The average height of the 45 men who have served as the President of the United States is approximately 180cm (5'11"); this is roughly five centimeters (two inches) taller than the average U.S. male in 2020. Abraham Lincoln has the distinction of being the tallest U.S. president in history, at 193cm (6'4"), while James Madison was the shortest (and lightest) U.S. president at 163cm (5'4").
US presidents are getting taller
Of the ten most recent presidents, only Jimmy Carter has been shorter than the presidential average, while none of the presidents who have served since the beginning of the twentieth century have been shorter than the national average. Since Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, George W. Bush and Joe Biden are the only U.S. president to have been shorter than six feet tall; by just half an inch.
Trump height controversy
Former President Donald Trump made headlines in 2018, when his official height increased from 6'2" (the height from all previously-existing records, including his 2012 drivers license) to 6'3"*. Many in the media speculated that this was to prevent him from being classified as obese according to his body mass index. A number of photos also circulated on social media showing Trump next to (and visibly shorter than) a number of athletes who are officially 6'3", while photos of him standing next to Barack Obama were used to show that he may be closer to his predecessor's height, at 6'1". Nonetheless, Trump's medical report from June 3. 2020, shows that his official height remained at 6'3".
Height of all U.S. presidents from 1789 to 2021
(in centimeters)
All heights have been converted from feet to inches, and then rounded to the nearest full centimeter.
*The source used claims that Ulysses S. Grant was 183cm/6'0", however most other sources suggest that he was 173cm/5'8". The source also claims that Donald Trump is 188cm (6'2"), although official medical reports from June 03, 2020, state that he is 6'3".
The heights in feet(') and inches(") are as follows -
George Washington: 6'2"
John Adams: 5'7"
Thomas Jefferson: 6'2.5"
James Madison: 5'4"
James Monroe: 6'0"
John Quincy Adams: 5'7.5"
Andrew Jackson: 6'1"
Martin Van Buren: 5'6"
William Henry Harrison: 5'8"
John Tyler: 6'0"
James K. Polk: 5'8"
Zachary Taylor: 5'8"
Millard Filmore: 5'9"
Franklin Pierce: 5'10"
James Buchanan: 6'0"
Abraham Lincoln: 6'4"
Andrew Johnson: 5'10"
Ulysses S. Grant: 5'8"
Rutherford B. Hayes: 5'8.5"
James A. Garfield: 6'0"
Chester A. Arthur: 6'2"
Grover Cleveland: 5'11"
Benjamin Harrison: 5'6"
William McKinley: 5'7"
Theodore Roosevelt: 5'10"
William Howard Taft: 5'11.5"
Woodrow Wilson: 5'11"
Warren G. Harding: 6'0"
Calvin Coolidge: 5'10"
Herbert Hoover: 5'11.5"
Franklin D. Roosevelt: 6'2"
Harry S. Truman: 5'9"
Dwight D. Eisenhower: 5'10.5"
John F Kennedy: 6'1"
Lyndon B. Johnson: 6'3.5"
Richard Nixon: 5'11"
Gerald Ford: 6'0"
Jimmy Carter: 5'9.5"
Ronald Raegan: 6'1"
George H. W. Bush: 6'2"
Bill Clinton: 6'2"
George W. Bush: 5'11.5"
Barack Obama: 6'1"
Donald Trump: 6'3"
Joe Biden: 5'11.65"
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Business Insider. (January 20, 2021). Height of all U.S. presidents from 1789 to 2021 (in centimeters) [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved September 01, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1115255/us-presidents-heights/
Business Insider. "Height of all U.S. presidents from 1789 to 2021 (in centimeters)." Chart. January 20, 2021. Statista. Accessed September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1115255/us-presidents-heights/
Business Insider. (2021). Height of all U.S. presidents from 1789 to 2021 (in centimeters). Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: September 01, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1115255/us-presidents-heights/
Business Insider. "Height of All U.S. Presidents from 1789 to 2021 (in Centimeters)." Statista, Statista Inc., 20 Jan 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1115255/us-presidents-heights/
Business Insider, Height of all U.S. presidents from 1789 to 2021 (in centimeters) Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1115255/us-presidents-heights/ (last visited September 01, 2024)
Height of all U.S. presidents from 1789 to 2021 (in centimeters) [Graph], Business Insider, January 20, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1115255/us-presidents-heights/