It is a fraying, combed-back helmet that barely covers a longtime fact of Washington life: The senator from Delaware has taken steps to preempt baldness.
The most common hypothesis is that he received a hair transplant, where follicles from the bushier back of the head are grafted onto fading spots closer to the front of the dome.
In 1987, a Washington Post reporter asked him to confirm the theory. "Guess," he responded. "I've got to keep some mystery in my life."
A quick Politico survey of stylists and hair transplant surgeonssome of whom have followed Bidens career path for years, while others didnt know about him until yesterdayfound that there was little mystery.
When he had darker hair it was pretty obvious, he had larger plugs, said Dr. Michael Beehner, medical director of the Saratoga Hair Transplant Center in New York . With the lightening of his hair, it looks much, much better now.
Years ago, it was much more detectable, added a surgeon from the Midwest who refused to be identified. The pattern of Bidens hairline, according to him, did not follow the normal math of baldness.
Until the late 1980s, according to Beehner, the only method of hair transplantation involved plugs that each contained 15-30 hairs. If executed well, they could be lined up to create a solid wall of hair. Today, its differentand much less visible. They use little tiny grafts, Beehner said. And a typical session is a 1,000 and 2,000 grafts.
A lot of people have touch-up work, and he may have had some, he added.
The stylists Politico spoke to, while not enamored with Bidens haircut, thought the work had turned out well.
I think he should darken the hair on the top of his head, emailed Christina, a stylist who generally works with celebrities. One of the reasons being with it being lighter than the rest of the hair it makes it appear to be thinner.
In my view, his hair cut and style do not compliment his squarish face shape, added Sky Vega, a stylist in New York. A forward comb with a serrated fringe would soften that.
I feel like its a minimal amount of work, she noted. I mean, its really common for a lot of guys." (The International Society of Hair Restoration surgery estimated that more than 100,000 operations were performed in 2006.)
Transplant hair, if a good one, can be cut and styled almost exactly like your real hair, said Christina. It depends on the technique.
Along with Biden, the ranks of the senatorial plugged-in included former Wisconsin Democratic Senator William Proxmirewho served from 1957 to 1989and South Carolina Republican Strom Thurmond, whose fiery orange plugs stayed in until he died in 2003 at the age of 100.
At Thurmonds 90th birthday party, Biden found a patch of common ground. "When I came to the Senate in '72, you were 70, he said. And I want to tell you I resent any reference to your hair. You have been an inspiration to me in so many ways.
