Politics Gets to Their Heads

It’s interesting that someone besides me has noticed that most politicians have full heads of hair (“Mein Hair,” by Dan Neil, 800 Words, March 18). There are some with thinning hair and the unfortunate comb-overs, but they are few and far between.

I thought it was just an odd coincidence, though there probably is some factor that causes this phenomenon. I figured it has to do with the politicians--more success throughout their careers, perhaps. According to Neil, it’s because we, the electors, vote for the ones with the hair, perhaps responding to some deep-seated, primitive reaction to apparent virility (therefore capable leadership). Unfortunately, I think Neil is right and we are often so wrong.

Marty Wilson

Whittier

Dan Neil’s essay was delightful. However, he omitted the coiffure of one of the front-running candidates, Hillary Clinton. She learned quite a few things during her husband’s tenure in the White House, including the importance of hair. Your readers may recall that Hillary’s varying hairstyles were the object of intense media scrutiny during the first few years of the Clinton administration. Eventually she found a flattering style and, to her credit, she’s sticking with it!

Loretta Norris

Los Angeles

Though I enjoyed some of Dan Neil’s wry observations about hair and politics, I came away thinking he would be well-advised to focus a little more on the gray matter under the follicles. What was the factual basis for his breezy, flippant assertion that our president is a “disaster?” He doesn’t say.

Rather than back up his statement with evidence, he simply expects his readers to nod in agreement. Perhaps history will judge Bush in a way that makes Neil’s glib assessment “a flippin’ disaster.”

Larry A. Carstens

Castaic