ALBANY — America will be a healthier and happier place if Tim Scott somehow manages to win the Republican presidential nomination, particularly since the long-shot victory would mean the defeat of a toxic certain someone currently leading in the polls.
Even some who dislike Scott’s conservative politics grudgingly credit Scott’s sunny optimism and his inspiring biography. Raised without a father in his grandparents’ small home on a dirt road, Scott made his living selling insurance before starting a political career that led to the South Carolinian becoming the only Black Republican in the U.S. Senate.
There are more than a few things about Scott, 57, that would make him an unusual president. He is, for example, bald.
Sadly, the American voter has been unkind to candidates who wear their male pattern baldness without shame. Ignoring the odd follicle situation atop the current president’s head, and certainly that of his predecessor, we have to go back to Gerald Ford to find a president whose baldness rivals Scott’s shiny scalp — and Ford, of course, wasn’t elected to the office.
Dwight Eisenhower, first elected 71 years ago, is the most recent example of a president who convinced voters to overlook an exposed crown, and he had the distinct advantage of being a military hero. Only four other elected presidents — John Adams, John Quincy Adams, James Garfield and Kinderhook’s Martin Van Buren — were notably balding, and all benefited, no doubt, from campaigning before the era of mass media. (America is still waiting for its first bald female president.)
Should Scott follow the apparent example of the two most recent presidents and pursue artificial intervention? Heck no! As person with follicle challenges of my own, I urge Scott to let that bare dome fly. Millions of us will appreciate the bravery.
So, what else is unusual about Scott, at least from a…
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