With the selection of JD Vance as Donald Trump’s running mate, the 2024 Republican presidential ticket broke the so-called “beard barrier” in US politics.

Vance, Ohio’s junior senator, is the first vice presidential candidate of any major party to sport a full beard since William H. English in 1880, though several others since then have sported beards and no mustache or other form of facial hair. Charles Curtis was the last vice president (between 1929 and 1933) to sport no facial hair at all: a neat moustache.

Vance was announced as Trump’s pick for vice president at the Republican National Convention on Monday, after a lengthy selection process that included several high-profile candidates, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Both clean shaven.

Social media users jumped on this milestone for bearded lawmakers, praising Vance’s breaking of the “beard barrier.”

Vance’s achievement comes despite Trump’s reported distaste for beards. “Trump is a clean-shaven guy. He just doesn’t like facial hair,” an unnamed “Trump confidant told the Bulwark recently when discussing the VP selection process.

And former UN ambassador John Bolton lost a spot in Trump’s cabinet in 2017 because of his moustache. The Washington Post reported at the time.

However, Trump said in a recent Fox News interview that he had no problem with Vance’s beard. “He still looks good, he looks like a young Abraham Lincoln,” the former president said.

Lincoln was the first presidential candidate with a beard to win an election, with subsequent presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield and Benjamin Harrison all following in his footsteps. Hayes in particular was recognized as having one of the longest beards of any president.

The last president to have any kind of facial hair was Republican William Howard Taft, who sported an impressive mustache during his presidency from 1909 to 1913. Republican Thomas E. Dewey was the last presidential candidate in big party that had facial hair. He ran for president twice in the 1940s and lost.

Vance was elected to the Senate in 2022 after a career as a venture capitalist. He is also its author Hillbilly Elegya 2016 memoir based on his upbringing in a working-class family that reflected the social, economic, and cultural pressures facing the Appalachian community where he grew up. It was well received and was later adapted into a film of the same name.

Trump highlighted Vance’s appeal in key swing states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in his decision.

The Ohio senator’s candidacy was welcomed by many of Trump’s biggest supporters, including conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who said: “J.

Similarly, Colorado Republican and outspoken Trump supporter Lauren Bobert said, “AMERICA will be GREAT AGAIN! Trump/Vance is the most America First ticket in presidential history. This will be a real great restoration of our country!’

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