Tall ≠ electable

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

from the November 15, 2007 edition

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During the 1988 vice-presidential debate, big Lloyd Bentsen took a different tack. Without being overtly imperious, Mr. Bentsen patronized Dan Quayle just enough to make his smaller opponent shrink in stature. Eight years earlier Ronald Reagan did the same thing to Jimmy Carter. ("There you go, again.")

Until Mr. Reagan cut him down to size, President Carter had effectively dealt with his short stature by implying that he was larger. Rather than stand ramrod straight, like a strutting banty rooster, Carter slouched a little – as if he had an inch or two to spare. That's why it took us a while to realize just how short Carter was (5 feet 8 or so).

Having to stand beside 6-foot Gerald Ford blew his cover. On the eve of his 1976 debate with Mr. Ford, Carter's negotiators first demanded that the two stay seated. Losing on this point, they settled on having the candidates' lecterns placed far enough apart that the difference in the two men's size wouldn't be so apparent. (In return the Democrats agreed to a background pale enough to camouflage Ford's lack of hair.) When the two finally squared off, Carter made their moment of physical proximity as brief as possible – sticking his arm out stiffly to hold the president at bay, grasping his hand momentarily, then dropping it like a live hand grenade before scurrying to the safety of his lectern.

Who today is managing his or her height effectively? With her calmly assertive manner, Hillary Clinton looms larger than her mid-five-foot stature might warrant. As a war hero John McCain – who is not much taller than Hillary in heels – needn't worry about bringing diminutive Michael Dukakis to mind. Senator McCain also comes across as feisty, a fighter in the mold of his hero, Teddy Roosevelt. By contrast, six-footers such as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney can relax and let their height speak for itself.

For the sake of the American electorate, the best matchup next fall might be Clinton-McCain, or Obama-Romney. Such contests would effectively neutralize height as a campaign concern. Clinton-Thompson, on the other hand, would be a horse race of a different color. Whether Senator Clinton could cut her far taller opponent down to size would be a test of her ability to project strength, just as Thompson's ability to call attention to his stature without looming like a bully would be a measure of his political agility.

Ralph Keyes is the author of "The Height of Your Life."

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