Tallest US presidents: how tall was George Washington, Lincoln, Obama and Trump?
Abraham Lincoln was the tallest US president at 6'4" (193 cm). George Washington was about 6'2" (188 cm), Barack Obama is 6'1½" (187 cm), Donald Trump is listed at 6'3" (190 cm) and Joe Biden is 6'0" (183 cm). The shortest was James Madison at 5'4" (163 cm).
US presidents by height
| President | Height | In feet | Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Lincoln | 193 cm | 6'4" | 16th, the tallest |
| Lyndon B. Johnson | 192 cm | 6'4" | 36th |
| Donald Trump | 190 cm | 6'3" | 45th and 47th |
| Thomas Jefferson | 189 cm | 6'2" | 3rd |
| George Washington | 188 cm | 6'2" | 1st |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt | 188 cm | 6'2" | 32nd |
| Bill Clinton | 188 cm | 6'2" | 42nd |
| George H. W. Bush | 188 cm | 6'2" | 41st |
| Barack Obama | 187 cm | 6'2" | 44th |
| Ronald Reagan | 185 cm | 6'1" | 40th |
| John F. Kennedy | 183 cm | 6'0" | 35th |
| Joe Biden | 183 cm | 6'0" | 46th |
| George W. Bush | 182 cm | 6'0" | 43rd |
| Martin Van Buren | 168 cm | 5'6" | 8th |
| Benjamin Harrison | 168 cm | 5'6" | 23rd |
| James Madison | 163 cm | 5'4" | 4th, the shortest |
Heights of early presidents come from letters, tailors' records and accounts written at the time, so they can be an inch out either way. Modern presidents' heights come from their published medical reports.
How tall was George Washington?
George Washington is usually given as 6'2" (188 cm). In the 1700s the average man in the American colonies was about 5'8" (173 cm), so Washington stood roughly 15 cm above the men around him. That is like a 6'4" man in the United States today.
See George Washington next to an average man →
How tall is Barack Obama?
Barack Obama is 6'1½" (187 cm), about 10 cm taller than the average American man.
How tall is Donald Trump?
Donald Trump's official medical reports list him at 6'3" (190 cm). That makes him the third tallest president, behind Lincoln and Lyndon B. Johnson.
Do taller candidates win?
US presidents have been taller than the average man of their time in most cases, and the taller of the two main candidates has won more often than not. It is a pattern, not a rule: Jimmy Carter (5'9½") beat the taller Gerald Ford (6'0") in 1976.