and can be gullible.“

As vice mayor and as presiding officer of the Metro Council, West has a leadership style that is even-handed, if somewhat passive. Unlike his predecessor, former Vice Mayor David Scobey, who chided members and held obvious disdain for others, West seems more steady and fair-minded. And, unlike Scobey, he is reluctant to cut off the comments of rambling private citizens during public hearings.

Bowers says West’s generosity is evident from the significant spaces between his written words, and Peterson says the vice mayor’s sensitivity comes through from his large cursive loops. Also, she says, he has a ”strong conscience.“

Bowers says West’s generosity is evident from the significant spaces between his written words, and Peterson says the vice mayor’s sensitivity comes through from his large cursive loops. Also, she says, he has a ”strong conscience.“