With his background as a master brander and a showman, US president-elect Donald Trump seems to look beyond qualifications and resumes when it comes to selecting a person who has to 'represent America on an international stage'.
The US president-elect Donald Trump reportedly passed over a candidate for the position of secretary of state because of his bushy mustache.
“You can come with somebody who is very much qualified for the job, but if they don’t look the part, they’re not going anywhere,” Trump was quoted as saying by foreign media.
"Presentation is very important because you’re representing America not only on the national stage," said Trump's transition spokesman Jason Miller to the media.
Trump has chosen a rugged combat general to lead the Pentagon, while Trump went for a novice for the post of state secretary.
Familiar faces
Looking closely, you can find that a large share of people atop the Trump's administration are familiar to many of us through television.
Chris Ruggy, chief executive of Newsmax Media and a longtime friend of Donald Trump said the US president-elect likes people who present themselves very well. "He’s very impressed when somebody has a background of being good on television because he thinks it’s a very important medium for public policy,” adds Ruggy.
While announcing his vice presidential pick officially in July, Donald Trump said that Mike Pence's economic record as Indiana governor was the first reason he wanted him in. Trump never forgot to acknowledge Pence's looks, background and 'incredible wife and family' along with that.
Selecting retired marine General James Mattis as his nominee for defense, Trump praised him as 'the closest thing to General George Patton that we have,' referring to the physical resemblance Mattis has with a legendary world war II commander. “You know he’s known as ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis, right? ‘Mad Dog’ for a reason,” Mr Trump said in a recent interview. Thankfully, the president elect did not mention Mattis's other nicknames such as 'Warrior Monk' or his call sign 'Chaos.'
Trump had even slammed his opponent Hillary Clinton during the election campaigns saying that Clinton lacked 'a presidential look'.
'Telegenic' woman?
There were also reports that he wanted a 'telegenic' woman for the role of his press secretary to attract more viewers and obviously to immunize him from the charges of sexism he faced during the election campaigns.