May the Tallest and Fattest Win the Presidency

OPEN N.Y. put together an amusing (and informative) graphic for a New York Times op-chart. It shows the height and weight of presidential candidates dating back to 1896 when William McKinley, weighing in at 5 feet 7 inches, won the election to become 25th president of the United States. The tall lead 17-8 and the heaver lead 18-8. William J. Bryan didn't stand a chance. Will Barack Obama add to the big and tall's lead or will John McCain win one for the little guy?

[Thanks, Tom]

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Comments

Amos Newcombe
Oct 15, 2008, 10:45 am

So define “fattest”. Is Obama fatter than McCain just based on weight? Or is there some BMI calculation going on here? Evidently not, since the source article only says “weight”. Obviously the two are correlated, so knowing the taller candidate is favored, one would expect the heavier candidate to be favored as well. But fattest? That question has yet to be answered.

Also, they guy who won is not always the guy who got the most votes. Are we — should we be — really talking about electoral success, or popularity?

And did people like Bryan and FDR really have exactly the same measurement for each of their campaigns?