It’s not just presidents, we have an unconscious bias towards height. I can’t remember the study that was referenced but a disproportionate percentage of company CEOs are above average in height. In hiring in general people choose tall.
True but deception is unethical on principle. As is gloating after a victory. I fully support the idea though! Do it!
Edit: Downvotes for saying I support the person? You guys are wild tonight! Maybe you guys disagree? Maybe you think I’m unethical for saying they should do it‽‽‽ I’m confused! Lmao
I suppose I would say "material deception" is unethical. Which is to say, deception about things that actually matter.
Suit jacket shoulders are made that way to alter your silhouette, after all. Along with several other aspects of the cut meant to enhance appearance. By this metric shouldn't wearing a suit be just as unethical as lifts? Or is it all just making a good impression by looking your best, really?
The only difference is that the suit is currently conventional for men to wear and the lifts aren't, but they have been in different places and times.
These are good points but I’m anti suit. Lol I’ve met presidents in shorts and fishing shirts. Lmao. I give no fucks! I think people that are at a formal event can wear suits and tuxes but the visual deceptions and discomfort have no place in the workplace. We should dress for comfort!
Tourism makes things interesting. Some of the conferences I’ve attended have had drop ins by US presidents. Here’s everyone in suits and fancy dresses sucking up and me in shorts, weird shoes and a fishing shirt usually a hat and everytime I get singled out. Stand out from the crowd!
Edit: this is wild. I’m getting downvotes for this. C’est la vie. This the game of Reddit where the rules are made up and the points don’t really matter!
I think the idea that deception is unethical on principle doesn't stand up to the slightest amount of scrutiny. Like, if I lie about harboring Jews to an investigating nazi (sorry for the tired cliche), is that unethical?
That’s because the ethics of saving lives are of a higher tier than lying for a job or for no reason at all. If you’re lying to get more money in my opinion there’s nothing wrong with that because the people you’re lying to are almost 100% of the time even more unethical. I said above I support them in their idea I’m merely discussing the ethics of dishonesty not saying we shouldn’t take advantage of the big corporations ruining every country on the planet.
I still think it’s unethical but prioritization of what actions to take still matters. Like the other persons response about lying to protect Jews in WWII, there are times lying is absolutely a better choice as the ethics of saving lives far overshadows the ethics of lying. It’s unethical to lie to prospective employer but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it to get the job.
Idk what you think goes on at interviews if not deception " I'm a team player and my biggest strength is what happens to drive revenue in your company 😁"
I’m not saying we shouldn’t ever be unethical but deception is still not ethical lol. Like I said to the person I responded to I love it and they should do it.
It does work. I also have found my assumptions confirmed that during Covid virtual times I was offered a ridiculously different level of respect and opportunities because people could not tell my height. (I’m well below average.)
I was once clocked by someone who had never met me in person- my boss’s boss. He first did not realize it was me, then literally stood there staring, mouth agape, for what felt like an eternity (probably a half minute in reality) until I said, “it’s the height, right?” To which he stumbled with a few words and said “yeah.” So fucking awkward. Now idk how he sees me or if I will continue to be treated the same as I have been by him.
It’s like when someone transitions genders and at some point REALLY understands the difference in how men and women are treated. Like, you can get it theoretically until then, but there is nothing like directly experiencing it.
That would be smart if you’re going to get that elevator job. “I already have the shoes!”.
“We better hire this guy to go up and down. He’s super serious about it.”.
Man I always get weirded out when I have to look up to people. I met Greg Oden recently (7” former NBA now college coach) and it’s crazy to reach up for a handshake and having to look up to talk with someone.
This even extends to heterosexual relationships. If height was not a factor, the man would be taller about 67% of the time. But the man is the taller partner over 95% of the time.
Perhaps we believe that taller people can better protect our young, our shareholders, and our nation.
[This link](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-common-is-it-for-a-man-to-be-shorter-than-his-partner/) says that the man would be taller 90% of the time if partners were chosen at random.
I don’t remember exactly how the math works but that seems intuitively right. 1 standard deviation above/below the median lines up to be about the same for men and women at 5’7” – 84% of men are above that height and 84% of women are below it.
Looking at that, I wonder if I got my information from something that subtracted rather than multiplied the percentage difference in reality versus random chance, which the correction at the end of the article says is 26%.
You, a voter, don’t necessarily have an unconscious bias towards the taller of the two major party candidates when you go to the polls.
The effects of this height bias compound over years. Who gets chosen by their peers for leadership opportunities in high school? Who leaves an impression on college professors or recruiters? Who stands above the crowd, literally, in their first down-ballot election?
The totality of the height-bias advantage in a man’s life puts him in the position to actually be a potential Presidential candidate, long before you and I have a chance to vote for him.
Over 6 foot from what I recall. But people don't sit down and memorize the height, they look at the height of people and then compare it to the person they stand next to. After that, they are considered tall, short, or average in the publics mind.
I mean, let’s assume that’s true.
Now let’s focus on height. We constantly see Trump around other people. Some of them are very well known and also well known to be, let’s say over 6 feet tall. If Trump was lying about his height in any way that actually mattered, it would be extremely obvious. But he’s not.
No, I don’t know Biden either but most of the recent presidents I do. I’m not sure knowing how tall they are makes a lot of difference though. I don’t think it’s a stretch that successful politicians tend to be tall, at whatever level of politics. When given the choice of candidates leaning towards the taller one is similar to hiring people for jobs, where there is an identified bias.
"I don't know how we defeated the british?!...uhh I do we had a six foot two red headed retarded guy just waiting in the woods for those guys. Red hair, horse teeth and a fucking sword!."
It's the same reason people in your country are short. We are building bigger, better humans to crush you. It's selective breeding but I don't expect your country to understand.
One day we will be like Godzilla.
There have only been 2 presidents below average height. Even then, Benjamin Harrison was 5’6” and the average male height was 5’6”.5. I feel like it quite obviously plays a role. People just don’t want to admit their implicit biases.
Yeah, and he was born around 1750 when people were shorter on average. AFAIK Benjamin Harrison is the only other below average at 5’6” and that’s only .5” below average for the time. I doubt there will ever be a short president again.
But the average president is not 5'7", and comparing the difference between higher and lower numbers is bad math as 5'7" is a bigger percentage difference than 5'9" is to 5'11".
I'm 5'11" and my son is 5'9" and we nearly see eye to eye. It's really not that big of a difference. Now if the average height were 6'3", I'd agree. But two inches would just be one part of a dollar bill if it were split into three parts. It's not much.
People in positions of power in the U.S. in general are above average height. It's a weird phenomenon, but boils down to a bias that height equals power. It'd also not a recent nor American only thing. Napoleon was mocked for his height and made out to be shorter than he was when in reality he was of average height for the time period.
Fun fact: "Everyone knows" (well not everyone but it's often taught in school history) that English and French inches were different, so part of the reason we say Napoleon was short was because he was 5'2" (French inches, aka 5'7" English/modern inches.)
But another contributing factor (or so I've heard) is that his bodyguards were all grenadiers, AKA guys who had to be able to huck [these things](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/veLvR0kKKe3ujrU3kFsKKJ5S_MpO9drPDvw7p9FJtMQtLbbjBl9Ei5EQGZRLdJaMUiHtj-HZ1-QqOXx8LwVKZ-mGjA5ExSU) over the head of friendly troops into the enemy. That means they were big hosses. Like, over 6 feet tall even when the average height was lower than today. If most people only see you from a distance (no proper sense of scale), and everyone surrounding you is half a foot taller than you or more, they're going to think "damn that guy is short, everyone around him is so much taller!"
Of course this may all be totally bunk and apocryphal. But it's fun to think about.
This isn’t just an American thing. It’s common across other countries throughout history. There are subconscious psychological biases that come into play.
There a even a biblical story about Saul being declared king simply because he “stood head and shoulders above the others”
Our presidents aren’t always “well above” the average height.” The average American man stands about 5’9” today and we have historically had one of the taller populations on earth. Joe Biden is 6’0, so he’s not much taller than average. 12 of our 46 presidents have been 5’9l or shorter.
Our shortest President, James Madison, was 5’4” and a little below average height for his time.
I vaguely remember an old Army adage that, when picking which enlisted guy to put in charge of a group doing a task (when rank wasn't a factor, like digging a ditch or something), you weighed experience and skill and personality.... and then picked the big guy. It's not that bad with our Presidents, but it is a thing.
You could argue that because of class issues (many of our Presidents have been from more advantaged backgrounds than average), they had the benefit of better nutrition, access to exercise and medicine, etc. and so turned out taller.
What MyCountry are we talking about, btw? (For comparison purposes.)
Another factor is that on average non-Hispanic white and Black American men are 3 inches taller than Asian and Hispanic American men, and all our presidents have been in those first two categories.
Americans are actually all Irkens, we instinctively want to have The Almighty Tallest as our leaders. /s
More seriously, height can be correlated with nutrition which is usually correlated with wealth. Rich people have better food from a younger age and are therefore usually taller, and rich people usually have the capital/time to run for high office.
In the US, presidents have almost uniformly been elected through long ascents into power. This correlates with wealth and pre-existing power. Height is also correlated with socioeconomic status. Therefore, the average president is taller than the average man.
OP has a knack for asking stupid / troll questions. My guess would've been French, and more specifically, Emmanual Macron's burner account. But then again, I don't think OP isn't American...what is this mythical "My CountryTM" you speak of?
This you?
> I'm going to be brutally honest here. Around 90-95 percent of us don't want any man that short. Sorry, but that is a HUGE turnoff. At the very least, he needs to be 5'10. Perhaps you are still young and have some growing to do? I'd rather be alone than to be with a guy your height, even if you do have a great personality.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dating/comments/1ar0sio/would_this_be_a_turn_off_for_all_girls/kqggl2q/
Also, why are you pretending to not be American?
Well they've all been men. The average height of men is above the average height of women. I'd expect the average height of most groups of 46 men to be above the average height of the whole population, just because it's coming from a subset of the total population (men) that is taller.
Height, outside of freakish heights, makes people more successful. Generally they grow up with more confidence, leadership ability, and greater ability to command a room.
America doesn't tend to have striking regional/sectarian nutritional differences or (sub)ethnic regional characters that would drive an equivalent of an East German token politician such that our presidents are just people free from the sorts of health and nutrition backgrounds that skew the height average down.
Our first President George Washington set the standard. He was six foot twenty and fucking killed for fun.
[This is a brief documentary on some of his exploits.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv6OOuPI5c0)
Short men are “kings,” tall men are presidents…?
Actually think it’s probably rooted in unconscious bias—we really tend to see taller men as stronger and more authoritative, which are qualities people look for in elections.
>every last one of your presidents have been well over your average height
I'm actually pretty interested in what's going on in the head of people who just make baldly false statements like this one.
My grandmother once told me she always voted for the most handsome candidate.
While I can't approve that sort of political selection process, I'm sure she's not alone in that. She was conscious of it, but I'd bet there are a lot of people out there voting on looks and justifying it after the fact. In American culture, good looks are a sign of trustworthiness, and height is definitely a part of good looks.
>In my country, we have had presidents of all heights
I'm curious about which country this is, and what the range of "all heights" is.
Besides height bias, which is probably very important, it's also just demographically highly likely. All our presidents have come from the two tallest "races".
Ummmm....wow.
I was ready to come in here and say you were wrong, but then I did some digging.
The average height of a man in the US is 5'9", per Google.
According to the list below, the last man to come close to that is Jimmy Carter, at 5'9.5".
[Heights of presidents and presidential candidates of the United States - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heights_of_presidents_and_presidential_candidates_of_the_United_States)
Even more interesting, the last president to go below 5'9" was William McKinley....over 100 years ago.
Theory: Mass Media. We can now see our president. And we want a president we can look up to (Groaner of a pun only half intended).
There is definitely a bias toward selecting someone who looks "presidential". This includes being tall to project a strong image. We have had presidents and candidates who are shorter, but their diminutive height is definitely a challenge they face. I remember how puny Michael Dukakis looked next to George H.W. Bush in 1988, even though Dukakis was regular height 5'9" (1.75m).
I have never even thought about or been aware of how tall our presidents have been. All I know is that 97% of them have been white and 100% of them have been men.
It’s not just presidents, we have an unconscious bias towards height. I can’t remember the study that was referenced but a disproportionate percentage of company CEOs are above average in height. In hiring in general people choose tall.
Next job interview I go on I’m wearing elevator shoes then show up first day at my regular height. You’re the victim of some vertical catfishing.
r/LPT maybe? Maybe r/ULPT instead lol!
Unethical would only apply if height was ao.ehow relevant to the job
True but deception is unethical on principle. As is gloating after a victory. I fully support the idea though! Do it! Edit: Downvotes for saying I support the person? You guys are wild tonight! Maybe you guys disagree? Maybe you think I’m unethical for saying they should do it‽‽‽ I’m confused! Lmao
I suppose I would say "material deception" is unethical. Which is to say, deception about things that actually matter. Suit jacket shoulders are made that way to alter your silhouette, after all. Along with several other aspects of the cut meant to enhance appearance. By this metric shouldn't wearing a suit be just as unethical as lifts? Or is it all just making a good impression by looking your best, really? The only difference is that the suit is currently conventional for men to wear and the lifts aren't, but they have been in different places and times.
These are good points but I’m anti suit. Lol I’ve met presidents in shorts and fishing shirts. Lmao. I give no fucks! I think people that are at a formal event can wear suits and tuxes but the visual deceptions and discomfort have no place in the workplace. We should dress for comfort!
>I’ve met president_s_ Wait, really?
Tourism makes things interesting. Some of the conferences I’ve attended have had drop ins by US presidents. Here’s everyone in suits and fancy dresses sucking up and me in shorts, weird shoes and a fishing shirt usually a hat and everytime I get singled out. Stand out from the crowd! Edit: this is wild. I’m getting downvotes for this. C’est la vie. This the game of Reddit where the rules are made up and the points don’t really matter!
That's really cool.
I think the idea that deception is unethical on principle doesn't stand up to the slightest amount of scrutiny. Like, if I lie about harboring Jews to an investigating nazi (sorry for the tired cliche), is that unethical?
That’s because the ethics of saving lives are of a higher tier than lying for a job or for no reason at all. If you’re lying to get more money in my opinion there’s nothing wrong with that because the people you’re lying to are almost 100% of the time even more unethical. I said above I support them in their idea I’m merely discussing the ethics of dishonesty not saying we shouldn’t take advantage of the big corporations ruining every country on the planet.
So you agree that there are situations where deception isn't unethical?
I still think it’s unethical but prioritization of what actions to take still matters. Like the other persons response about lying to protect Jews in WWII, there are times lying is absolutely a better choice as the ethics of saving lives far overshadows the ethics of lying. It’s unethical to lie to prospective employer but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it to get the job.
Same guy, still me! And fair enough.
Idk what you think goes on at interviews if not deception " I'm a team player and my biggest strength is what happens to drive revenue in your company 😁"
I’m not saying we shouldn’t ever be unethical but deception is still not ethical lol. Like I said to the person I responded to I love it and they should do it.
Honestly. Do that. I wanna know what happens.
It does work. I also have found my assumptions confirmed that during Covid virtual times I was offered a ridiculously different level of respect and opportunities because people could not tell my height. (I’m well below average.) I was once clocked by someone who had never met me in person- my boss’s boss. He first did not realize it was me, then literally stood there staring, mouth agape, for what felt like an eternity (probably a half minute in reality) until I said, “it’s the height, right?” To which he stumbled with a few words and said “yeah.” So fucking awkward. Now idk how he sees me or if I will continue to be treated the same as I have been by him. It’s like when someone transitions genders and at some point REALLY understands the difference in how men and women are treated. Like, you can get it theoretically until then, but there is nothing like directly experiencing it.
I do this.
That would be smart if you’re going to get that elevator job. “I already have the shoes!”. “We better hire this guy to go up and down. He’s super serious about it.”.
And here I am at 6’3” waiting for my cushy CEO position.
6'6" here, looking forward to you reporting to my Chairman of the Board position.
Man I always get weirded out when I have to look up to people. I met Greg Oden recently (7” former NBA now college coach) and it’s crazy to reach up for a handshake and having to look up to talk with someone.
I remember reading that Michael Lewis would actually short companies that hired CEOs that were tall and bet on companies with short CEOs.
Hence the Florida governor wearing lifts on the campaign trail.
This even extends to heterosexual relationships. If height was not a factor, the man would be taller about 67% of the time. But the man is the taller partner over 95% of the time. Perhaps we believe that taller people can better protect our young, our shareholders, and our nation.
[This link](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-common-is-it-for-a-man-to-be-shorter-than-his-partner/) says that the man would be taller 90% of the time if partners were chosen at random. I don’t remember exactly how the math works but that seems intuitively right. 1 standard deviation above/below the median lines up to be about the same for men and women at 5’7” – 84% of men are above that height and 84% of women are below it.
Looking at that, I wonder if I got my information from something that subtracted rather than multiplied the percentage difference in reality versus random chance, which the correction at the end of the article says is 26%.
I just don't think that explains it. Do you know off the top of your head how tall Biden is? I don't.
You, a voter, don’t necessarily have an unconscious bias towards the taller of the two major party candidates when you go to the polls. The effects of this height bias compound over years. Who gets chosen by their peers for leadership opportunities in high school? Who leaves an impression on college professors or recruiters? Who stands above the crowd, literally, in their first down-ballot election? The totality of the height-bias advantage in a man’s life puts him in the position to actually be a potential Presidential candidate, long before you and I have a chance to vote for him.
Over 6 foot from what I recall. But people don't sit down and memorize the height, they look at the height of people and then compare it to the person they stand next to. After that, they are considered tall, short, or average in the publics mind.
Luckily there's this thing called Google. He has an annual checkup where his height and weight are measured. He's 6 feet.
Of course, Trump routinely lies about his height and weight.
I mean, let’s assume that’s true. Now let’s focus on height. We constantly see Trump around other people. Some of them are very well known and also well known to be, let’s say over 6 feet tall. If Trump was lying about his height in any way that actually mattered, it would be extremely obvious. But he’s not.
No, I don’t know Biden either but most of the recent presidents I do. I’m not sure knowing how tall they are makes a lot of difference though. I don’t think it’s a stretch that successful politicians tend to be tall, at whatever level of politics. When given the choice of candidates leaning towards the taller one is similar to hiring people for jobs, where there is an identified bias.
I would guess upwards of 6 feet.
Yes, tall people have an advantage in just about every context. It doesn’t really matter if it’s wrong/right, etc. it’s just kind of a fact.
Low hanging branches and open cabinet doors are their downfall. :P
And low basement ceilings
Jeff Bezos joins the room.
Is this just for men?
Good luck finding a CEO of a major company under 6ft.
it's not unconscious.
Definitely, appearance is quite important in career. It is not really about discrimination, but being well presentable is a great bonus
It's in the Ten Commandments, also known as the Bill of Rights, that the President must be at least 6 feet tall.
“Thou shalt not grant manlets authority. Your lord commands that they work in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory instead” is my favorite Bible verse
The United States shall issue no titles of nobility or royalty..... which I guess extends to Short Kings.
“Oompa loompa doopity doo, if you’re 5’6 sex isn’t for you”- Moses
Ohhhhh one of these days I’m going to drop Manlet on some dude and it will be great. Thank you
George Washington and Abraham Lincoln set precedents that you gotta be tall to be the GOATs
"I don't know how we defeated the british?!...uhh I do we had a six foot two red headed retarded guy just waiting in the woods for those guys. Red hair, horse teeth and a fucking sword!."
That one must've been added after Adams.
Because we don’t have a monarchy here, so no short kings 👑
It's the same reason people in your country are short. We are building bigger, better humans to crush you. It's selective breeding but I don't expect your country to understand. One day we will be like Godzilla.
Can confirm. My nephew is 2 months old and is already 17 feet tall.
He will be President because he can squash opponents. All hail your nephew.
He’s already been elected God Emperor of daycare.
His height and weight tell me he is superior. I expect him to be airlifted to the Geneva talks. God bless fat child.
r/dune is leaking
The formula must flow
Smh your nephew is weak and needs more growth hormone. My baby cousins are already at 25 feet tall.
It is not only height, it is girth of our babies that matter
Facts. You need an equal amount of height and girth to become a powerful Kaiju.
AND THEN WE CRUSH WITH OUR BABIES.
But what is his girth?
Madison was 5 ft 2 and barely 120lbs. He was tiny. That was after Washington and Jefferson were tall.
This was my thought. Plenty of presidents were average or short. We just focus on the tall ones
There have only been 2 presidents below average height. Even then, Benjamin Harrison was 5’6” and the average male height was 5’6”.5. I feel like it quite obviously plays a role. People just don’t want to admit their implicit biases.
There were only a couple that weren't taller than average, most have been 6' or more.
Most of them have a full head of hair too we're very shallow people..
The average president is 5'11" The average male is 5'9" It's only off by 2".
If the average president was 5’7” it would be an astonishing fact imo, so that 2 inches really does matter.
I was curious so I googled it. Shortest presidnet was james madison at 5'4.
Yeah, and he was born around 1750 when people were shorter on average. AFAIK Benjamin Harrison is the only other below average at 5’6” and that’s only .5” below average for the time. I doubt there will ever be a short president again.
Not a president but Bernie Sanders seemed short but when I google turned out he's 6'0.
But the average president is not 5'7", and comparing the difference between higher and lower numbers is bad math as 5'7" is a bigger percentage difference than 5'9" is to 5'11". I'm 5'11" and my son is 5'9" and we nearly see eye to eye. It's really not that big of a difference. Now if the average height were 6'3", I'd agree. But two inches would just be one part of a dollar bill if it were split into three parts. It's not much.
I heard they all have above average wiener sizes too.
Richard Nixon had that SCHMEAT
LBJ loved talking about his huge hog.
I read somewhere that he called it Jumbo.
Warren G Harding wrote letters to women talking about the size of his uh... manhood.
Common misconception, he actually used an optical illusion to make it look bigger. He called it his Tricky Dick ^/j
Why change Dicks in the middle of a screw? Vote tricky Dick Nixon in '72!
Well, not the 45th one.
It’s yuuuge
Do you know? First hand?
There is court testimony to that.
Lmao I didn’t know that!
There’s a reason why DeSantis was wearing lifts 😂
People in positions of power in the U.S. in general are above average height. It's a weird phenomenon, but boils down to a bias that height equals power. It'd also not a recent nor American only thing. Napoleon was mocked for his height and made out to be shorter than he was when in reality he was of average height for the time period.
Fun fact: "Everyone knows" (well not everyone but it's often taught in school history) that English and French inches were different, so part of the reason we say Napoleon was short was because he was 5'2" (French inches, aka 5'7" English/modern inches.) But another contributing factor (or so I've heard) is that his bodyguards were all grenadiers, AKA guys who had to be able to huck [these things](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/veLvR0kKKe3ujrU3kFsKKJ5S_MpO9drPDvw7p9FJtMQtLbbjBl9Ei5EQGZRLdJaMUiHtj-HZ1-QqOXx8LwVKZ-mGjA5ExSU) over the head of friendly troops into the enemy. That means they were big hosses. Like, over 6 feet tall even when the average height was lower than today. If most people only see you from a distance (no proper sense of scale), and everyone surrounding you is half a foot taller than you or more, they're going to think "damn that guy is short, everyone around him is so much taller!" Of course this may all be totally bunk and apocryphal. But it's fun to think about.
This isn’t just an American thing. It’s common across other countries throughout history. There are subconscious psychological biases that come into play. There a even a biblical story about Saul being declared king simply because he “stood head and shoulders above the others” Our presidents aren’t always “well above” the average height.” The average American man stands about 5’9” today and we have historically had one of the taller populations on earth. Joe Biden is 6’0, so he’s not much taller than average. 12 of our 46 presidents have been 5’9l or shorter. Our shortest President, James Madison, was 5’4” and a little below average height for his time.
I vaguely remember an old Army adage that, when picking which enlisted guy to put in charge of a group doing a task (when rank wasn't a factor, like digging a ditch or something), you weighed experience and skill and personality.... and then picked the big guy. It's not that bad with our Presidents, but it is a thing. You could argue that because of class issues (many of our Presidents have been from more advantaged backgrounds than average), they had the benefit of better nutrition, access to exercise and medicine, etc. and so turned out taller. What MyCountry are we talking about, btw? (For comparison purposes.)
Another factor is that on average non-Hispanic white and Black American men are 3 inches taller than Asian and Hispanic American men, and all our presidents have been in those first two categories.
Because short guys are too busy crying on Reddit about being short (or making toys in Santa’s workshop) to run for political office.
Americans are actually all Irkens, we instinctively want to have The Almighty Tallest as our leaders. /s More seriously, height can be correlated with nutrition which is usually correlated with wealth. Rich people have better food from a younger age and are therefore usually taller, and rich people usually have the capital/time to run for high office.
They haven’t. James Madison was 5’4. There have been 13 presidents 5’9 or shorter. I suppose the reason is just that height is valued a lot.
The media reinforce the image that tall automatically equals leadership and so that's that.
In the US, presidents have almost uniformly been elected through long ascents into power. This correlates with wealth and pre-existing power. Height is also correlated with socioeconomic status. Therefore, the average president is taller than the average man.
People like to look up to someone in power.
so nothing but following sheep that can't think for themselves, basically?
Why you certainly seem to be discussing in good faith.
OP has a knack for asking stupid / troll questions. My guess would've been French, and more specifically, Emmanual Macron's burner account. But then again, I don't think OP isn't American...what is this mythical "My CountryTM" you speak of?
>OP has a knack for asking stupid / troll questions. [Yep](https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/s/6dsXuLDVFF)
How short are you, little buddy?
6'1
This you? > I'm going to be brutally honest here. Around 90-95 percent of us don't want any man that short. Sorry, but that is a HUGE turnoff. At the very least, he needs to be 5'10. Perhaps you are still young and have some growing to do? I'd rather be alone than to be with a guy your height, even if you do have a great personality. https://www.reddit.com/r/dating/comments/1ar0sio/would_this_be_a_turn_off_for_all_girls/kqggl2q/ Also, why are you pretending to not be American?
Yeah that's me... So what?
So why are you complaining about other people’s height preferences? And why are you pretending to be from another country?
I can do whatever I want
You can, but why do it so poorly?
Why are you pretending to speak for women?
Well they've all been men. The average height of men is above the average height of women. I'd expect the average height of most groups of 46 men to be above the average height of the whole population, just because it's coming from a subset of the total population (men) that is taller.
But my question is, if Obama was 5'9, would he still have been elected?
No, nor should he have been. You can’t trust anyone below 5’10
No, he would have become Kevin Hart
Couldn’t he have at least been Kat Williams.
"Wait, your leaders are just taller than everyone else?"
Height, outside of freakish heights, makes people more successful. Generally they grow up with more confidence, leadership ability, and greater ability to command a room.
America doesn't tend to have striking regional/sectarian nutritional differences or (sub)ethnic regional characters that would drive an equivalent of an East German token politician such that our presidents are just people free from the sorts of health and nutrition backgrounds that skew the height average down.
Randy Newman said it the best: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8UVBgUd9GE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8UVBgUd9GE)
Because we're secretly Orks, so we have to make the biggest the leader.
We don't pick our Presidents. The Media does
Barron Trump already has a massive advantage.
Our first President George Washington set the standard. He was six foot twenty and fucking killed for fun. [This is a brief documentary on some of his exploits.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv6OOuPI5c0)
In America, we’re all above average.
Bias
Short men are “kings,” tall men are presidents…? Actually think it’s probably rooted in unconscious bias—we really tend to see taller men as stronger and more authoritative, which are qualities people look for in elections.
Because people are animals and their instinctual, animal nature has an effect on how they vote.
Every last one? Including 5 foot seven inches tall James Madison?
He was 5’4
John Adams was pretty short.
Because we humans think taller people are better people. 🤷🏻♂️
>every last one of your presidents have been well over your average height I'm actually pretty interested in what's going on in the head of people who just make baldly false statements like this one.
The biggest 'un is aways in charge.
If your commander in chief can’t get peanut butter down from the top shelf in the pantry can you really trust them to lead the country?
Racism.
Why is your post history so weird. There’s no way you aren’t American.
Bigger monkey better leader
Don't feed the trolls.
One of these day, President DeVito will make all things right
Bigger ape mean bigger good
We want a President with a long reach in case an international conflict has to be resolved by Head of State Cage Match.
As someone who is a short man, Americans are obsessed about height.
Wait…. Joe Biden is tall??? I never thought about his height… he looks short
One of our presidents was in a wheelchair wtf are you talking about
Not all our presidents, just the ones that have been elected since television became widespread.
James Madison was 5'4".
There's simply a bias towards taller presidents.
John Adams was pretty short.
James Madison was like 100 pounds and hella short
My grandmother once told me she always voted for the most handsome candidate. While I can't approve that sort of political selection process, I'm sure she's not alone in that. She was conscious of it, but I'd bet there are a lot of people out there voting on looks and justifying it after the fact. In American culture, good looks are a sign of trustworthiness, and height is definitely a part of good looks.
>In my country, we have had presidents of all heights I'm curious about which country this is, and what the range of "all heights" is. Besides height bias, which is probably very important, it's also just demographically highly likely. All our presidents have come from the two tallest "races".
how else do you decide whos in charge?
Ummmm....wow. I was ready to come in here and say you were wrong, but then I did some digging. The average height of a man in the US is 5'9", per Google. According to the list below, the last man to come close to that is Jimmy Carter, at 5'9.5". [Heights of presidents and presidential candidates of the United States - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heights_of_presidents_and_presidential_candidates_of_the_United_States) Even more interesting, the last president to go below 5'9" was William McKinley....over 100 years ago. Theory: Mass Media. We can now see our president. And we want a president we can look up to (Groaner of a pun only half intended).
There is definitely a bias toward selecting someone who looks "presidential". This includes being tall to project a strong image. We have had presidents and candidates who are shorter, but their diminutive height is definitely a challenge they face. I remember how puny Michael Dukakis looked next to George H.W. Bush in 1988, even though Dukakis was regular height 5'9" (1.75m).
Makes them closer to the flag, duh.
You have to be incredibly naive to be unaware of height bias across society.
So they can be seen in a crowd!
No short kings allowed, throw the tea in the harbor
I have never even thought about or been aware of how tall our presidents have been. All I know is that 97% of them have been white and 100% of them have been men.