Portrait of John Howard
From history

John Howard

Prime Minister of Australia, 1996 to 2007

Introduced a goods and services tax and tough gun laws after the Port Arthur massacre, and joined the 2003 Iraq invasion.

John Howard sits in the right-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly free market and leaning authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly free market on economy, strongly traditional on culture and strongly strength-first on war and peace.

Read more about John Howard on Wikipedia →

Where John Howard sits on eight dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this leader's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyStrongly free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityLeaning authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureStrongly traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentLeaning growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional

Leaders most like John Howard

Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada, 2006 to 201591%Shinzo Abe Prime Minister of Japan, 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 202091%George W. Bush US President, 2001 to 200989%Benjamin Disraeli UK Prime Minister, 1868 and 1874 to 188086%Winston Churchill UK Prime Minister, 1940 to 1945 and 1951 to 195584%Friedrich Merz Chancellor of Germany, 2025 to present84%

Leaders furthest from John Howard

Mahatma Gandhi Leader of the Indian independence movement10%José Mujica President of Uruguay, 2010 to 201514%Leon Trotsky Soviet revolutionary and founder of the Red Army15%

Political views closest to John Howard

NeoconservatismPairs free markets and traditional values with an assertive, democracy-promoting foreign…85%Thatcherism and ReaganismFree-market economics, tax cuts, deregulation and a firm stance toward the Soviet Union.80%Hawkish realismSees the world as a contest between states, where military strength and alliances secure…77%

Percentages show how close two profiles are across all eight dimensions. Including a person here is for historical study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: © Commonwealth of Australia 2011, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.