No, seriously. And not just because when JD Vance took the oath, he became the first bearded vice president since 1909. Even Prince William has joined the bewhiskered.
Some fear that the revival represents nostalgia for a lost masculine ideal, or maybe, as Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said, it's just that the current generation believes their facial hair is part of their individuality. Either way, seeing the clan of the bearded stream in and out of the office towers on the streets of Midtown Manhattan is a sight that, just a generation ago, would have been unthinkable. For much of late modern history, the barbigerous were regarded with skepticism.
During the 19th century, the European monarchies associated beards with dangerous radicals. Historians tell us that Marx and Engels grew their famously fulsome facial hair, at least in part, to symbolize their rejection of middle-class morality. In the U.
S., a beard was often seen as a symbol of the abolitionist movement. John Brown sported one.
Abraham Lincoln did not grow his beard until after he was elected in 1860, but it was in full bloom by the time he took the oath of office — more evidence, for Southerners, of the threat he posed to their way of life. Once the 16th president took the oath, the fashion gathered steam. Republican newspapers ran advertisements for potions that would help ambitious males cover those bare chins.
Soon, the Victorians made beards safe to wear, even for the elites. In the earl.