# Politicians - Do they tie their own ties? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456 "2008-02-20T23:48:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/1 "2008-02-20T23:48:38Z")
Do big time politicians tie their own ties? The ties always look so nice with perfect dimples. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/2 "2008-02-20T23:59:19Z")
Probably. I’ve found that a good-quality thick silk tie just forms a better-looking knot, even though I’m not a particularly skilled tie-tier. (I wear one maybe a few times a year.) I’ve since replaced all my old polyester Looney Tunes ties with more mundane ones. Better knots, but not nearly as amusing. Such is life. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/3 "2008-02-21T02:13:39Z")
I’ve gotta hand it to you: this thread title actually made me laugh out loud, while thinking to myself, “Actually, that’s not a bad question.” ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/4 "2008-02-21T02:59:01Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Probably. I’ve found that a good-quality thick silk tie just forms a better-looking knot, even though I’m not a particularly skilled tie-tier. (I wear one maybe a few times a year.) I’ve since replaced all my old polyester Looney Tunes ties with more mundane ones. Better knots, but not nearly as amusing. Such is life. [/QUOTE] A thick silk tie will naturally make a pretty decent half-windsor. But a nice thin tie can be tied into a full-windsor which, when done even halfway well, almost always looks politico-snazzy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/5 "2008-02-21T02:59:43Z")
I bet they wear clip-ons. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/6 "2008-02-21T03:30:56Z")
Hillary Clinton’s fortunes have slipped recently because she doesn’t tie her own ties. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/7 "2008-02-21T03:39:31Z")
Can McCain lift his arms to tie a tie? ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/8 "2008-02-21T03:40:55Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Can McCain lift his arms to tie a tie? [/QUOTE] Why wouldn’t he be able to? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/9 "2008-02-21T03:42:26Z")
[QUOTE=Scuba\_Ben] Why wouldn’t he be able to? [/QUOTE] Because he was tortured in a Vietnamese POW camp, apparently. ---
**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:** [February 21, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/10 "2008-02-21T04:01:33Z")
[QUOTE=Freudian Slit] Because he was tortured in a Vietnamese POW camp, apparently. [/QUOTE] Right. The man can’t comb his own hair, by all accounts. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2008, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/11 "2008-02-21T04:03:43Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Can McCain lift his arms to tie a tie? [/QUOTE] Possibly. He can’t lift his arms above his head. I don’t think that necessary to tying a necktie, so he should be able to do it himself, although he might need help getting it over his neck and under the shirt collar. Here’s a short excerpt from a Vanity Fair article. [QUOTE=Vanity Fair, February 2007] Because his broken arms were allowed to heal without ever being properly set, to this day McCain cannot raise his arms above his shoulders. He cannot attend to his own hair. An aide is often nearby with a comb and small can of hair spray. McCain has difficulty putting on his suit jacket unassisted. Once, as we prepared to get out of a cramped airplane cabin in Burlington, Vermont, where McCain would be greeted by the governor, I turned my back for a moment, only to find him struggling. He could sense that his collar was all bunched up, and asked me matter-of-factly to help him straighten it out. I felt the pang that those around McCain feel whenever they realize the extent of his injuries. “You comb someone’s hair once,” his 2000 communications director, Dan Schnur, says, “and you never forget it.” [/QUOTE] ---
**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:** [February 21, 2008, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politicians-do-they-tie-their-own-ties/438456/12 "2008-02-21T04:25:26Z")
I’ve never met McCain personally, but I did meet Bob Dole a few years back. He’s a friendly guy, and will always reach to shake your hand before you reach for his. In large part this is done to force you to switch to your left hand, as his right one is completely useless. Nice little souvenir from the Wehrmacht. And Daniel Inouye falls into this category as well. I’m struck sometimes by how many people don’t know these things - in large part because these men compensated for them so effectively.