Presidential Facial Hair
President Trump is the second President to win non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland in 1892. Cleveland defeated Benjamin Harrison, the last President to sport a beard. While it is early to speculate, Vice President Vance may run for office when Trump’s term expires in 2028. Vance has a beard, and if he were to run and win, we would have our first bearded President since 1892, a truly historic event!
Facial Hair History: 1792 to 1824
The first five Presidents of the United States, all Founding Fathers, from George Washington to James Monroe, were clean-shaven.
Facial Hair History: 1824 - 1860
John Quincy Adams, elected in 1824, was the first to have facial hair, sporting “mutton chops.” He was followed by the clean-shaven Andrew Jackson, President from 1828 - 1946
Andrew Jackson’s Vice President, Martin Van Buren, won the 1836 election.
Martin Van Buren lost his re-election bid in 1840, starting a 20-year string of clean-shaven Presidents until 1860.
1860 - Young Girl Changes History
In 1860, Grace Bedell, an 11-year-old child made Presidential facial hair history. She wrote a letter to the clean-shaven Republican candidate (in reading the letter, remember that only men could vote):
“I am a little girl, only 11 years old, but I want you to be President of the United States very much, so I hope you won’t think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are…I have yet got four brothers and part of them will vote for you any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President…”
The candidate replied, making no promises.
“Your very agreeable letter of the 15th (of October) is received. I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters. I have three sons – one seventeen, one nine, and one seven, years of age. They, with their mother, constitute my whole family. As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a silly affectation if I were to begin it now?”
Nonetheless, Abraham Lincoln started to grow a beard and won the election a few weeks later. On his way to Washington for the Inauguration, Lincoln’s train stopped in Grace Bedell’s hometown in upstate New York. He asked if Grace was in the crowd greeting him. She was. Lincoln kissed her, and they spoke for a few minutes.
Facial Hair History: 1869 to 1912
Starting with U.S. Grant, every President in this period sported facial hair except one as listed below:
U.S. Grant - Full Beard (1869 - 1877)
Rutherford Hayes - Full Beard (1877 - 1881)
James Garfield - Full Beard (1881, assassinated)
Chester Arthur - Mustache and sideburns (1881 - 1885)
Grover Cleveland - Mustache (1885 - 1889, 1893 - 1897)
Benjamin Harrison - Full Beard (1889 - 1893)
William McKinley - Clean Shaven (1897 - 1901, assassinated)
Teddy Roosevelt - Mustache (1901 - 1909)
William Taft - Mustache (1909 - 1913)
Facial Hair History: 1913 to 2024
Since the election of Woodrow Wilson in 1912, no President has sported facial hair (and no Vice President since Hoover’s VP – Charles Curtis, from 1929 – 1933)
The Future: 2024 to ?
One should never make predictions, especially about the future. But it certainly is possible that JD Vance will run for President in 2028. Several political betting sites list him as the favorite. And if he were to run and win, JD would become the first President with facial since the late 1800s, certainly a revolutionary development.
The Implications of Presidential Facial Hair
The only statistic I noticed about Presidents and facial hair is that most of those with beards/mustaches are Republicans, which proves nothing. Beards were popular after the Civil War, and Republicans dominated Presidential elections post-Civil War.
Does a beard make a politician more a less trustworthy? I consulted with an expert and received the following answer: “Whether a beard makes a politician more or less trustworthy depends on cultural norms, grooming style, and individual voter biases. A well-groomed, intentional style might enhance perceptions of professionalism and relatability, whereas an unkempt appearance could detract from trustworthiness.”
How is that for a meaningless answer (The expert - Chat GPT, one of the new artificial intelligence programs)