President Kennedy was one handsome guy, and his defining feature was that boyishly full head of hair. Looking at a photo, though, I am shocked to notice that the part for it barely clears the top of his ear. Other famous men with that kind of part–Ted Koppel, Pat Buchanan, George McGovern–inevitably have a combover which obscures shocking baldness. Could that possibly be the case for JFK? Did he, in fact, have his father’s hairline?
I can process the stories of recklessness, hookers and Marilyn Monroe, but this possibility tarnishes Camelot more than Chappaquiddick and the dickhead nephews combined. What’s the Straight Dope on this?
“Barely clears the top of his ear”? Are we looking at the same photo? If his head was a square, that part would be right at the 90 degree angle. The hair on the top does look poufy compared to the short-cropped sides, but he wasn’t a Beatle, he was a politician.
Remember, the president previous to JFK was bald, as was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1956. Men in that era were resigned to balding (there was little you could do other than wear a toupee). It was probably Kennedy himself that changed public perception that a politician should have a full head of hair.
“Combover” as a term wasn’t coined until 1980 (OED), which indicates that the practice was unusual in the extreme in 1960.
Reality Chuck: “Combover” as a term wasn’t coined until 1980 (OED), which indicates that the practice was unusual in the extreme in 1960. **
Oh, the practice has been around for a long time. We just didn’t call it a “combover.”
I didn’t see JFK in person, but my very first impression of RFK was that he had an enormous amount of hair for someone who had a rather slight build. It was a lot redder than I thought it would be. That was almost exactly 41 years ago – two or three weeks before he died.
Yes. Those Kennedys all looked healthy, and I’m not saying he was ugly. But not handsome. I know people thought he was, but I always assumed that was…in comparison to Nixon. Or previous presidents. He was better looking that most of them, but missed handsome by a good bit IMO. I’m sure like all charismatic people he was much better in person.
Also, Jackie was not exactly the beauty of her family, either. She had style, she had class, she had flair out the yazoo. But her sister was the pretty one. (I did meet Jackie. She was not better in person.)
JFK wasn’t handsome. He was attractive, but that was his stylishness. big difference. Kind of like the girl with the ugly face, and big knockers. Hot, but not beautiful.
