Barack Obama may be a “metrosexual, black Abe Lincoln” but no one beats America’s 21st President Chester Alan Arthur in the metrosexuality department. Known as Elegant Arthur because of his expensive taste in clothing (he owned over eighty pairs of pants), he was the first chief executive to have his own valet (you know the guy in charge of taking care of your wardrobe…you watch Downton Abbey, right?). But his extravagance went beyond his closet. Upon becoming President, he refused to live in the White House until it was completely renovated to his liking. He hired designer Louis Comfort Tiffany at a cost of $30,000 (that’s over $700,000 in today’s inflated word). Unlike Lincoln, who has museums up the wazoo (Did Lincoln spend the night here? Save this building, please!) Arthur does not command the same respect and joins a long list of forgotten U.S. Presidents, who are represented at the National Presidential Wax Museum. Sitting next to Andrew Johnson and Millard Fillmore, Arthur looks quite dandy with his top hat, tie and trimmed whiskers. You go, Chet!
P.S. LBJ was really into pants too, especially lightweight blue ones, you know, where “your nuts hang” (his words, not mine).
