Last September, the New Yorker ran a photo series to coincide with a meeting of the United Nations, As world leaders left the floor of the General Assembly, they were able to corral 50 of them for photographs.
The series, which can be found here, is enlightening as much for what the camera shows as what the leaders are trying to convey (my favorite is on the 2nd row, third from the right – Conan’s doppelgänger).
Never one to be outdone, the NY Times “commissioned” a series of its own – the heads of all 44 U.S. presidents. These portraits lack only one small detail…a face.
Hair is a language; it announces our gender, class and even our politics. George Washington rejected wigs as too aristocratic for the new Republic. He tied his long powdered hair in a “queue,” while his successors embraced unpowdered styles inspired by ancient Rome. Federalists like John Adams wore long hair, while Jefferson’s Democrats countered with shortened cuts. By the mid-19th century, beards returned after a long absence. Virile-looking and practical on the battlefield, beards were suited to the Civil War; Grant kept his when he entered the White House. The safety razor’s invention around 1900 marked the beginning of the end for presidential facial hair. For the last 100 years, there have been very few stylistic developments of note; the most significant change of late comes with our current commander-in-chief, whose hair has brought welcome diversity to the presidential scalp.
—PENNY HOWELL JOLLY, a professor of art history at Skidmore College and the author of “Hair: Untangling a Social History”
These are interesting to look at, and it’s funny how easy it is to recognize the presidents (the fact that they are in order notwithstanding).
Any thoughts on a favorite? Mine is probably TR, because A) it’s tough to look that badass without a face, and B) it resembles my one of my favorite fictional politicians. That said, given current demographic trends, I can only assume that whomever is president in 2024 will look like this.
