century you would have had an unbroken string of hits until 1972 when Richard Nixon beat George McGovern." A comparison of the heights of the winning presidential candidate with the losing candidate from each election since 1788 is provided below to evaluate such views. Comparative table of heights of United States presidential candidates Notes: ** Lost the House of Representatives vote, but received the most popular votes and a plurality of electoral votes; however, not the majority needed to win. † Ran unopposed Extremes The tallest president elected to office was Abraham Lincoln (). Portrait artist Francis Bicknell Carpenter supplies the information for Lincoln: Mr. Lincoln's height was six feet three and three-quarter inches "in his stocking-feet." He stood up one day, at the right of my large canvas, while I marked his exact height upon it. A disputed theory holds that Lincoln's height is the result of the genetic condition multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2b (MEN2B); see medical and mental health of Abraham Lincoln. Only slightly shorter than Lincoln was Lyndon B. Johnson (), the tallest president who originally entered office without being elected directly. The shortest president elected to office was James Madison (); the shortest president to originally enter the office by means other than election is tied between Millard Fillmore and Harry S. Truman (both were ). The tallest unsuccessful presidential candidate (who is also the tallest of all presidential candidates) is Winfield Scott, who stood at and lost the 1852 election to Franklin Pierce, who stood at . The second tallest unsuccessful candidate is John Kerry, at . The shortest unsuccessful presidential candidate is Stephen A. Douglas, at . The next shortest is Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 election and is . The largest height difference between two presidential candidates (out of the candidates whose heights are known) was in the 1860 election, when Abraham Lincoln stood taller than opponent Stephen A. Douglas. The second-largest difference was in the 1812 election, with DeWitt Clinton standing taller than incumbent James Madison. The 2016 election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has the third largest difference at . Notes References External links Stats: Does the taller man always win? The Straight Dope: Does the taller candidate always win the election? Presidential Timber Tends To Be Tall Lists relating to the United States presidency Lists of candidates for President of the United States United States presidential candidates