Mitt Romney is regularly accused of wearing “mom jeans” and President Obama is already famous for them. But just because they brought out their dad pants after SNL gave them a catchy name, they were hardly the only presidential candidates to wear them.
Presidential candidates hardly ever win accolades for their fashion sense. Barack Obama and Mitt Romney know this well, each having been accused repeatedly of wearing "mom jeans." The term was popularized in 2008 by Saturday Night Live, but the style of pant — faded, high-waisted, ill-fitting, FUPA-creating — has been, with few exceptions, a staple of presidential candidates' style on the trail for decades. Let's take a look back.
1955: John F. Kennedy sails with Jackie in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, wearing khaki shorts.
Image by Hulton Archive / Getty Images
If JFK owned or wore jeans, they certainly weren't part of his public persona.