Tall ≠ electable

Candidates' height matters in more nuanced ways than we'd expect.

By Ralph Keyes

from the November 15, 2007 edition

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Yellow Springs, Ohio - The assumption that we prefer taller presidential candidates has become modern gospel. But is it valid? Not exactly. Since 1972 alone, three shorter candidates have won the presidency: Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush (twice).

This isn't to say that physical stature doesn't matter politically. In the upcoming presidential campaign, as in so many, the relative size of candidates will be taken into account along with their positions on gay marriage and free trade. Height matters. But the way it matters is far more nuanced than we might imagine.

At the upper end, if handled gracefully, tallness can enhance an aura of presidential stature. Our consensus two top presidents – George Washington and Abraham Lincoln – stood well over six feet tall. Little John Adams once complained that Washington, like King Saul, was "chosen because he was taller by the head than the other Jews."

There is no inherent advantage to being tall, however. Some smaller candidates capitalized on their short stature by creating a feisty persona. Think Teddy Roosevelt. Think Harry Truman.

During his campaigns for the presidency, George W. Bush successfully leveraged his less-than-6-foot stature into an image for himself as one of the folks, not a wealthy product of Phillips and Yale. When confronted with two taller opponents, Mr. Bush wrapped himself in the little guy's mantle: often underestimated, seldom vanquished.

During the debates in 2000, it was assumed that Texas' governor would be demolished by the taller, smarter, better informed Vice President Al Gore. Just the opposite happened. Mr. Gore's condescension, sighs, and larger size created sympathy for his smaller opponent. When Gore strode across the stage to hover over Bush for no apparent reason other than to call attention to their height disparity, anyone who's ever had to confront a glowering bully identified immediately with his opponent.

A similar situation helped Bush undercut John Kerry four years later. Senator Kerry's commanding 6 foot, 4 inch height reinforced his popular image as an aloof Brahmin, above it all, talking down to his smaller opponent, and – by implication – the rest of us.

Unusually tall men such as Kerry then, and 6 foot, 5 inch Fred Thompson today, must learn how to put at ease those straining to make eye contact with them. Mr. Thompson's laconic manner is an asset in this regard. It tempers his tallness.

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