It came out this month that New Jesey governor Chris Christie had weight loss surgery. This could be just for health reasons. But more likely it’s for his public image. Mr. Christie’s name often comes up in talks for the 2016 presidential election, but would the American public be willing to elect someone so round.

After all, Mr. Christie surely doesn’t want to be called an Washington Fat Cat and look like one too.

But would the American voter really vote for someone based on looks? Well, yes. Consider this: From 1916 to 1996 there were 21 elections. In 15 of those the tallest candidate won. In  two of them the candidates were the same height. Only four times out of those 21 times did a shorter candidate win.

The trend may have broken down though. In 2000, Bush was an inch shorter than Gore and lost. Although Gore did get more votes overall, so you can probably count that either way. In 2004 the democrats sent the towering John Kerry to run, and lost. Finally the 6ft 1 Obama beat the 5 ft 9 McCain in 2008.  But then in 2012 the taller Romney lost to Obama.

So has the American public stopped listening to their eyes and started looking with their ears instead? After all, every president before 2008 was white.

That answer is unknown at this point, but Chris Christie is 5 ft 11 inches and Hillary Clinton is just 5 ft 7 inches. Maybe Mr. Christie is betting on history.