Heights of presidents and presidential candidates of the United States
A record of the heights of the Presidents of the United States and presidential candidates is useful for evaluating what role, if any, height plays in presidential elections. Some observers have noted that the taller of the two major-party candidates tends to prevail, and argue this is due to the public's preference for taller candidates.
The tallest U.S. President was Abraham Lincoln at 6 feet 4 inches (193 centimeters), while the shortest was James Madison at 5 feet 4 inches (163 centimeters).
Donald Trump, the current President, is 6 feet 3 inches (191 centimeters), and Mike Pence, the current Vice-President, is 5 feet 10 inches (178 centimeters).
Various folk wisdoms about U.S. presidential politics put forward the view that the taller of the two major-party candidates always wins or almost always wins since the advent of the televised presidential debate.
There is more data if the relationship of electoral success to height difference starts from the year 1900, rather than from the beginning of televised debates. In the twenty-eight presidential elections between 1900 and 2011, eighteen of the winning candidates have been taller than their opponents, while eight have been shorter, and two have been of the same height. On average the winner was 1.0 inch (2.5 cm) taller than the loser.
The claims about taller candidates winning almost all modern presidential elections is still pervasive, however. Examples of such views include:
A comparison of the heights of the winning presidential candidate with the losing candidate from each election since 1789 is provided below to evaluate such views.
Notes:
* Lost the electoral vote, but received more popular votes
** Lost the House of Representatives vote, but received the most popular votes and a plurality of electoral votes, however not the majority needed to win.
† Ran unopposed
The tallest president elected to office was Abraham Lincoln (6 ft 3 3⁄4 in or 192.4 cm). Portrait artist Francis Bicknell Carpenter supplies the information for Lincoln:
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