# Did JFK have a combover? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 15, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529 "2009-05-15T15:13:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/1 "2009-05-15T15:13:55Z")
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](http://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/ARTPUB/AM2-00024~Leadership-JFK-Posters.jpg). 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? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/2 "2009-05-15T15:43:41Z")
“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. StG ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/3 "2009-05-15T15:51:59Z")
He had thick, full hair. Look at other pics. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/4 "2009-05-15T15:52:00Z")
What **StGermain** said. The part is at 1:30, pretty much exactly 45[sup]o[/sup] up from the plane of his ears. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/5 "2009-05-15T16:04:44Z")
Here’s a [profile](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc151/David_Von_Pein/JFK%2520ASSASSINATION%2520PHOTO%2520ALBUM%2520--%2520VOLUME%25202/John_F_Kennedy_1917-1963.jpg&imgrefurl=http://majorsensations.blogspot.com/2008/12/appearances.html&usg=__fCFW8Ez2SQr-Qlag8b4WoUiiHv0=&h=480&w=386&sz=31&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=pOuIn8Es01c_DM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3DJohn%2BF%2BKennedy%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG)shot of Kennedy. Here’s one where you can see the [back of his head](http://www.cjreport.com/files/mainimgs/Marilyn%20Monroe%20and%20John%20F.%20Kennedy,%20Robert%20F.%20Kennedy%20picture%5B4%5D.jpg) (he’s on the right, that’s RFK on the left.) One from[above](http://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/EDL/7635~John-F-Kennedy-during-his-1960-Presidential-Campaign-Posters.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/6 "2009-05-15T16:06:48Z")
[Answered.](http://lancemannion.typepad.com/lance_mannion/2008/01/index.html) [Answered again.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/JFK_Inauguration_from_Capitol_view.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/7 "2009-05-15T16:55:51Z")
You can have a very wide part without it being a combover, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/8 "2009-05-15T17:09:16Z")
Handsome? I guess that’s charisma for you. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/9 "2009-05-15T17:55:02Z")
Why would anyone in 1962 bother with a combover? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/10 "2009-05-15T18:57:47Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Handsome? I guess that’s charisma for you. Handsome in politics is graded on a curve. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/11 "2009-05-15T19:40:13Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Looking at a photo, though, I am shocked to notice that the part for it [barely clears the top of his ear](http://imagecache.allposters.com/images/pic/ARTPUB/AM2-00024~Leadership-JFK-Posters.jpg). Have you actually looked at the photo you’re linking to? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/12 "2009-05-15T19:47:22Z")
It’d only be a combover if he was bald under the hair that was combed over. He wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/13 "2009-05-15T19:52:51Z")
No man in history has ever looked good in a combover. JFK looked good. Ergo, JFK did not have a combover. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/14 "2009-05-15T19:53:00Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Handsome? I guess that’s charisma for you. Are you seriously contending that Kennedy wasn’t handsome? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/15 "2009-05-15T20:59:04Z")
The autopsy photos of JFK here (not safe for weak stomachs): [photo1](http://www.manuscriptservice.com/AutopsyRoom/figure-1.jpg) [photo2](http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/images/BE2_HI.jpg) both seem to show a fairly full head of hair, with no significant balding. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/16 "2009-05-16T06:47:17Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/17 "2009-05-16T07:40:03Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Are you seriously contending that Kennedy wasn’t handsome? 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Discipline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2009, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/18 "2009-05-16T07:56:34Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > 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. I’m not really sure how this works. I have a thick head of red hair, and I’m not equally thickly built. How is this an enormous amount of hair? How is hair volume related to shoulder width? (or whatever measurement is used to categorize “slight build”) ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-jfk-have-a-combover/496529/19 "2009-05-17T05:58:13Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Are you seriously contending that Kennedy wasn’t handsome? 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. hh