As a psychologist I naturally tend to scrutinize the character and temperament of public figures for any flaws that affect their decision-making.  Most public figures have them, just like most people.  Obama, however, has impressed me as being pretty much free of the major flaws that most commonly afflict VIPs. 

First, he seems not to have any out-of-control ego needs.  Most people have pretty strong needs to either feed or defend their ego.  Among public figures, Bill Clinton seemed to have a truly pathological need to be loved, admired, and worshipped by everyone at all times.  This manifested itself in his sexual issues, obviously, and in other ways as well.  George W. Bush, on the other hand, seems to have an overwhelming need to defend his ego against the possibility that his thoughts or actions could be in any way wrong.  This inability to tolerate any feelings threatening to his self-esteem has caused an inability to ever correct his course or change his mind.  Both these patterns have obviously damaged the nation. 

Obama seems free of both of these problems.  He doesn't compulsively seek attention, sexual or otherwise, and he does seem to be quite able to self-reflect and admit error and change course when necessary.   He obviously thinks highly of himself, since he ran for President, and feels confident he can handle difficult problems, but so far his faith in himself has proven to be rationally based and correct. 

I think that we are seeing signs of this basically sound ego in his process of putting together his administration.  He is clearly avoiding the trap of surrounding himself only with people with whom he feels psychologically comfortable, with familiar faces whose main attribute is personal loyalty.  Instead he seems to be filling top jobs with those who have important competences that his administration will need, and who are tied to important constituencies that can enlarge his mandate.  

Another thing that impresses me is his handling of conflict, of adversarial situations.  Most people have an emotional bias toward either toughness or niceness in interpersonal relationships, and this bias tends to affect how they handle conflict, and to predispose them to handle it according to their bias.  Thus, people who value and practice niceness tend to deal with conflict situations by always trying to cooperate and reach agreement, and are reluctant on an emotional level to dominate and use coercion because it makes them feel guilty.  People who value and practice toughness, on the other hand, tend to deal with conflict by always trying to dominate, and are reluctant to attempt to cooperate in such situations because it makes them feel weak and ashamed. 

Obviously, when the conflict issues are national or international rather than interpersonal, such emotional biases can lead people, and nations, astray.  Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler before WWII was an example of reluctance to use coercion that was disastrous.  The Vietnam War, and George W. Bush's initial refusal to deal with Sunni groups in Iraq, are examples of inappropriate toughness that were also disastrous. 

What is most important in leaders who must decide issues of international conflict is that they be aware of their own emotional biases and not let them control their decision-making.  Obama seems to me to have this capacity.  His emotional impulse in relationships is clearly to try to be cooperative, to be nice and respectful of others.  But in adversarial situations he clearly is quite willing to play hardball, and to throw whatever punches are needed whenever he needs to throw them.  Also very important, he thinks clearly before he gets tough, and does so strategically, never (as far as I can tell) out of anger.  This has allowed him to transcend the typical liberal/conservative nice guy/tough guy dichotomy, and makes people feel that he is both compassionate and strong.  Of course , this is only based so far on his conduct of a political campaign, not a war, but it probably shows the approach he will bring to international issues.  

A lot of people have said that Obama has both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament, which is quite rare, and I can't find any reason to think otherwise.  My business is seeing the personality flaws that people always try to hide, and Presidential campaigns tend to brutally expose whatever flaws a candidate possesses.  Obama has gone through this and, as far as I can tell, come out with a clean bill of mental health.