Tall Candidate Wins Presidency? Yes, Say Researchers

When it comes to choosing an American president, forget about his or her positions on major issues, his or her experience, or a candidate’s gravitas and intellect.  It’s all about his or her height.

That’s the conclusion of a group of researchers at Texas Tech University who claim that people like the leader of the country, and other political higher ups, to be … well, higher up.  Give us a tall president and we’ll be happy, the researchers say voters are thinking.

Taller Equals Stronger?

Why is this the case?  The researchers claim that it’s all because of our instincts left over from when we lived in caves, wore animal fur and looked more like the apes we might have come from than today’s well-polished humans.  It’s that “caveman instinct” that still drives us to want leaders who are tall and therefore seemingly more strong.

The researchers aren’t just lording it over the rest of us with some idle speculation.  They’ve studied all presidential elections since 1789 and discovered that the taller candidate won 58 percent of the elections.  They don’t seem to be bothered by the fact that this represents barely more than half of the U.S. elections – why upset silly science with facts?

The researchers say that culture and environment alone can’t explain our preference for long, tall leaders; and it’s true not just in the U.S. but in other countries as well.  They say that measurements of ancient Greeks and Mayans also show that the great leaders and politicians from those civilizations tended to be taller.

What Is An Ideal Leader?  Height Wins Out

Going a step further, the researchers asked almost 500 students from around the world to describe their concept of a “typical citizen” and an “ideal leader.”  From that exercise the scientists determined that 64 percent of the students drew a picture of a taller leader meeting a smaller average citizen.

What does that mean for the 2012 presidential election in the United States?  While Barack Obama, at 6 foot 1 inch was a shoe-in for president in 2008 since he faced 5 foot 8 inch John McCain, in 2012 he might have his hands full if he faces either Mitt Romney at 6 foot 2 inches and might be on equal footing if he faces off against the 6 foot 1 inch Rick Perry. 

The researchers also concluded that individuals who are taller may view themselves as a more qualified leader and are therefore more likely to seek higher, elected office.  Perhaps they never heard of Napoleon.

Click here for more articles by The Writin’ Cowboy.