The literal meaning of “a change of pace” is the alteration of speed to give variation to an activity. Here, for a change of pace, is a rhythmic morphing of all past U.S. presidents, from George Washington through Barack Obama.

As I’ve noted in the YouTube description of this video, my original intent was to simply create a sequential morph of all of the presidents, including Donald Trump. A quick YouTube search of “presidential morphs” abruptly disabused me of that idea, however, as this was clearly not a very original idea at all. However, I desperately wanted to play around with my morphing software, so I thought about it a bit and came up with the idea of using President Trump’s image as a transition between each of the other presidents. In other words, morph Trump with every past president. In other words, do 88 unique morphs rather than 44. In other words, spend over a hundred hours working on this silly two-minute video. Yes, indeed.

Here’s some interesting stuff I learned and/or observed while creating this video:

• There have been four united republics of America:
  • United Colonies Continental Congress
  • United States Continental Congress
  • United States in Congress Assembled
  • Constitution of 1787

  Each republic had their own “presidents.” Peyton Randolph was the first president under the United Colonies Continental Congress, and George Washington was the first under the Constitution of 1787. Some people say that this made Peyton the first president, while others note that his was a different job description and not “president” as we know it today.

• John Quincy Adams was the first president to sport something that resembled a modern collar in his presidential portrait. From Adams through Buchanan, each president enjoyed the winged, upwardly pointed Poke or Gladstone style of collars, until Lincoln came along in 1865 fashionably wearing a turned-down variety. You can thank Brooks Brothers, Lacoste, and polo for this new style. After Lincoln and on through Taft there was a mix of up and down collar styles. From Woodrow Wilson onward, all collars have been turned down.

• In addition to making history with his bold collar choice, Lincoln was also the first of five presidents to sport a full beard in his presidential portrait. He was followed in bushy glory by Grant, Hayes, Garfield, and Harrison. William Howard Taft was the very last president to display any facial hair at all.

• Both Woodrow Wilson and Teddy Roosevelt liked pinching their noses with pince nez glasses. Historically speaking, I think Morpheus rocked the style best. Apparently, you can purchase Roosevelt’s actual glasses here: https://historical.ha.com/itm/political/3d-and-other-display-1896-present-/teddy-roosevelt-s-pince-nez-glasses-theodore-roosevelt-was-well-known-for-speaking-softly-and-carrying-a-big-stick-he-was/a/625-25437.s

Finally, please note, no political statement was intended by this video, just a bit of weird, silly fun. Please don’t take it for anything more or less than that. As Robert Kennedy eloquently noted: “Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history.”

Enjoy.