Casual President

Have you ever noticed that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, never gets dressed up for anyone? I just read about his latest meeting with an international big shot, Kofi Annan. The picture I've attached is from that story. Kofi is probably hearing Armani but Ahmadinejad looks like a regular guy off the street. He could just be off to a job in an office in downtown Tehran but he's actually the president of the Islamic Republic.

Even when he spoke before the UN General Assembly earlier this year, he did it in a basic suit jacket with a dress shirt underneath but unlike the other leaders he went tieless. These are pretty important meetings and audiences but he approaches them seemingly as a humble, average Mahmoud (a much more common name than Joe).

I've always heard that Ahmadinejad just wants to come across as a regular person. He's not part of the Iranian elite, although he surely does work for them. He doesn't have huge investments inside and outside Iran to worry about unlike his opponent in the last election, Hashemi Rajsanjani. He joined the revolution and fought in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s as a young man. This low key style is probably a carefully cultivated image to encourage the Iranian people to relate to him. Still the appearance of his khaki jacket and dress shirt is perhaps starting to become legendary like Nehru's jacket and Castro's fatigues. Maybe in a world of flawless, sculpted politicians, it's refreshing to see something different.

I don't know why I feel this is worthy of mention but it's certainly noteworthy. I suppose that when I do see him in a full Armani suit with tie, I'll assume that something is wrong. It's bound to happen someday, isn't it?