The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the leader of the United States armed forces as commander-in-chief which make him (or her) head of government as well as head of state.
Extremes of Height: The Winners
The tallest President elected to office was Abraham Lincoln (6 ft 4 in or 193 cm).
The tallest President to originally enter the office by means other than election was Lyndon B. Johnson (6 ft 3½ in or 192 cm).
The shortest President elected to office was James Madison (5 ft 4 in or 163 cm).
The shortest President to originally enter the office by means other than election is tied between Millard Fillmore and Harry S. Truman (both were 5 ft 9 in or 175 cm).
Extremes of Height: The Losers
The tallest unsuccessful presidential candidate (who is also the tallest of all presidential candidates) is Winfield Scott, who stood at 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) and lost the 1852 election to Franklin Pierce, who stood at 5 ft 10 in (178 cm).
The second tallest unsuccessful candidate is John Kerry, at 6 ft 4 in (193 cm).
The shortest unsuccessful presidential candidate (who is also the shortest of all presidential candidates) is Stephen A. Douglas, at 5 ft 4 in (163 cm).
The next shortest is tied between two sitting Presidents, Martin Van Buren and Benjamin Harrison, who lost their respective elections in 1840 and 1892 and were both 5 ft 6 in (168 cm).
Presidents taller than the
current average of American males6ft4 – 193cmAbraham Lincoln6ft3.5 – 192cmLyndon Johnson6ft2.5 – 189cmThomas Jefferson6ft2 – 188cmGeorge Washington
Chester Arthur
Franklin D. Roosevelt
George H.W. Bush
Bill Clinton6ft1 – 185cmAndrew Jackson
Ronald Reagan
Barack Obama6ft – 183cmJames Monroe
John Tyler
James Buchanan
James A. Garfield
Warren Harding
John F. Kennedy
Gerald Ford5ft11.5 – 182cmWilliam Howard Taft
Herbert Hoover
Richard Nixon
George W. Bush5ft11 – 180cmGrover Cleveland
Woodrow Wilson5ft10.5 – 179cmDwight D. Eisenhower5ft10 – 178cmFranklin Pierce
Andrew Johnson
Theodore Roosevelt
Calvin Coolidge5ft9.5 – 177cmJimmy CarterPresidents the same height as the
current average of American males5ft9 – 175cmMillard Fillmore
Harry S. TrumanPresidents shorter than the
current average of American males5ft8.5 – 174cmRutherford B. Hayes5ft8 – 173cmWilliam Henry Harrison
James K. Polk
Zachary Taylor
Ulysses S. Grant5ft7.5 – 171cmJohn Quincy Adams5ft7 – 170cmJohn Adams
William McKinley5ft6 – 168cmBenjamin Harrison
Martin Van Buren5ft4 – 163cmJames Madison
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