Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 20 August 1833
- It is interesting to note that during the hundred-year period there were no U.S. presidents who wore a beard or mustache during the elections.
Politician Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States, was born on this day in 1833.
It is interesting to note that his grandfather, William Henry Harrison, had also served as American president, and this has been the only case (regarding the history of the United States) when a grandfather and his grandson were appointed Presidents of the United States.
Benjamin Harrison was also the last American president who wore a full beard: the others included Ulysses Grant, Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, and Benjamin Harrison. Abraham Lincoln also wore a beard, but without a mustache (Lincoln had a specific beard, which covered only the lower part of his face).
These four American presidents wore a mustache, but not a beard: Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. It is interesting to note that during the hundred-year period there were no U.S. presidents who wore a beard or mustache during the elections. Thomas E. Dewey was the last presidential candidate of the major parties who wore a mustache during the 1948 election, but he wasn’t elected. Today, it is generally considered that a beard or a mustache reduces the likelihood of winning the U.S. presidential election.
