Why are Russian leaders usually short?

Question

The average male height in Russia is 175.9 cm so why are many Russian leaders so much shorter than average?

Lenin 164

Stalin 168

Kruschev 160

Putin 165

Gorbachev is 175 and Yeltsin was 187.

Answer 1

All of the Russians I have seen have been very tall, so i'm sure that is false.

Answer 2

Because they're overcompensating. One has to have some sort of a grudge against the world to survive in an unhealthy political climate, and short height is quite a good reason for holding such a grudge. Besides, in order to overcome one's lack of confidence in connection to one's shortness, one may develop some other aspects of one's charisma - by being a good speaker, for example, although that can't be said of most Russian and Soviet leaders. Many of them couldn't even speak Russian properly.

Note how the shorter the leader, the more aggressive and controlling he often is. One of the most brutal and perverse figures in NKVD, Nikolai Yezhov, nicknamed the Bloody Dwarf, was 151 cm tall, and had a knack for being particularly cruel to attractive people of above average height.

Stalin was actually Georgian, and he was considerably shorter than 168 cm. Lenin was part-Jewish and part-Kalmuck, both of which are generally shorter than the average Russian. Still, large numbers of short people in the government aren't exclusive to Russia or the USSR. Say, Joseph Goebbels was exceptionally short as well. Napoleon. Nicholas Sarkozy.

Medvedev is very short, and this has been noted by the Russian media as well. That's not a good omen, but let's hope he'll be better than other shorties.

P.S. You forgot Brezhnev, who was pretty tall.

Answer 3

I notice that's also the case with many talented men from other countries and eras. Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Einstein were all shorties. Of course, tall men (like Peter the Great) can become accomplished too, but that does not happen often. Perhaps their brains do not get enough nourishment from blood that high up ;)

Answer 4

Because commies shot Romanov's family.

Putin 165? unbelievable...

Answer 5

Because they don't eat enough chicken. US is the greater superpower...

6'   4"  Abraham Lincoln

6'   3" Lyndon B Johnson

6'   2½" Bill Clinton

  Thomas Jefferson

6'   2" Chester Arthur

  George H.W. Bush

  Franklin D Roosevelt

  George Washington

6'   1" Andrew Jackson

  Ronald Reagan

Answer 6

yeah they are short an aggresive, maybe coz they want to conpensate their height and proove the world they are still "heavy enough"

btw they are short and narrow minded too..

Answer 7

a short tree has a strong bough;  

Answer 8

Eltsin was tall but drunk