Do THESE men look Presidential?

[elperromagico]

[FrenchieCat]

1. Was that before

Television was invented? Thought so! As long as people didn't have to look at their faces everyday, guess it must not much have mattered.

[elperromagico]

2. Two Images For You:

Lyndon Johnson, elected with 61% of the vote in 1964.


Richard Nixon, elected with 61% of the vote in 1972.

How do you explain them?

[elperromagico]

21. kick

[Maple]

3. Well they were suited

to their time.

That image wouldn't work now.

[TLM]

4. Good god....

his teeth look like a stack of wet cigarette butts.

[elperromagico]

11. Out of fairness to President Wilson,

he did later have his teeth fixed:

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. I love the way everyone dismisses it as a product of the time

The truth of the matter is we have reached the pinnacle of our pettiness and appearances make more waves than substance.

Thanks El P

[Maple]

6. They were a product of their time

as our air blown Guy Smiley airhead types are a product of ours.

[janx]

7. This is true

and unfortunate.

[elperromagico]

9. I sometimes think about

which Presidents wouldn't be elected today because of our obsession with looks.

Washington - Well, if he had better false teeth he might do all right.
John Adams - Fat and bald.
Madison - Too short and frail. ("He don't look well, Mabel")
Lincoln - Not a chance. He only looks Presidential now because we've been looking at him for 140+ years.
Cleveland - Fat, balding.
Wilson - Terrible teeth (see above).
FDR - His disability wouldn't "play" on television.

[DFLforever]

8. Yes, I think they do!

Because it's interesting how men who win the presidency begin to assume the role. Does anyone remember how long it took Clinton to appear to be President rather than Governor?

A more interesting comparison might be between Truman, who was president and Dewey, who thought he should be president. And if I
were a better googler I would post their photos.

[elperromagico]

10. Truman and Dewey

Harry S Truman, 33rd President of the United States


Thomas Dewey, Governor of New York, two-time candidate for President

Make your comparisons :)

[Toucano]

12. I bought a car from that second guy! LOL. n/t

[DFLforever]

13. Thanks for the pictures

worth more than a thousand words! :)

[elperromagico]

14. History, of course, makes us biased.

I look at Truman and see a President. I look at Dewey and, like dralston, I see a car dealer. But if Dewey had actually defeated Truman in 1948 (instead of just on the front page of the Chicago Tribune), I would probably look at Dewey and see a President as well.

[DFLforever]

19. Exactly, and that is,imo, one of the chief reasons the claim one

or another candidate appears 'presidential' is meaningless..I don't think the people of this country possess any particular or defining image of a president. We might have develped one if the office were largely ceremonial as it is in some countries which also have a separate head of government.

[elperromagico]

20. Attractiveness is subjective anyway.

Many who knew Lincoln commented on the warmth and expressiveness of his face, something which no existing photo (except perhaps that cracked-plate negative taken of him near the end of his life) seems to capture. LBJ, who came across as awkward and dull on television, was apparently a very exciting man in person, full of energy. Plenty of people who aren't particularly photogenic or telegenic are very attractive in person.

A picture's worth a thousand words, but the story it tells is usually abridged.

[Ediacara]

15. Ok, I'm sorry but who is that with Wilson?

I'm having a massive brain fart. Is it Cleveland? Taft? Teddy Roosevelt?

[elperromagico]

16. Taft. n/t

[Ediacara]

17. That's what I thought....

but I was also thinking, "Why are Wilson and Taft smiling together?"

[elperromagico]

18. Well, it was taken at the 1913 inauguration.

I think Taft was happy to be getting out of the Presidency. He never wanted to be President, after all, and was far happier serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

[LTR]

22. Image is everything nowadays

No way would a guy like Grover Cleveland be president now. He was overwieght, and was a terrible public speaker. In fact, he had a secret jaw replacement done (due to cancer) and for at least six months was re-learning how to speak.

I found a web site a while ago with sound files of presidential speech snippets going back to Cleveland. It is widely claimed that that Edison wax cylinder recording was NOT of Cleveland, but of an actor. Check this out:

http://www.lib.msu.edu/vincent/presidents/

Notice that a lot of the earlier 20th century presidents were not really good speakers. Teddy Roosevelt sounded kinda whiny.