Samuel G. Jenson

Samuel George Jenson (born October 2, 1951) is an American psychologist, scholar, author, educator, public speaker, activist and political candidate. Jenson has written several books, including Tabula Rasa: Reflections on Locke and Rousseau's Theories (1989), Diagnosing The Modern Human Condition (1996) and On the Cult of Personality (2004), and has hosted The Samuel G. Jenson Show since 2000. He was launched into prominence by Judith Lyons on her syndicated daytime talk show, and became a frequent guest on the series, later getting his own show. He has been an educator-in-residence at the for several years. His sociopolitical views are largely rooted in egalitarianism and human psychology.

Jenson has also branched out into politics. In 1996, he ran as an independent for. After becoming a member of the Goodwill Party, he ran unsuccessfully as their candidate for twice, in  and in, and as their candidate for  in 2018, finishing third.

Early life and education
Samuel George Jenson was born on October 2, 1951 in. He is the youngest of six children of Norman Jenson, a veteran and delivery truck driver, and Kathleen Thompson-Jenson, a homemaker and local  movement leader.

Jenson was raised in an upper-middle class Episcopal family. He learned about world religions and social justice at home and became interested in public advocacy when a pastor at his church spoke against the.

Jenson attended in his hometown of Aberdeen. After graduating, he spent two years studying psychology and philosophy at in. In 1973, Jenson dropped out of college and spent a year backpacking throughout Europe, including spending three months in and traveling across.

Jenson moved to, where he lived in a basement apartment in downtown and took classes at the , where he dated future actress Taylor Myers. The couple broke up a year later. Jenson then briefly moved to, where he studied at , before moving again to , where he studied at and earned a PhD in psychology. Shortly afterwards, he moved to, , from where he began commuting to the in  every week to fulfill a promise to his mother to join the Chautauqua movement and continue spreading its teachings.

As an author
Jenson's first book to gain significant attention was Tabula Rasa: Reflections on Locke and Rousseau's Theories (1989). Jenson wrote the first manuscript in 1983, and had it submitted it to over twenty publishers, each of whom rejected it. It was finally accepted and published in August 1989 by Adeney-Huxley, a printing house better known for publishing Christian material. Jim Kerstens, an editor at Adeney-Huxley, had read the manuscript and urged his company to take a risk in publishing it. Upon its first publishing, it performed slowly. However, after Jenson appeared on an episode of The Judith Lyons Show first broadcast on October 1, 1989 to promote the book, sales began to pick up. Ultimately, it appeared on the New York Times bestseller list for 25 weeks and sold millions of copies worldwide.

In the book, Jenson explores theories of and  on the human condition, including the  theory. Jenson argues that, in the end, all humans are born with an inclination of goodness and can only turn "bad" if their surroundings cause them to do so.

In politics
In 1996, Jenson ran for as an independent, losing to incumbent. In 2001, Jenson joined the Goodwill Party, a centrist third party with a focus on and.

In 2005, Jenson ran as the Goodwill candidate for in. His platform focused on making the streets safer for residents, "rebuilding" the city further, extensive police reform, creating more parks, decreasing property taxes, building a new airport to replace, advanced protections for the city's LGBT community, and improving the quality of education. Jenson finished in third place, beating most of the other third-party and independent candidates; ultimately, Mayor was re-elected.