Six four and more
(And also a little less. But that doesn’t rhyme.)
I’ve collected an assortment of rather tall people I’ve come across in my reading. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments, as I plan to keep adding to this list.
In no particular order, except that I decided to lead with someone with a timely quote.
Dale Pontius
6' 4"
Putting Pontius first because not only was he 6 4”, but he also lived to 104 years old (making him the only person so far on my list of tall people and on my list of centenarians). Not only that, but he stood up to fascism!
Heckled Senator Joe McCarthy and was arrested for “disorderly conduct.” He later said “I am alarmed at what seems to be creeping fascism in this country.”
When interviewed at 100, he said “I’ve never regretted saying what I thought was right.”
Continued to take the stairs to his third floor walk up!
Charles Sumner, Pennsylvania delegate William D. Kelley, and Abraham Lincoln
6' 4", 6' 3", and 6' 4", respectively
I learned about Sumner’s height on a webinar with Zaakir Tameez, author of a new book about him. It shocked me, for some reason.
Love that Lincoln would ask tall people (like Pennsylvania delegate William D. Kelley) how tall they were, then (jokingly, I assume?) gloat if he was taller. In this case, Kelley answered back “Pennsylvania bows to Illinois. I am glad we have found a candidate for the presidency whom we can look up to.”
This cartoon of Lincoln drawn by Frank Bellow for Harper’s Weekly is amazing. Underneath the stretched out candidate it says “Long Abraham Lincoln a Little Longer”
Lincoln, by David Herbert Donald
(More doodles)
I learned recently in a historical novel (Mrs. Lincoln’s Sisters by Jennifer Chiaverini) that Lincoln was part of “The Long Nine” — a group of similarly-minded and similarly-heighted (6’+) men. Abe’s brother-in-law Ninian Edwards was a part of the group; I was unable to find out his height but admittedly I didn’t try very hard.
Charles DeGaulle
6' 5"
French president
President Truman didn’t like him. And he didn’t like Truman. (WWII stuff)
Remained in power until 1969 through extraconstitutional means. “Extraconstitutional” sounds way more fun that it actually is.
Lyndon B. Johnson
6' 3 1/2"
LBJ famously used his height to his advantage, looming over people to intimidate them — giving them the Johnson treatment.
Fidel Castro
6' 3"
Not sure why, but this shocked me.
John Maynard Keynes
6' 7"
This guy pops up a lot in economics podcasts. I was shocked to discover he’s not from the century I thought. Or maybe I was just getting him mixed up with someone else.
In any case, he was five inches taller than the “twentieth-century Apollo” — Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1920: The Year of the Six Presidents, by David Pietrusza
(More doodles)
John Kenneth Galbraith
6' 8 1/2"
Since we’re talking about a super-tall economist named John who went by his full name, I have to mention this guy… who I was not familiar with nor have I doodled.
Ambassador to India under Kennedy
Julia Child
6' 2"
Unfortunately, I don’t have any doodles of her.
Too tall to join the military during WWII and instead joined the precursor to the CIA.
Responsible for televising a White House State Dinner for the first time.
