Politics of the Beard
Full disclosure, I have had a beard for about 15 years now. I started growing it full time after I officially retired. Prior to that I have had a mustache for most of my adult life, ever since I was 18. When the kids were growing up, they freaked out when I saved the mustache off. My younger grandkids cannot remember when I did not have a beard, and I do not plan on traumatizing them by saving it off.
That said, it looks like 2028 will be the politics of the beard.
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For the previous 75 years no national politician has had a beard. It was considered the badge of a revolutionary. Fidel Castro had a beard, as did Che Guevara. Hippies grew beards as a counter cultural statement. But the beard never seemed to break through the hairy ceiling among the ruling elite.
Oh, sure, we know of Abraham Lincoln who grew one at the request of an 11-year-old girl. Then there was U.S. Grant. I think there have been a total of eleven presidents who had public facial hair. Some of them with a full beard, others with mutton sideburns, a few with just a mustache. But, since WWII there have been none.
I think most post WWII presidents have had a military background--where, dammit, you had to shave. And even those who were not veterans did not want to turn off the vet vote, even though many veterans grew facial hair on separating from the services.
But, over the past few decades, one would see more and more men of all ages growing beards. Even Paul Ryan was seen with a beard.
Then came the election of JD Vance to the VP--and he has a full beard! Then there is Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton now with beards. And, gasp, Pete Buttigieg is now showing up at campaign rallies with a beard.
And it is not just happening in the US. A number of UK politicians also have beards.
What is this world coming too?
For more info:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-beards-2028-president_n_6827732be4b01633824e977f
https://britishpoliticssociety.no/the-whiskered-warriors-a-look-at-uk-politicians-sporting-facial-hair/
That said, it looks like 2028 will be the politics of the beard.
.
For the previous 75 years no national politician has had a beard. It was considered the badge of a revolutionary. Fidel Castro had a beard, as did Che Guevara. Hippies grew beards as a counter cultural statement. But the beard never seemed to break through the hairy ceiling among the ruling elite.
Oh, sure, we know of Abraham Lincoln who grew one at the request of an 11-year-old girl. Then there was U.S. Grant. I think there have been a total of eleven presidents who had public facial hair. Some of them with a full beard, others with mutton sideburns, a few with just a mustache. But, since WWII there have been none.
I think most post WWII presidents have had a military background--where, dammit, you had to shave. And even those who were not veterans did not want to turn off the vet vote, even though many veterans grew facial hair on separating from the services.
But, over the past few decades, one would see more and more men of all ages growing beards. Even Paul Ryan was seen with a beard.
Then came the election of JD Vance to the VP--and he has a full beard! Then there is Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton now with beards. And, gasp, Pete Buttigieg is now showing up at campaign rallies with a beard.
And it is not just happening in the US. A number of UK politicians also have beards.
What is this world coming too?
For more info:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-beards-2028-president_n_6827732be4b01633824e977f
https://britishpoliticssociety.no/the-whiskered-warriors-a-look-at-uk-politicians-sporting-facial-hair/
Comments
Is that a slippery slope? 😉
David Blunkett, a British Labour politician had a beard back in the 90s. Beards were not common but not unknown amongst politicians back then.
I'm not aware of direct influences to and fro across the Pond as to whether politicians are bearded or not.
There are certainly some cultural trends that way, though. Neck-beards and so on.
Vance having a beard would make me think twice about growing one. I've grown one twice and always been relieved when I shaved it off.
Even companies like Disney who would not let their front of house staff wear beards are now allowing them.
I think that part of the reason we are seeing more politicians with beards is because of this trend.
Surely you must know enough post-menopausal or PCOS-affected women to know some bearded women?
I associate beards becoming normalised with the hipster trend of the late 00s, and now even moustaches are back in fashion. Of course, beards can also be part of religious practice (especially for Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs) so normalising beards is a good thing for those groups.
I don’t think there’s anything more to it than beards are more in style now than they have been for a long time. (The 60s and early 70s, when beards were explicitly associated with being anti-establishment probably set the usual pendulum swing back a little.)
These things come and go.
My maternal grandparents (born 1912 and 1915) were wary of anyone with a beard. They thought anyone with a beard was either a Communist, an artist or suspicious in some way - which was never specified. I was embarrassed when my Gran' grilled a school friend why he'd grown his (this was the '70s and he had very dark and wiry hair and able to grow one).
Had they been born in late Victorian or Edwardian times they wouldn't have had an issue with mutton-chop sideboards, moustaches and beards of all cuts and trims.
Just realized Zohran Mamdani has a full beard
And Omar Fateh often has a five o'clock shadow in pictures of him.
I knew Homer Simpson is a closet socialist.
Happily I have never had any political aspirations at all.
It stood him in good stead one time a senior Iranian scientist was visiting his workplace. The man wanted to be photographed with various pieces of equipment but always insisting Mr F be in the shot. We surmised that it was because he wanted to show the folks at home that he had been shown round by a Real Man.
It also got him attention in China. Principally one time we were visiting a pagoda in a fairly remote area. It was a National Holiday so there were quite a few locals about. Also an old man with a Bacterian camel, with which you could be photographed. But it stood no chance with a drove of young women against a gweilo with a hairy face.
For a while the US Army has given permanent medical waivers to people who get razor bumps when they shave, but that's going away. It's going to be bad for people with curly hair who get ingrown hairs if they shave. A large number of those affected will be Black men. Hegseth is de-diversifying the military under the guise of grooming standards. Free link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/us/army-facial-hair-policy-requirements-shaving.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ZU8.69hk.NaduobAgpoTG&smid=url-share
There have long been exceptions to the rule in all the military branches. I would estimate, in my military experience, less than 5% of military personnel would have such a waiver.
I think that's out of date, Black troops alone make up 16-18% of the total force, and around 45% of them need waivers:
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2023/09/14/military-cases-of-condition-made-worse-by-shaving-have-skyrocketed/
A large part of the rise is undoubtedly down to greater awareness of the problem.
As a completely random aside, I too have a maternal grandparent born in 1915, which has pulled me up short a bit as I think you’ve got about 20 years on me!
Well, if 45% of black male GIs need a waiver, that would be 7 to 8% needing wavers, within the margin of error based on my rough observations at the time I was in.
Right, but a reasonable proportion of the remaining 80+% will also require waivers, at which point it's going to be at least double (and probably much more) your initial 'less than 5%' figure.
Not following your logic, @chrisstiles .
Continuing the tangent. My maternal grandmother was born in 1911, her youngest grandchild (one of my siblings) is currently 47. Think the other 3 grandparents were older than her (both my parents have/had older sibs).
Re the OP. I think it's got more to do with beards going in and out of fashion generally. Never knew that they were considered counter-cultural or revolutionary! Some of my schoolteachers had beards, and they definitely didn't fall into those categories.
Anecdotally, I'm reminded of a story that Walt Disney insisted that all of his employees come to work completely clean shaven, in spite of his own mustache. There is something about power in the management of one's own appearance.
For most of my youth, "designer stubble" was more of a thing until the fashion for beards came back - a lot of the fashion for beards came with vintage clothing and Neo-Victorian aesthetics.
In the 60s the Beatles started growing facial hair and Jerry Rubin became an icon of the counter culture movement. Jerry had a full head of hair and a full beard. Groups like the Grateful Dead were popular. It seemed as the war became more unpopular, facial hair became longer. I think Admiral Zumwald started to allow beards in the Navy in the early 70s because it was having a difficult time enlisting new recruits.
And, then, there is the musical Hair! While the theme song does not mention beards, it was certainly implied.
Recently, in the United States, we have had no shave Novembers, where men were encouraged to put away their razors for at least a month. Actually stared inAustralia as a way to encourage giving to charities. But not only were men encouraged not to shave, women were also encouraged not to shave their legs or their arm pits.
Back to politics, maybe as a sign of opposition to the Trump administration, men and women should take up the banner of no shave until he and his cronies are gone.
Fixed broken link. BroJames, Purgatory Host
To complete the tangent and add to @Pomona's response, no, you aren't 'well off' in your estimate of the age difference.
I'm 64.
Cue Beatles song ...
The chronology is easily explained. My maternal grandmother, God rest her soul, was born in 1915. My mother was born in 1937. I was born in 1961.
My mother married at the age of 19 and my twin brother and I were born when she was 23. That was considered quite late back then.
It depends where you were and what you did for a living.
My Dad's parents were a wee bit older, born around 1904 if I remember rightly.
Back to the plot ...
@Alan29 - you may never have had political aspirations but growing a beard is a 'political' statement whether you like it or not ... 😉
Everything is political.
Ok. I tease but I think it is fair to say that shaving/non-shaving can become a 'loaded' issue and a source of contention - as per Disney's ban on beards and the current issues within the US military.
I'm not sure what was difficult to understand (and yes, the real figure is in the 10-15% range)