The towering height of Abraham Lincoln is one of the most recognizable features associated with him. Despite the fact that he was 6 feet 4 inches tall without the top hat, his hat made him appear even more towering at almost 7 feet in height. The “stovepipe hat” he sported was a common fashion choice for men at the time since it was meant to be worn high on the head and give the wearer the illusion of greater stature.
Despite the lack of known head-to-toe dimensions on how tall Abraham Lincoln was with his hat, we can deduce from archival sources that his top hats were between 7 and 8 inches in height which means Lincoln was 6 feet 11 inches tall with his hat. Lincoln’s towering black hat has become a recognizable symbol of him in paintings, photographs, and other historical representations.
We know for a fact that all of Abraham Lincoln’s stovepipe hats were between 7 and 8 inches in height. Thus, Abraham Lincoln’s height with his hat was between 6 feet 11 inches and 7 feet (211–213 cm) tall. Considering the likelihood that most of his hats were probably only 7 inches tall, the most likely measurement for Lincoln’s height with his hat is 6 feet 11 inches.
For instance, the National Museum of American History reportedly has one of Lincoln’s hats, also measuring 7 inches in height. Washington hatmaker J. Y. Davis sold Lincoln this silk stovepipe. Lincoln’s hat was a black silk top hat with a broad brim, stiffened felt, beaver fur, and a fur crest. One of Lincoln’s top hats had an official head circumference of 7-1/8 inches, and that is the only thing known about it regarding its measurement.
Did Lincoln Try to Look Taller With His Hat?
At Almost 7 feet tall with his top hat, Abraham Lincoln was taller than everybody else around him.
During his early days in politics, Lincoln simply favored top hats without any specific motivation. But President Abraham Lincoln’s massive top hat was more than just a stylish accessory. Lincoln, who was 6 feet 4 inches tall, really seemed much more towering in his big hat. In an era when physical stature was still associated with status, Lincoln’s 7-inch-tall hat likely contributed to his public perception as a confident and strong leader. But there is also more to that:
Abolitionists at Lincoln’s time often wore tall hats; therefore, Lincoln’s choice of this style may be seen as evidence of his commitment to the abolitionist cause. The fact that Lincoln wore a tall hat also indicated his humble beginnings in the expanding 19th-century middle class, when such headwear was popular among them. Lincoln’s almost 7-foot stature with his hat always made him stand out and appear taller than those around him.
Assessing the Height of 19th-Century Top Hats
Lincoln with his famous top hat stood around 6 feet 11 inches tall.
During the Victorian Era (1837–1901), a top hat would typically sit at a height of 6.3 to 6.7 inches. Abraham Lincoln wore a hat that was at least 7 inches tall during this time period. In fact, by the turn of the 19th century, it had become usual to sport a hat that was 7 or 8 inches in height. So, Lincoln’s top hat was not particularly remarkable. Around 1890, the crown of the top hat was widened to give it a more refined, tailored look. The height of the top hat was reduced to 4.7–5.0 inches by the 1920s.
In Lincoln’s day, precise height measurement was not as common as it is now. Abraham Lincoln’s autobiographies, rather than real measurements, are used in many of the earliest biographies and reports of Lincoln’s height. Wearing top hats was also widespread in the 19th century, and the increased height they provided would have varied according to the hat style. Abraham Lincoln’s hat was designed to always sit upright while worn, emphasizing his already slender physique.
How Lincoln’s Tall Stature and His Hat Risked His Life
The high stovepipe hats Lincoln favored made him a target for assassination. A sniper’s bullet pierced the top of his hat as he rode his horse to his summer retreat (“Soldiers’ Home”) a few miles from the White House in 1864. Many also think that Lincoln’s survival was due to his hat hiding his head.
Once again, Lincoln’s life was in jeopardy due to his massive stovepipe: During the Battle of Fort Stevens in July 1864, Lincoln wore a hat that made him a perfect target for Confederate fire as he surveyed Union positions. Captain Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. shouted at Lincoln, “Get down, you stupid idiot!” as he rescued the president. And Lincoln did not wear his tall hat on the night he was murdered. To this day, there is no other president more intimately linked to a piece of clothing than Abraham Lincoln.
How tall was Abraham Lincoln? Lincoln’s height is one of the most distinctive physical characteristics of the 16th President of the United States. Many historians assume that, at 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm), he is the tallest U.S. president. As a result of his height, he was able to command respect and attention in debates and public speeches. Lincoln’s height and weight are clearly defied in his biographies and other historical texts. Thus, there is no controversy or disagreement about how tall Lincoln was, and his stature still lives on as a symbol of power and dominance.
Abe Lincoln with his enormous hands.
Abraham Lincoln, at 6’4″ (193 cm), was not only the tallest US president but also had the largest hands among world leaders other than Maximinus Thrax, who was allegedly 8 feet, one finger (2.4 meters) tall. Lincoln’s enormous hands often made him self-conscious, so he would hide them in his coat or pockets to avoid intimidating others. Despite this, a few photographs have captured their size. According to the Lincoln Lore bulletin from 1936, the circumference of his hands is determined to be ten inches and his bare feet measured 12 inches (30.5 cm).
Historical Records on Abraham Lincoln’s Height
His autobiographies
Due to the diversity of sources, we do know for sure how tall Abraham Lincoln was. Since the United States was preoccupied with the Civil War, there was never an official height measurement of Lincoln taken during his lifetime. However, we know from his autobiographies and other references that Abraham Lincoln stood at a height of 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm).
“If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it maybe said, I am in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and gray eyes. No other marks or brands recollected.”
Abraham Lincoln, in his autobiography.
Abraham Lincoln with his 7-inch-tall stovepipe hat.
Unlike many other public speakers of the time, Lincoln didn’t use raised platforms when he spoke to large crowds. Instead, he used his height to his advantage. Diet has a significant role in determining a person’s final stature, and even a century or two ago, the average American had access to superior nutrition than the average European.
The fire in the White House
A fire broke out at the White House stable (right) on February 10, 1864.
In February 1864, during a fire in the White House, President Lincoln attempted to enter a burning White House stable to rescue six trapped horses, including two belonging to his sons Willie and Tad. Despite being restrained by those nearby, Lincoln personally broke open the stable door but was stopped by the guards. The loss of Willie’s pony was an especially great source of pain for him.
According to the Lehrman Institute, the president was spotted at the fire by William P. Bogardus, who was part of the guard team selected to serve as Lincoln’s mounted escort, and Bogardus remarked: “As we stood watching the burning building someone put a hand on the tight board fence that surrounded the barn and vaulted over. The fence was over six feet high.“
Was Abraham Lincoln Unusually Tall for His Time?
With his towering stature, Abraham Lincoln stands alongside his officers.
Abraham Lincoln stood at a height that was uncommon for his day. He often used the fact that he was the tallest person in the room as a conversation opener. According to the standard percentile scale, his height placed him in the 99th or 98th percentile. Lincoln is shown above alongside around 15 other men, all of whom are noticeably shorter than he is (only one of whom reaches his jaw).
In 1950, American men typically stood at a height of 5 feet, 5 inches (165 cm). Lincoln towered above this by 11 inches. The average height of a contemporary American male is roughly 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm).
“Lincoln Was the Tallest President”, 1929.
In 1850, the average height of an American soldier was 5’7″ (170 cm). From the Revolutionary War to World War II, Americans were taller than Europeans on average. This height advantage was likely due to the abundance of resources, including diverse nutrition and a better diet, in America’s largely privately-owned agricultural society.
Coming from a family with tall people, such as his 6 feet (183 cm) tall father, Abraham Lincoln was indeed too tall for his time. He was 9 inches (23 cm) taller than the average American soldier during the Civil War and an inch shorter than the current average height for males in the country. His height was also especially unusual due to the fact that the standard deviation of height at the time was 3 inches instead of 4 inches (7.6 cm instead of 10 cm) today.
When Did Lincoln Reach a Height of 6 Feet 4 Inches?
According to the myth, Abraham Lincoln was already 5’5 (165 cm) tall when he was only 9 years old. According to “The Life of Abraham Lincoln; From His Birth to His Inauguration as President” by Ward H. Lamon, at the age of 15, Abraham Lincoln rapidly grew, and by the time he was 17 years old, he had already attained his full height of 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm).
As a teenager, Lincoln was known for his long, wiry build and disproportionate extremities. He had a small torso and a small head in comparison to his long and powerful limbs.
At a towering height of 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm), Abraham Lincoln stood out even among the giants of the pioneering family he belonged to. Thomas Lincoln, Abraham’s father, was also a big, burly man himself, standing at six feet tall and weighing in at about two hundred pounds; he was sluggish in both speech and movement.
Did Lincoln Have Marfan’s Syndrome?
Historians speculate that Lincoln may have had Marfan’s syndrome, a condition that causes increased height and hand size, along with possible low muscle tone. However, this is uncertain. His height, long, lanky limbs, long, narrow face, etc. are all characteristics of Marfan Syndrome, which has been proposed as a possible cause of his physical features. A rare genetic ailment that wasn’t understood until long after his passing, the discovery of Marfan syndrome only happened in 1896.
Connective tissue, which serves as the “glue” between cells, is disrupted in Marfan syndrome, a hereditary condition. Some of the most often reported symptoms are unusually long fingers and toes, a long, narrow face, heart murmurs, an enlarged aorta; other cardiovascular concerns, impaired eyesight, and abdominal and limb discomfort. As reported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), people with Marfan syndrome tend to be tall, slender, and loose-jointed.
The Personal Appearance of Lincoln
According to “The Life of Abraham Lincoln” from 1872, Lincoln’s skin was dark, shriveled, and yellow in color. He dressed in simple clothing, including low shoes, buckskin pants, a rough shirt, and an opossum or raccoon skin top hat. Lincoln was described in great detail by a gentleman who knew him well in Springfield. Standing 6’4″ (193 cm) he had a gaunt and wiry frame with a short torse, long arms relative to his height, and legs in proportion to his body. Lincoln was slow in movement with a deliberate, firm gait, often with his head tilted forward and hands clasped behind his back.
In attire, Lincoln was clean but not fashionable, except for his famous tall hat, and in manners, he was cordial and simple. He greeted friends warmly with a handshake and a smile. Narrow in the shoulders, Lincoln’s features were not conventionally handsome at rest, but his dark gray eyes often showed great emotion. Lincoln had black, wiry hair and a relatively small head. He had a slightly Roman nose, a wide mouth, and a weather-beaten complexion.
As a US president, Lincoln was never strict in his ideas and was open to hearing out people like Frederick Douglas, a prominent abolitionist and black philosopher.
Abraham Lincoln’s Height with His Hat
His head measured eight inches from front to back and six and a half inches from ear to ear. His hat measured seven and one-eighth inches.
Abraham Lincoln had numerous top hats in his lifetime, and the height of all of his top hats varied between seven and eight inches. When Abraham Lincoln wore his famous 7-inch-tall stovepipe hat, he seemed much taller than his natural height of 6 feet, 4 inches (193 cm). The addition of the hat made Abe almost 7 feet tall, bringing his total height to 6 feet 11 inches (211 cm).
At 6’4″, How Strong Was Abraham Lincoln?
Despite his towering stature and thin frame, narrow shoulders and waist, Abraham Lincoln had extraordinary power in his arms and hands. When he was younger, he made a name for himself as a skilled worker and wrestler. Wrestling was one of the few sports in which Lincoln excelled. The advantages he had from his stature and the size of his hands were substantial. Before he entered politics, he had a successful career as a wrestler, where he lost just once in more than 300 fights. When it came to splitting rails, he was a formidable figure.
During the Civil War, when he was over 52 years old and not too healthy, he would still shake hundreds of hands in a day, carry a large axe with one hand while keeping his arm stretched for many minutes, and ferociously chop wood to keep his injured men warm, all while never exceeding a weight of 190 pounds. Lincoln had the biggest size 14 boots of any president, and his physicians remarked on his extraordinary muscular structure after his death. Abraham Lincoln was a powerful orator and a towering personality in the 19th century.
He once engaged in a duel with a man named James Shields in 1842, and during the course of the fight, he swung his broadsword through the air and struck a neighboring tree limb, slicing it clean off.
How Tall is Abraham Lincoln’s Statue?
The Lincoln Statue at the Lincoln Memorial is 19 feet (5.8 m) tall, despite its initial design of about 10 feet (3 m). The end product is a statue of Abraham Lincoln that would stand 28 feet (8.5 m) tall. The statue also measures 19 feet in width, which is what makes it appear more impressive.
The Tallest US Presidential Candidate Ever
Lincoln stands half an inch higher than the second-tallest US president, Lyndon B. Johnson, who is 6 feet, 3.5 inches (1.92 meters). On the other hand, Winfield Scott (6 ft 5 in, or 1.96 m), was an inch taller than Lincoln, and he is still the tallest US presidential candidate in history. George Washington was 6 feet 0 (1.83 m) and the shortest US president was James Madison at 5 feet 4.2 inches (1.63 m).
How tall was Abraham Lincoln’s hat? The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, is remembered for many things, including his towering top hat, his role in maintaining the Union, and the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln was often photographed wearing this distinctive stovepipe hat, which has come to symbolize him and his legacy. However, how tall was Lincoln’s hat, exactly? There has been a lot of discussion and guesswork about this, with most historians estimating the hat’s height as 7 or 8 inches (18 or 20.3 cm). Let’s take a look at Lincoln’s hat in all its physical glory, compare the many sizes that have been given, and settle the debate once and for all.
The Height of Lincoln’s Hat
Until his death in 1865, Lincoln wore a big top hat that became instantly recognizable by everyone else. The tall top hats were invented at the end of the 1700s, and in the middle of the 1800s, they became so tall that they were called “stovepipe hats. Top hats of the past were originally fashioned from felted fur. Next, a fur-like silk fabric was utilized, and this was bonded to a cardboard hat form. On April 14th, 1865, he wore it for the final time on the way to Ford’s Theatre.
While no one knows for certain, Lincoln’s hat is said to have been around 7 inches in height. This can be confirmed using historical records and photographs taken at the time. One of Lincoln’s hats, likewise 7 inches in height, is said to be on display in the National Museum of American History. Lincoln purchased this silk stovepipe from J. Y. Davis, a hat maker in Washington.
This is one of Abraham Lincoln’s many top hats, all measuring 7 to 8 inches tall. Smithsonian Institution.
The only recorded measurement of Lincoln’s original top hat was a head circumference of 7-1/8 or 57 centimeters. Lincoln wore a black silk top hat with stiffened felt, beaver fur, and a wide brim. When worn, the hat always leaned vertically, giving Abraham Lincoln an even more elongated profile.
The standard top hat height during the Victorian period (1837–1901) was 6.3–6.7 inches. This era corresponds with Lincoln’s 7-inch-tall hat. In fact, wearing seven or even eight-inch-tall hats was the norm at the beginning of the 19th century. So, Lincoln’s tall hat was not that extraordinary. The top hat’s crown was expanded in about 1890 to provide a more elegant and fitted appearance. By the 1920s, the top hat’s height had been lowered to 4.7–5.0 inches.
Why Did Lincoln Wear a Tall Top Hat?
The towering top hat Abraham Lincoln wore was more than simply a fashion statement. Ironically, the height of the hat made Lincoln, who stood at 6 feet 4 inches, seem even taller. Lincoln’s 7-inch-tall hat helped portray an image of confidence and strength in a period when height was still considered a symbol of power and authority.
Abraham Lincoln’s tall top hat served more than just aesthetic or functional objectives. Lincoln’s preference for the tall hat, which was often worn by abolitionists, could be seen as a sign of his dedication to the abolitionist cause. Lincoln’s tall hat was also a mark of his place in the growing 19th-century middle class, since wearing tall hats was a common accessory at the time.
How Tall Was Abraham Lincoln With His Hat?
Abraham Lincoln was already tall at 6 feet 4 inches without his hat, and he appeared even taller with the height of his 7-inch-tall stovepipe hat. With the hat, his overall height was 6 feet 11 inches, which means he was almost 7 feet tall!
When Did Lincoln Begin to Wear Top Hats?
The origins of Lincoln’s affinity for top hats remain a mystery. It is believed that during his early days in politics, he simply favored the style without any specific motivation. The trend persisted well after his passing. Lincoln had a preference for top hats that appeared well-worn rather than pristine. However, the height of his hat always made him stand out and appear taller than those around him.
The Risk of Wearing a Tall Hat
Lincoln’s tall stovepipe hats made him easily recognizable and a target for assassins. In 1864, while on horseback to a summer cottage (“Soldiers’ Home”) a few miles from the White House, a sniper shot at him and hit his hat, piercing through the crown. People believed that the hat saved Lincoln’s life.
Because of his towering stovepipe, Lincoln was once again in danger of being murdered: In July 1864, when surveying Union lines, Lincoln was a prime target for Confederate fire during the Battle of Fort Stevens because of the hat he was wearing. “Get down, you damn fool!” captain Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., yelled as he pulled Lincoln to safety.
Since the death of his son, Willie, Lincoln had also added a black mourning band to his hats. Though the hat was said to have saved his life, it was again with him during his tragic end, as he wore it the night of his assassination. Abraham Lincoln remains the only president closely associated with a specific item of clothing.
In conclusion, most historians agree that Abraham Lincoln’s top hat was around 7 inches in height. The hat’s functional aim was to make Lincoln seem taller, but it also had a deeper symbolic meaning. Lincoln’s tall hat remained one of his most recognizable and memorable features.
