Becoming Adolf

In Becoming Adolf Rich Cohen tells the story of the toothbrush mustache, better known as the Hitler Mustache. He explains the history of facial hair on political figures over the past century. In the end he realizes the social impact of a person who wears a toothbrush mustache and the menacing history that it represents because of the fact that Hitler made it infamous.

Cohen combined a personal story about how he grew a toothbrush mustache and wore it for a period of time because he, as a Jew, wanted to "own it" and "defuse" the horror that the mustache Hitler wore represents to Jewish people. He combines this personal story with research about the history of facial hair on political figures before and after Hitlers reign of terror. The effect is it causes the reader to see that a popular style of the time can turn into a symbol of evil when an evil person like Hitler wears that style.

Cohen learns that no matter who the person is or what they do they will automatically be looked upon differently with a Hitler mustache. He wrote of looks he would get on the street from other people when they saw him while he had the mustache, and how even after he left a store it "hung in the air." I learned the effect of Hitlers mustache on western politics. I never put together how since WWII no U.S. President has worn facial hair, despite the fact that all throughout history many U.S. Presidents have. It show the negative effect that one mad man can have on the style of the world.