President Obama may be going through a minor mid-life crisis, as he’s made numerous references to his graying hair over the last few weeks, even at major events with world leaders at the White House.
But while Obama has spoken wistfully about the darker hair of his youth, he has also argued that his graying hair is a sign of the experience he’s gained as the leader of the free world for the last seven years.
Just two days ago, Obama, 54, met with French President Francois Hollande at the White House to discuss joint counterterrorism efforts after the attack in Paris that left 130 dead. As he spoke with Hollande in a joint press conference, Obama recalled his fondness for the time he and his wife were in Paris, when he looked very different.
“By my bed, in the residence, is a picture of me and Michelle in Luxembourg Gardens, kissing,” Obama said. “Those are the memories we have of Paris. As early on, I had no gray hair.”
Obama’s short-cropped and increasingly graying hair came up again last week, at a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Philippines. Obama warned that the new job for Trudeau comes with risks, including a head of gray hair.
“I just want to point out that I had no gray hair when I was in your shoes seven years ago,” Obama said. “And so if you don’t want to gray like me, you need to start dyeing it soon.”
Trudeau later responded, “I don’t dwell on the gray hair, because there’s nothing I can do about that.”
But Obama of late hasn’t taken Trudeau’s advice. During this month’s Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, D.C., Obama reminisced that when he first ran for the White House, he pledged to boost relations with Native American tribes, and his hair came up again.
“And back then, I was just a young adopted son of the Crow Nation,” he said. “Didn’t have any gray hair. Now I am President Barack Black Eagle.”
A day earlier, on Nov. 4, Obama recalled that when he was first elected as president, his hair looked different.
“I was reminded that today is actually the seventh anniversary of my election as President of the United States,” he said. “Seven years ago today. And clearly, the gray hair testifies to all seven years.”
When he addressed a women’s leadership forum in late October, he encouraged younger people to participate in the political process in a way that referenced his hair again.
“And that’s why I’m so glad to see these young people here,” he said. “Because I want you. … I want the young people here to poke and prod and remind us, who are getting gray hair. … I want you to remind us of that sense of possibility.”
In late September, Obama used a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to remark on his hair. Obama said his gray hair was in a sense a sign of the responsibilities that leaders of large nations must accept.
“That’s part of the deal of being on the world stage when you’re a big country, is you’ve got more to do,” he said. “My gray hair testifies to that.”
But while Obama has tried to spin his gray hair as a sign of a mature leader, he also at times has indicated he’s worried that he’s losing his youthful look. At a Sept. 9 event on job training, Obama even asked the audience members what they think.
“[B]ack in 2009, when I had no gray hair — I had a little bit, but you couldn’t see it,” he said. “And now you can see it. I still look good, though?”
