Did you realize that we haven't had a president with facial hair since 1913?
Do we need more facial hair in the White House?
The last president with a full beard was Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893).
The last president with a moustache (no beard) was William Howard Taft (1909–1913).
Why have we had no facial hair in the White House for more than a century?
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15 Answers
Gillette?
The best a man can get?
I’m just fine with staying with the clean shaven look.
I think parts of the public are turned off by facial hair, so for marketing purposes, I think the advice to politicians would be to not grow facial hair.
OH! So that’s the problem!
Our current President would look fabulous in a philtrum mustache.
It would be different if my candidacy got off the ground….
The fad of no hair started in WWI when the safety razor was developed and soldiers had to keep clean shaven so that their gas masks would seal.
I’m not sure why, probably some poll said it was untrustworthy or something ridiculous.
Many feel a beard shows a man is unkept.
Some women voted against Thomas Dewey because of his mustache.
To differentiate themselves from the other bearded giants of the 20th century, Hitler, Hirohito, and Stalin.
Be different if Hillary got the gig, her tache would surely qualify.
Some other thoughts.
From what I understand, historically Christian men cut their hair short and favored no facial hair to differentiate themselves from Jews. I don’t know if it was specifically because they didn’t want to be mistaken for a Jewish person, or if it simply was a trend in a group like preppy boys wear polo shirts and rock band guys wear t-shirts. Now, libertarian types who hunt and work with their hands often have very long beards. Things change over time, and it depends on your specific community.
My husband had a goatee for a while and when he went on a work assignment to Bogotá, Colombia, I told him to shave to have less hassle in customs. He was flying back and forth about once a month.
Some men in academia have facial hair, but I bet statistically people with higher educations are less likely to have facial hair, and also top spot professionals, C-level jobs, I would bet money over 90% of them are clean shaven, but I think most men in America shave anyway, including blue color and even high school drop outs.
Our protectors, like our military, police, and fireman, cannot have facial hair. This might further our perception that clean shaven is more trustworthy and admirable. Unless, you don’t trust those groups, then forget I mentioned it.
Wow, @JLeslie – that makes me stupid, uneducated, and unprofessional. I’ve had a beard for 40 years.
I dunno…Nixon had a pretty good 5 o’clock shadow…especially towards the end.
@elbanditoroso First of all, no it doesn’t! It’s generalizations, and plenty of professors have beards, and there are some CEO’s who have beards, but most of them were/are CEO’s of their own companies, but not all of course. Most men in America don’t have facial hair at all levels. Most, meaning the majority, not all. My husband had a goatee and long hair and he was a VP at a bank at the time and has a masters degree.
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