The Great American Fallacy

Bigger equals better.

   An important, though subconscious, reason Donald Trump chose Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate in this year's presidential election is very likely this: Pence is short.
   Standing on stage together, the lead candidate is taller, visual evidence that he is therefore bigger, which in turn implies that he is better.
   It's part of what can be called the Great American Fallacy, that bigger equals better. This is true for many men, especially those who are at root insecure and thin-skinned about their own abilities.
   Consider previous behavior evidence of this candidate. He relies heavily on disparaging insults to put down opponents and those who disagree with him. He coined a nickname for one candidate as "Little Marco," to emphasize the difference in size.
   He has bragged about the size of his ... whatever, as proof of his strength and manhood.
   And now he has selected a less tall person to work alongside him on the road to the White House.
   Moreover, to emphasize the difference in size -- and therefore to suggest importance, etc. -- the campaign poster puts the main presumptuous nominee in very large capital letters over and above that of the not-tall governor, so it looks like this:

TRUMP

PENCE

  Throughout America, there are many examples of height bias, especially by men toward other men.
   Several major business schools have tracked the careers of their graduates, and have documented that men 6 feet tall and taller get better, higher paying jobs sooner than their fellow graduates 5' 8" and less.
   Professional business and engineering consultants have acknowledged that being less tall than corporate executives is actually an advantage, because they are not perceived as a threat.
   Similarly, un-tall male journalists can testify that this is also an advantage for them when interviewing politicians, and for the same reason.
   Consider also the sports most popular in America. In both football and basketball, the players are bigger and the scores higher. In soccer, however, the most popular sport in the rest of the world, a player's legs need only be long enough to reach the ground, and scores are typically in the low single digits.
   In politics, Lyndon B. Johnson, who stood about 6'4", famously used his height to overwhelm those he encountered, by standing very close to them, ensuring that he would look down on them.
   Perhaps this same underlying, subconscious attitude is what prompted Trump to select Pence as his running mate, to constantly show who was boss.
   Bigger, therefore better, ain't necessarily so.