According to political lore, the 1960 US election was, in part, determined by hotness. That year, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon took part in the nation’s first televised presidential debates, giving a wide swath of the American public an alluring new metric by which to judge a could-be commander-in-chief. In one corner was the pale and clammy Nixon (who apparently refused hair and makeup on set), and in the other a freshly tanned, well-rested JFK. It’s said that those who listened on the radio assumed Nixon won, while those who caught the broadcast handily gave it to the camera-friendly Kennedy.
Some 66 years later, we’re a country obsessed with attractiveness—from looksmaxxing chads to a president who compulsively comments on others’ appearances. So perhaps it’s no huge surprise that, less than a month out from the midterm elections, we’ve entered a golden age of handsome politicos. There’s the scruffy, kind-eyed smirk of Zohran Mamdani beaming from New York City; the brawny machismo of Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democrat whose campaign uniform as he vows to keep outside money out of politics is largely made up of tight V-neck T-shirts. There are the boyish good looks of Jon Ossoff, the senator from Georgia who many think is a potential presidential nominee for 2028; the powerlifting Democratic Socialist Chi Ossé out of Brooklyn, New York; and Pete Buttigieg, the former secretary of transportation turned wonky talking head, with his carefully maintained stubble and steely blue eyes—and that’s to name only a few.
While attractiveness is, of course, a deeply subjective matter, this new breed of politicians more broadly represents a generational changing of the guard: to put it plainly, we’ve swapped out withering Boomers for energetic Millennials. “I think people are looking for vigorous politicians who can get the job done, not a president who falls asleep in the meeting, or a Senate leader who freezes mid-sentence,” says Steve Grand, a longtime political strategist. “I don’t think it’s as much classical beauty as it is just what their appearance communicates. Generally speaking, people are more attracted to attractive people. But I think it’s more their visual presentation, which can communicate strength, which can communicate competence, which can communicate having their act together.”
“Looks aren’t everything—they’re not the way we’re going to win,” says Lauren Kapp, a digital strategist who helped with Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign. “People are focused on core issues; they’re looking for policy, and people who are talking about policy.” Still, “it’s a benefit if the person is more attractive,” she concedes. “Or if you see yourself in them.”
