More on the James K. Polk: Vice President At Best feeling: Polk was the first be-mulleted President, but his look has caught on, and it turns out he could make it as a Vice President even today with that hair:
Good call on the Salieri thing, Emily. He's definitely got a lot of F. Murray Abraham going on in general, which lends some more weight to the Evil President angle.
And great call on the Rutherford B. Hayes/Old Guy From Home Alone match. I think pointing out who they look like is an important part of judging the presidents based solely on their portraits.
I would definitely say Evil President for Rutherford B. Hayes. Those are they eyes and beard of an evil wizard who somehow usurped the Office of President in a period in American history where we were most vulnerable to masters of the occult. I have no doubt that Hayes was sworn in on a human skull. It's also very likely that he could turn himself into a vulture and see several minutes into the future, which surely aided him in his campaign. Hayes could not win the office today, but he could absolutely pull the strings of a sinister league bent on world domination.
In fact, Rutherford B. Hayes may still be pulling the strings of a sinister league bent on world domination even today, because this doesn't look like a guy who lives and dies the way we average mortals understand those concepts.
Re: Chester A. Arthur, I have but one thing to say right now - LEMMY BEARD. Chester A. Arthur may have put on some pounds and settled down by the time he got in office, but he was clearly a hellraiser in his day. And yet somehow certainly not our most intimidating president (based solely on his portrait), not by a longshot.
