Combing Through the White House: Hair and Its Shocking Impact on the Politics, Private Lives, and Legacies of the Presidents

by Theodore Pappas

Overview

Discover a fascinating and novel look at the U.S. presidents, the first families, and American history—all through the lens of hair. With meticulous detail, engaging storytelling, and full-color visuals, encyclopedia editor Theodore Pappas combs through American history, teasing out long-forgotten and little-known ways that hair has influenced the presidency and the public and private lives, personal scandals, and tragedies of the men and women who have occupied the White House.

Go deep into the history of such topics as:

• Abraham Lincoln's famously ridiculed appearance and the surprising role hair played in both his presidency and assassination
• John F. Kennedy's connection to James Bond and how hair factored into his vast image-making and infidelities
• The lush tradition of collecting hair as a way of honoring leaders, remembering our loved ones, and preserving their memories
• Scientific hair analysis and how DNA has been used to solve long-standing presidential mysteries
• The connection of hair to the lives, loves, scandals, and tragedies that shaped presidents, first ladies, and the nation at large

This unique window into the past shines entertaining new light on the decisions, relationships, and tragedies that have shaped the role of the president and the place of the U.S. in the world. Whether you're interested in presidential trivia or historical mysteries, Combing Through the White House personalizes the past through an element of life we can all relate to—hair—giving us new glimpses into our country and even ourselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400246151
Publisher:	Harper Celebrate
Publication date:	08/20/2024
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	7.32(w) x 9.31(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Theodore Pappas has served as the Executive Editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica for 25 years. His writings have been taught, anthologized, as well as discussed and published in publications such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, London Spectator, The American Scholar, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and History Magazine. He has appeared multiple times on the NBC Today Show as well as on CBS Evening News, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN, Fox News radio and television, NPR’s All Things Considered, and BBC Radio. He has written several books, the latest being True Grit: Classic Tales of Perseverance.

Editorial Reviews

'[W]acky and weird fun'

Publisher’s Weekly

'A talented writer presents a uniquely entertaining and edifying cultural history of the U.S. presidency via hair... The delightful snippets of presidential and U.S. history that Pappas has assembled in this engaging book entertain and inform. A thoroughly fun read for a wide audience.'

Kirkus Reviews

'Entrepreneurs see things that others miss. They leverage the past for a better tomorrow-and with his entrepreneurial approach to history, Theodore Pappas will help you see our country clearer, like wiping hair away from your eyes.'

editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine and autho Jason Feifer

'Theodore Pappas has written an erudite, witty, eminently charming book on a subject with surprising richness and depth. This is cultural history at its most entertaining, by turns moving and salacious. As Pappas ably demonstrates, a person's hair-especially when that person happens to be the most powerful man in the free world-is the product of so much more than a comb and a cut.'

editor of The American Scholar Sudip Bose

'With his novel perspective, engaging prose, and entertaining eye for detail, Theodore Pappas has combed through the White House and teased out moving, little-known tales about our 'heads of state,' First Families, and country at large. Documentary producers would be wise to take note.'

producers of the Academy Award-winning film Ray Karen and Howard Baldwin

'... as a raconteur of American history, [Pappas is] always breezy and entertaining. By the end, it's impossible to disagree with his contention that 'hair is seldom simply hair.''

Washington Post

'Theodore Pappas's book does two things brilliantly. First, you'll learn surprising facts that will keep you busy at cocktail parties for the next century or two. Second, you'll see the world through a clarifying new lens. Because hair is everywhere. Hair weaves (sorry) its way into everything from politics, religion, literature, and identity. You'll never look at history-or the protein filaments on the top of people's heads-the same way again.'

New York Times bestselling author of The Know-It-A A. J. Jacobs

'Theodore Pappas's book does two things brilliantly. First, you'll learn surprising facts that will keep you busy at cocktail parties for the next century or two. Second, you'll see the world through a clarifying new lens. Because hair is everywhere. Hair weaves (sorry) its way into everything from politics, religion, literature, and identity. You'll never look at history-or the protein filaments on the top of people's heads-the same way again.'

New York Times bestselling author of The Know-It- A. J. Jacobs

2024-03-28
A talented writer presents a uniquely entertaining and edifying cultural history of the U.S. presidency via hair.

Long before Donald Trump entered politics, Christopher Hitchens said of one of the future president's signature characteristics: "He's managed to cover 90 percent of his head with 30 percent of his hair." The hair of U.S. presidents, their wives, and other significant figures in American history is the subject of this wonderful book by Pappas, who has been the executive editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica for 25 years. While some of the stories the author includes are well known to even casual students of presidential history—why Abraham Lincoln decided to grow a beard, and a recounting of Bill Clinton's controversial haircut—most are novel and enhanced by the author’s style and tone, which demonstrate that he had as much fun researching and writing the book as readers will reading it. Pappas is terrific in his examinations of the talismanic qualities of hair in history—e.g., a vignette about Lincoln's secretary John Hay's gifting of the locks of Lincoln and George Washington to a trio of presidents. Additionally, Pappas takes a look at how DNA has figured into the lives and histories of various presidents, including the extracurricular activities of Clinton and Thomas Jefferson. As for Hair, Pappas covers the spectrum, from the sublimely absurd intrigue involving the hair of one of John F. Kennedy's nemeses to the poignant story of whether the harrowing loss of a child turned Barbara Bush's hair prematurely gray. The book is richly adorned with color photographs and illustrations, and insightful and amusing sidebars—e.g., did James Buchanan's hairline have something do with the possible asexuality of the only bachelor president?—accentuate the lively text. The delightful snippets of presidential and U.S. history that Pappas has assembled in this engaging book entertain and inform.

A thoroughly fun read for a wide audience.

Kirkus Reviews