Measuring up … and up and up: Trumps are among the tallest first families in U.S. history

The Trumps stand head and shoulders above nearly all the other first families.

At 6 feet, 3 inches, President-elect Donald Trump ranks as one of the three tallest presidents in U.S. history, but his wife and two of his children are second to none in height, according to research by The Washington Times.

On Monday, Mr. Trump will become the second person in U.S. history to be sworn in for a second nonconsecutive presidential term.

His wife, Melania Trump, will be beside him. At 5 feet, 11 inches, the former and future first lady is locked in a three-way tie for tallest presidential spouse with Eleanor Roosevelt and Michelle Obama.

History buffs may ask: Wasn’t Eleanor Roosevelt 6 feet tall? The wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt is sometimes listed at 6 feet, but the FDR Presidential Library & Museum says her passport and other primary source documents put her at 5 feet, 11 inches.

The Roosevelts maintained the height standard for years. Their five sons exceeded 6 feet, and their daughter, Anna Roosevelt Halsted, was the tallest presidential daughter at 5 feet, 10 inches.

Her closest competitor was Lynda Johnson Robb, now 80, the elder daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson. The LBJ Presidential Library places Mrs. Robb’s height between 5 feet, 9½ inches and 5 feet, 10 inches. 

That was before the Obamas and Trumps ducked through the White House doorway.

Malia Obama was 10 when her father, Barack Obama, won the presidency in 2008. When he left office eight years later, various sources listed her at 5 feet, 11 inches, putting her eye to eye with her mother and exceeding Anna Roosevelt Halsted’s mark by 1 inch.

Little sister Sasha is no longer the shortest in the Obama family. She is now listed at 5 feet, 11 inches. In an April article, MSN said, “We’re stunned by Sasha Obama’s height transformation.”

No sooner had the Obamas left the White House than the Trumps arrived, including Mr. Trump’s elder daughter, Ivanka Trump.

Ivanka is 5 feet, 11 inches, which puts her in a three-way tie for the tallest first daughter.

Ivanka’s brother Eric, at 6 feet, 5 inches, briefly held the top spot for presidential sons, exceeding three of the Roosevelt brothers — James, Franklin Jr. and John — and Marvin Bush, the youngest son of President George H.W. Bush. All four are listed at 6 feet, 4 inches.

Then Eric’s younger brother, Barron, hit his growth spurt. The youngest in the Trump family is NBA tall. The 18-year-old New York University student has been described as 6 feet, 9 inches, and he towers over his parents.

Donald Trump occasionally references Barron’s height while expressing pride in his teenage son.

“He’s a great guy. He’s a little on the tall side, I will tell you. He’s a tall one, but he’s a good-looking guy, and he’s really been a great student,” Mr. Trump said in May on “Kayal and Company,” a talk show on 1210 WHPT-AM radio in Philadelphia.

Lincoln’s No. 1, but who’s No. 2?

Neither the Trumps nor the Obamas can touch one height record: the tallest president.

That distinction has long belonged to Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, whose 6-foot-4-inch frame has yet to be equaled by his successors.

Regarding No. 2, Mr. Trump has an argument.

The Wikipedia “Heights of Presidents” page, citing biographers Robert Dallek and Robert Caro, lists Lyndon B. Johnson as the second-tallest president at 6 feet, 3½ inches.

Other sources say Johnson’s 1941 physical exam for military service records his height at 74½ inches, or 6 feet, 2½ inches. A year later, Johnson was listed at 74 inches, or 6 feet, 2 inches, on his release exam, as shown on documents posted by Celebrity Heights.

Johnson was 33 when he volunteered for active duty in World War II, meaning he had long since finished growing.

The LBJ Presidential Library lists the 36th president as 6 feet, 3 inches, the same height as Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump has said on several occasions that he is 6 feet, 3 inches, but his Selective Service registration card filled out in 1964 puts his height at 6 feet, 2 inches. He had just turned 18 and may still have been growing.

In 2023, after he was booked in Fulton County, Georgia, on election-tampering charges, Mr. Trump’s vital statistics received a flurry of media interest. He reported his height at 6 feet, 3 inches and his weight at 215 pounds, although most of the skepticism centered on his weight.

Records from his 2023 arrest in New York City on charges of falsifying business records put him at 6 feet, 2 inches.

Mr. Trump is 78, and his stature may have suffered because of the ravages of time and the consequences of gravity. According to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, men typically lose an inch in height between ages 30 and 70.

Either way, Mr. Trump and most of his family qualify for membership in Tall Clubs International. The cutoff is 6 feet, 2 inches for men and 5 feet, 10 inches for women.