Hair To The Chief!

Gentlemen, start your hair dryers. In announcing his new running mate last week, John Kerry claimed that the Democrats have “better hair” than their opponents. But a recent poll by the Wahl Clipper Corp. showed that Americans actually prefer George Bush’s hair to Kerry’s (51% to 30%). Will John Edwards’ coif make a difference? Does hair really matter in presidential elections? It seems to, surprisingly often. TIME investigates.

–By Carolina A. Miranda

FOUNDING MANE Pay no attention to those old paintings. George Washington did not wear a wig as President; he powdered his own hair. It worked: he ran unopposed.

POPULIST COIF The first President to appeal directly to voters, Andrew Jackson had the biggest hair of his day and beat a bald incumbent, John Quincy Adams, in 1828.

FATHER FIGURE Few Presidents have been bald. The last was Dwight D. Eisenhower. Luckily, he ran both times against another chrome dome, Adlai Stevenson.

NEW FRONTIER It wasn’t just the 5 o’clock shadow that hurt Richard Nixon on TV. His retreating hair didn’t stand a chance against John F. Kennedy’s youthful mane.

THE SHAG LOOK Long hair was hot when Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination in 1976. His restrained shag handily bested Gerald Ford’s thinning top.

HOLLYWOOD HAIR Four years later, Carter’s pale strands did him in. He was defeated by Ronald Reagan, whose shiny, Hollywood locks had been Brylcreemed into obedience.