With presidential campaign season in full stroke and over twenty candidates making the bid for the Republicans and Democrats, it is almost impossible for people to keep track of each candidates views and plans. In these early stages especially, the presidential race is really just a popularity contest that has little to do with actual politics. Noticing this, I got to thinking: What does the perfect President look like?

If we were basing this solely on statistics, we would say that the ideal candidate is white. This is obviously not true, considering that our first black President Barack Obama has gone on to have two terms as President and currently has a higher approval rating than George W. Bush had at this time in his second term. This is a good example of a stat that exists because of the circumstances of American culture over the years. One thing that has held generally true over the years, is that voters prefer leaders with lower voices. Obviously there are exceptions, most notably Abraham Lincoln was said to have a voice that was “a little shriller,” but the lower a politicians voice is, the more that they sound like a leader. In a similar vein, it seems like voters prefer leaders who are taller. Since the first televised presidential debate in 1960, the Presidents’ heights average out to over six feet tall, about four inches taller than the average American. (Kane) There is research that shows that taller people are more confident, and it is possible that this confidence helps to set the taller candidate apart from their more vertically challenged opponents.

With a bit of information that seems to come out of left field, this study shows that when asked to chose between a thin candidate and an overweight candidate, voters will often choose the overweight gentleman (I say gentleman because this effect does not occur with women candidates). It’s interesting that nearly all of the biggest celebrities are in perfect physical shape, yet the American people would rather see a president that looks like some ordinary shmuck. This information contradicts the previous evidence, though, because a candidate who is taller and has a lower voice will surely bring about an air of power while a chubby candidate might just seem to be average. The fact that there are so many different sources and ideas on the topic tells us the obvious answer to the question: There is not perfect presidential candidate.

Kane, Joseph (1994). Facts about the Presidents: A Compilation of Biographical and Historical Information. New York: H. W. Wilson. pp. 344–45. ISBN 0-8242-0845-5.