Heights of United States Presidents and presidential candidates

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of heights of United States presidential candidates.

  • U.S. customary units - Based on the Imperial system, commonly known as the English system or British system of measure. Units used here are feet (ft) & inches (in).
  • Metric is the International System of Units, commonly known as the "metric system." Units used here are meters.

Contents

[edit] U.S. Presidents by height order

The average American male (1999-2002 data) is 5 ft 9.5 in (1.77 m)[1], with a slightly rising trend reflective of the rise in height of the general U.S. population. Incidentally, however, some of the tallest U.S. Presidents were of the young republic. The tallest First Lady was Eleanor Roosevelt, who was 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m).

Rank President U.S. customary
units		 Metric
1  Abraham Lincoln 6 ft 4 in 1.93 m
2  Lyndon B. Johnson 6 ft 3½ in 1.92 m
3  Bill Clinton
Thomas Jefferson		 6 ft 2½ in 1.89 m
5  Chester A. Arthur
George H. W. Bush
Franklin D. Roosevelt
George Washington		 6 ft 2 in 1.88 m
9  Andrew Jackson
Ronald Reagan		 6 ft 1 in 1.85 m
11  James Buchanan
Gerald Ford
James Garfield
Warren Harding
John F. Kennedy
James Monroe
William Howard Taft
John Tyler		 6 ft 0 in 1.83 m
19  Richard Nixon 5 ft 11½ in 1.82 m
20  George W. Bush
Grover Cleveland
Herbert Hoover
Woodrow Wilson		 5 ft 11 in 1.80 m
24  Dwight D. Eisenhower 5 ft 10½ in 1.79 m
25  Calvin Coolidge
Andrew Johnson
Franklin Pierce
Theodore Roosevelt		 5 ft 10 in 1.78 m
29  Jimmy Carter
Millard Fillmore
Harry S. Truman		 5 ft 9 in 1.75 m
32  Rutherford B. Hayes
 5 ft 8½ in 1.74 m
33  William Henry Harrison
James Polk
Zachary Taylor		 5 ft 8 in 1.73 m
36  Ulysses S. Grant 5 ft 7¾ in 1.72 m
37  John Adams
John Quincy Adams
William McKinley		 5 ft 7 in 1.70 m
40  Benjamin Harrison
Martin Van Buren		 5 ft 6 in 1.68 m
42  James Madison 5 ft 4 in 1.63 m


[edit] Comparative table of heights of United States presidential candidates

 TALLER candidate was inaugurated   SHORTER candidate was inaugurated 
 Candidates same height   Comparison data unavailable 
Year Winner Height
(Imperial)		 Height
(Metric)		 Runner-up
(by electoral vote count)		 Height
(Imperial)		 Height
(Metric)		 Difference
(Imperial)		 Difference
(Metric)
2004 George W. Bush 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m John Kerry 76 in6 ft 4 in 1.93 m 5 in 0.13 m
2000 George W. Bush 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m Al Gore* 72.5 in6 ft ½ in 1.84 m 1½ in 0.04 m
1996 Bill Clinton 74.5 in6 ft 2½ in 1.89 m Bob Dole 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m 1½ in 0.04 m
1992 Bill Clinton 74.5 in6 ft 2½ in 1.89 m George H.W. Bush 74 in6 ft 2 in 1.88 m ½ in 0.01 m
1988 George H.W. Bush 74 in6 ft 2 in 1.88 m Michael Dukakis 66 in5 ft 6 in 1.67 m 8 in 0.21 m
1984 Ronald Reagan 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m Walter Mondale 70.75 in5 ft 10¾ in 1.80 m 2¼ in 0.05 m
1980 Ronald Reagan 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m Jimmy Carter 69 in5 ft 9 in 1.75 m 4 in 0.10 m
1976 Jimmy Carter 69 in5 ft 9 in 1.75 m Gerald Ford 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m 4 in 0.10 m
1972 Richard Nixon 71.5 in5 ft 11½ in 1.82 m George McGovern 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m 1½ in 0.03 m
1968 Richard Nixon 71.5 in5 ft 11½ in 1.82 m Hubert Humphrey 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m ½ in 0.02 m
1964 Lyndon Johnson[2] 75.5 in6 ft 3½ in 1.92 m Barry Goldwater 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m 3½ in 0.09 m
1960 John F. Kennedy 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m Richard Nixon 71.5 in5 ft 11½ in 1.82 m 1 in 0.01 m
1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower 70.5 in5 ft 10½ in 1.79 m Adlai Stevenson 70 in5 ft 10 in 1.78 m ½ in 0.01 m
1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower 70.5 in5 ft 10½ in 1.79 m Adlai Stevenson 70 in5 ft 10 in 1.78 m ½ in 0.01 m
1948 Harry S. Truman 69 in5 ft 9 in 1.75 m Thomas Dewey 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.73 m 1 in 0.02 m
1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt 74 in6 ft 2 in 1.88 m Thomas Dewey 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.73 m 6 in 0.15 m
1940 Franklin D. Roosevelt 74 in6 ft 2 in 1.88 m Wendell Willkie 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m 1 in 0.03 m
1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt 74 in6 ft 2 in 1.88 m Alfred Landon 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.73 m 6 in 0.15 m
1932 Franklin D. Roosevelt 74 in6 ft 2 in 1.88 m Herbert Hoover 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m 3 in 0.08 m
1928 Herbert Hoover[3] 71.5 in5 ft 11½ in 1.82 m Al Smith 66 in5 ft 6 in 1.68 m 5½ in 0.13 m
1924 Calvin Coolidge 70 in5 ft 10 in 1.78 m John W. Davis 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m 2 in 0.05 m
1920 Warren G. Harding 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m James M. Cox 66 in5 ft 6 in 1.68 m 6 in 0.15 m
1916 Woodrow Wilson[4] 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m Charles Evans Hughes 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m 0 in 0 m
1912 Woodrow Wilson[4] 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m Theodore Roosevelt[5] 70 in5 ft 10 in 1.78 m 1 in 0.01 m
1908 William Howard Taft 71.5 in5 ft 11½ in[6] 1.82 m William Jennings Bryan 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m ½ in 0.01 m
1904 Theodore Roosevelt[5] 70 in5 ft 10 in 1.78 m Alton B. Parker 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m 2 in 0.05 m
1900 William McKinley 67 in5 ft 7 in 1.70 m William Jennings Bryan 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m 5 in 0.13 m
1896 William McKinley 67 in5 ft 7 in 1.70 m William Jennings Bryan 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m 5 in 0.13 m
1892 Grover Cleveland 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m Benjamin Harrison 66 in5 ft 6 in 1.68 m 5 in 0.12 m
1888 Benjamin Harrison[7] 66 in5 ft 6 in 1.68 m Grover Cleveland* 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m 5 in 0.12 m
1884 Grover Cleveland 71 in5 ft 11 in 1.80 m James G. Blaine      
1880 James A. Garfield 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m Winfield Hancock 74 in6 ft 2 in 1.88 m 2 in 0.05 m
1876 Rutherford B. Hayes [8] 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.72 m Samuel Tilden*      
1872 Ulysses S. Grant[9] 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.73 m Horace Greeley      
1868 Ulysses S. Grant[9] 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.73 m Horatio Seymour      
1864 Abraham Lincoln[10] 76 in6 ft 4 in 1.92 m George McClellan [11] 66 in5 ft 6 in 1.68 m 10 in 0.25 m
1860 Abraham Lincoln[10] 76 in6 ft 4 in 1.92 m John C. Breckenridge      
1856 James Buchanan 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m John C. Frémont      
1852 Franklin Pierce 70 in5 ft 10 in 1.78 m Winfield Scott 77 in6 ft 5 in 1.96 m 7 in 0.18 m
1848 Zachary Taylor[5] 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.73 m Lewis Cass      
1844 James K. Polk [12] 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.73 m Henry Clay[13] 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m 5 in 0.13 m
1840 William Henry Harrison 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.73 m Martin Van Buren [14] 66 in5 ft 6 in 1.68 m 2 in 0.05 m
1836 Martin Van Buren [14] 66 in5 ft 6 in 1.68 m William Henry Harrison 68 in5 ft 8 in 1.73 m 2 in 0.05 m
1832 Andrew Jackson[15] 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m Henry Clay[13] 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m 0 in 0 m
1828 Andrew Jackson[15] 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m John Quincy Adams[16] 67 in5 ft 7 in 1.70 m 6 in 0.15 m
1824 John Quincy Adams [16] 67 in5 ft 7 in 1.70 m Andrew Jackson[15]* 73 in6 ft 1 in 1.85 m 6 in 0.15 m
1820 James Monroe [17] 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m John Quincy Adams[16] 67 in5 ft 7 in 1.70 m 5 in 0.13 m
1816 James Monroe[17] 72 in6 ft 0 in 1.83 m Rufus King 70 in5 ft 10 in 1.78 m 2 in 0.05 m
1812 James Madison[8] 64 in5 ft 4 in 1.63 m De Witt Clinton[18] 75 in6 ft 3 in 1.91 m 11 in 0.28 m
1808 James Madison[8] 64 in5 ft 4 in 1.63 m Charles C. Pinckney        
1804 Thomas Jefferson[19] 74.5 in6 ft 2½ in 1.89 m Charles C. Pinckney        
1800 Thomas Jefferson[19] 74.5 in6 ft 2½ in 1.89 m Aaron Burr [20] 66 in5 ft 6 in 1.68 m 8½ in 0.21 m
1796 John Adams [21] 67 in5 ft 7 in 1.70 m Thomas Jefferson[19] 74.5 in6 ft 2½ in 1.89 m 7½ in 0.19 m
1792 George Washington[22] 74 in6 ft 2 in 1.88 m John Adams[21] 67 in5 ft 7 in 1.70 m 7 in 0.18 m
1789 George Washington [22] 74 in6 ft 2 in 1.88 m John Adams[21] 67 in5 ft 7 in 1.70 m 7 in 0.18 m

*Note: Won popular vote, but not election.

[edit] The taller man wins?

Presidents, like the U.S. population, have grown taller over time.
Presidents, like the U.S. population, have grown taller over time.
Abraham Lincoln, the tallest President, was 6 ft 3¾ in (1.92 m).
Abraham Lincoln, the tallest President, was 6 ft 3¾ in (1.92 m).
James Madison, the shortest President, was 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m).
James Madison, the shortest President, was 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m).
Graph of winner v. loser heights in Presidential elections from 1798 - 2004. (Click to enlarge)[original research?]
Graph of winner v. loser heights in Presidential elections from 1798 - 2004. (Click to enlarge)[original research?]

The table above was created to compare the veracity of the folk wisdom about US presidential politics that the taller of the two major-party candidates always wins or always wins since the advent of the televised presidential debate, since 1900, and so on.

  • An example of this view is included in a 2003 essay by New York Times writer Virginia Postrel about artificially increasing the height of growth-stunted children: "Still, being short does, on average, hurt a person's prospects...The tall guy gets the girl. The taller presidential candidate almost always wins."[23]
  • A 1988 article in the Los Angeles Times fashion section about a haberdasher devoted to clothing shorter men included a variation of the tale: "Stern says he just learned that Dukakis is 5 feet, 8 inches. 'Did you know,' he adds, noticeably disappointed, 'that since 1900 the taller of the two candidates always wins?' "[24]
  • A 1997 book called How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You discusses the issue in a section about the importance of height, "What about height? One assumes the taller the better, because our culture venerates height. In fact, practically every president elected in the United States since 1900 was the taller of the two candidates."[25]
  • "I remember the subversive effect the observation had on me that in every U.S. presidential race, the taller of the two candidates had been elected. It opened up space for a counterdiscourse to the presumed rationality of the electoral process." [26]
  • A 1975 book called First Impressions: The Psychology of Encountering Others notes, "Elevator Shoes, Anyone? One factor which has a far-reaching influence on how people are perceived, at least in American society, is height. From 1900 to 1968 the man elected U.S. president was always the taller of the two candidates. (Richard Nixon was slightly shorter than George McGovern.)"[27]
  • The Psychology of Person Identification (published 1978) states, "They also say that every President of the USA elected since the turn of the century has been the taller of the two candidates (Jimmy Carter being an exception)."[28]
  • A 1999 book, Survival of the Prettiest by Nancy Etcoff, repeated a version of the legend in a section on the power of heights, "...Since 1776 only [two Presidents,] James Madison and Benjamin Harrison[,] have been below-average height. The easiest way to predict the winner in a United States election is to bet on the taller man: in this century you would have had an unbroken string of hits until 1968 when Richard Nixon beat George McGovern."[29]

[edit] Statistical breakdown

For the 46 elections in which the heights of both candidates are known, the taller candidate won 27 times (approximately 59 percent of the time), the shorter candidate won 17 times (approximately 37 percent of the time), and the candidates were the same height two times (about 4 percent of the time). Of those who were not President or Vice president at the time of the election, the popular vote was won by sixteen who were taller and six who were shorter. We might assume, however, that James Madison, the shortest President, was shorter than his opponent, and this would increase the number to seven for the shorter candidate.

It should be noted, however, that in three of the cases in which the shorter candidate won, the taller candidate actually received more popular votes but lost in the Electoral College; this happened in 1824, 1888, and 2000 (the other time that the electoral vote winner was not the popular vote winner was in 1876, for which we do not know the height of the loser).

So, of the 46 cases for which we have data, the taller candidate has won the popular vote 30 times (65 percent), and the shorter candidate only about 14 times (30 percent of them). This does constitute a statistically significant (p < .05) difference from chance by chi-square test, although this is not the case when electoral victors are considered.

Outcome Electoral vote winner Popular vote winner
Taller won 59 percent 65 percent
Shorter won 37 percent 30 percent
Same height 4 percent 5 percent

[edit] Extremes

The tallest President elected to office was Abraham Lincoln (6'4", 1.93 m); the tallest President to originally enter the office by means other than election was Lyndon B. Johnson (6'3½", 1.91 m). The shortest President elected to office was James Madison (5'4", 1.62 m); the shortest President to originally enter the office by means other than election was Theodore Roosevelt (5'8", 1.74 m).

The tallest runner-up (of documented height) is Winfield Scott, who stood 6'5" (1.96 m) and lost the 1852 election to Franklin Pierce (5'10", 1.78 m). The title of shortest runner-up (of documented height) is shared by four men, all 5'6" (1.68 m): Aaron Burr, who lost to Thomas Jefferson in 1800; sitting President Martin Van Buren, who lost to William Henry Harrison, in 1840; sitting President Benjamin Harrison, who lost to Grover Cleveland in 1892; and James M. Cox, who lost to Warren G. Harding in 1920.

The largest height difference (when the heights of the winner and the runner-up are both known) was between the candidates of the 1812 election, when DeWitt Clinton stood 11 inches (0.28 m) taller than incumbent James Madison. The second-largest height difference was in the 1864 election, when Abraham Lincoln stood 10 inches (0.25 m) taller than his nearest rival, George McClellan.

[edit] 2008

Barack Obama, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, is 6 ft 1 in (1.85 meters)

John McCain, the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party in the 2008 presidential election, is 5 ft 6 in (1.68 meters).[30]

[edit] Further reading

  • Joseph Nathan Kane, Steven Anzovin, and Janet Podell (2001). Facts About the Presidents. Hw Wilson Co, 600 et seq.. ISBN 0824210077. 
  • Paul M. Sommers (January 2002). "Is Presidential Greatness Related to Height?". The College Mathematics Journal 33 (1): 14–16. doi:10.2307/1558973. 
  • Michael A. Day (2001-09-26). The Presidents by Height and BMI. U. S. Presidents Homework Help.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mean Body Weight, Height, and Body Mass Index 1960-2002
  2. ^ Dallek, Robert, Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President (abridged edition), Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-515920-9 Google Print
  3. ^ Nash, George H., The Life of Herbert Hoover, W.W. Norton & Company, 1988. ISBN 0-393-02550-0. Google Print
  4. ^ a b Levin, Phyllis Lee, Edith & Woodrow: the Wilson White House, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-7432-1158-8 Google Print
  5. ^ a b c Whitcomb, John and Claire Whitcomb, Real Life at the White House, Routledge (UK), 2002. ISBN 0-415-93951-8. Google Print
  6. ^ Sotos, John G. Taft and Pickwick: sleep apnea in the White House. Chest. 2003;124:1133-1142.Online copy
  7. ^ Loderhouse, Gary and Nelson Price, William Addison Hunter, Legendary Hoosiers: Famous Folks from the State of Indiana, Emmis Books, 1999. ISBN 1-57860-097-9 Google Print
  8. ^ a b c Phillips, Louis, Ask Me Anything About the Presidents, HarperCollins, 1992. ISBN 0-380-76426-1
  9. ^ a b King, Charles, The True Ulysses Grant, Philadelphia & London, J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1914. Google Print
  10. ^ a b Braden, Waldo W., Abraham Lincoln, LSU Press, 1993. ISBN 0-8071-1852-4
  11. ^ Miller, William J., "Review of McClellan's War: The Failure of Moderation in the Struggle for the Union by Ethan Rafuse," America's Civil War, http://www.historynet.com/acw/reviews/acwreview0306-1/
  12. ^ Behrman, Carol H. James K. Polk, Twenty-First Century Books, 2004. ISBN 0-8225-1396-X
  13. ^ a b Seymour, Charles C.B., Self-made Men, Harper & Brothers, 1858. (Available via Google Print)
  14. ^ a b Widmer, Ted and Arthur M. Schlesinger, Edward L. Widmer, Martin Van Buren, Times Books, 2005, p. 2. ISBN 0-8050-6922-4
  15. ^ a b c Remini, Robert V., Andrew Jackson, HarperCollins, 1969, p. 15. ISBN 0-06-080132-8
  16. ^ a b c Levy, Debbie, John Quincy Adams, Twenty-First Century Books, 2004, p. 28. ISBN 0-8225-0825-7
  17. ^ a b Whitcomb, John and Claire Whitcomb, Real Life at the White House, Routledge (UK), 2002. ISBN 0-415-93951-8
  18. ^ Cornog, Evan, The Birth of Empire: DeWitt Clinton and the American Experience, 1769-1828, ISBN 0-19-514051-6
  19. ^ a b c Macdonald, Zanne (ed.), Monticello Research Department, Monticello Report: Physical Descriptions of Thomas Jefferson, July 1992 http://www.monticello.org/reports/people/descriptions.html
  20. ^ Parton, James, The Life and Times of Aaron Burr, Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1888. Google Print
  21. ^ a b c Ferling, John E., John Adams: A Life, Owl Books, 1996, ISBN 0-8050-4576-7, p. 169. Google Print
  22. ^ a b Haworth, Paul Leland, George Washington, Kessinger Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1-4191-2162-6, p. 119. Google Print
  23. ^ Postrel, Virginia, "Going to Great Lengths," New York Times, August 31, 2003.
  24. ^ Los Angeles Times, Mar 25, 1988, pg. 7
  25. ^ Lowndes, Leil, How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You, McGraw-Hill Professional, 1997, pp.174-175. ISBN 0-8092-2989-7Google Print
  26. ^ Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns, edited by D.A. Carson, Zondervan, 2002, p. 83. ISBN 0-310-24334-3 Google Print
  27. ^ Kleinke, Chris L., First Impressions: The Psychology of Encountering Others, Prentice-Hall, 1975, p. 13. ISBN 0-13-318428-5 Google Print
  28. ^ Clifford, Brian R. and Ray Bull, The Psychology of Person Identification, Routledge & K. Paul, 1978, p. 115. ISBN 0-7100-8867-1. Google Print
  29. ^ Etcoff, Nancy, Survival of the Prettiest, New York, Anchor Books, 1999. ISBN 0-385-47942-5
  30. ^ "Medical Records Show McCain In General Good Health", AP, 2008-05-24. Retrieved on 2008-06-10. 
 This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007)

[edit] External links

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