Vladimir Putin and the new generation of 'short kings'
Critics suggest Russian and North Korean dictators have 'Napoleon complex' but numerous world leaders share their stature
![Vladimir Putin illustration](https://cdn.statically.io/img/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/aLDdYr5pDufEDPcnKju9Pa-415-80.jpg)
Vladimir Putin's talks with Kim Jong Un today have been dubbed the "revenge of the little rocket men" by Katie Stallard in The New Statesman.
Donald Trump gave the North Korean leader the nickname in 2017, later assuring him that it was a complimentary reference to Elton John's 1972 hit. Kim reportedly replied: "'Rocket man', OK. 'Little', not OK."
Height is a sensitive subject for Kim and Putin, who have spent years cultivating a strong-man image.
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'Napoleon complex'
As the world struggled to understand Putin's motivations in Ukraine, some critics resorted to jibes about the Russian president's height – an estimated 5ft 7in.
Britain's former defence secretary Ben Wallace called him a "lunatic" with "small man syndrome", while US Republican Senator Mitt Romney said he was a "small, evil, feral-eyed man".
Putin poses with a horse during a holiday in Southern Siberia in 2009
Both Putin and Kim, whose measurements are said to be somewhere between 5ft 4in and 5ft 7in, have been photographed wearing heeled shoes to boost their height. The Telegraph claimed in 2014 that Kim had even fractured both ankles after his Cuban heels "proved difficult to walk in".
Accusations that they suffer from "Napoleon complex" might be "overly simplistic and potentially problematic", said psychologist Emma Kenny. Yet "height can play into how a leader is perceived, especially when they're interacting with taller counterparts on the international stage". If someone feels insecure about their height, she told The Sun, "they may exhibit more dominant or aggressive behaviours to compensate".
'Short kings'
"In politics, height matters," declared The Economist in 2020. US presidents are "becoming taller relative to average Americans". And research suggests that "long-limbed politicians outperform their stumpier rivals" in the polls because "taller people enjoy higher self-esteem, on average, and are perceived to be healthier, more intelligent and more authoritative".
Trump (6ft 2in, according to his driving licence) was prone to taking a pop at other political leaders for their smaller stature, but Putin and Kim are in surprisingly good company on the world stage.
Rishi Sunak, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy are all between 5ft 6in and 5ft 7in. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also measure just above the five-and-a-half-feet range.
Rishi Sunak is a similar height to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
The idea that height is bound up with leadership and masculinity is "looking increasingly shaky" as older "notions of patriarchy wobble" and a "new generation of short kings rise", said The New European.
For Maureen Dowd in The New York Times, "true stature" is more than physical measurements. While Putin has always been "puffing out his bare chest on horseback; fishing shirtless in Siberia; winning staged judo and hockey displays", Ukraine's president Zelenskyy "understands that stature is not about phony macho photo shoots".
"Stature is a physical quality," Dowd concluded, "but, more important, it is a human and moral quality."
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Hollie Clemence is the UK executive editor. She joined the team in 2011 and spent six years as news editor for the site, during which time the country had three general elections, a Brexit referendum, a Covid pandemic and a new generation of British royals. Before that, she was a reporter for IHS Jane’s Police Review, and travelled the country interviewing police chiefs, politicians and rank-and-file officers, occasionally from the back of a helicopter or police van. She has a master’s in magazine journalism from City University, London, and has written for publications and websites including TheTimes.co.uk and Police Oracle.
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