I hope that Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Sarkozy are aware that, by choosing to appear in public half-naked and advertise their physical fitness, they are following in the footsteps of Benito Mussolini. Unlike Hitler, a timid fellow who liked to keep his clothes on, Mussolini saw displays of vigour and masculinity as essential to his public image. His spin doctors would let it be known that he started the day with a cold bath and followed it with spells of riding, swimming or fencing; and he had himself endlessly photographed in a state of semi-undress, often sweating profusely after helping peasants bring in the harvest or engaging in some other strenuous activity.

This is not so different to Sarkozy flaunting his enthusiasm for jogging or being photographed as the only bare-chested man aboard his crowded holiday motor launch in New Hampshire; or to Putin showing off his muscles on a mountain holiday in Siberia and having himself filmed on television driving lorries and piloting a fighter jet.

There is a link between power and nudity, though in Britain it is only revealed in private. In his Diaries, Alastair Campbell recalls how he and Cherie Blair complained to each other about how much time they had had to spend talking to Tony Blair in his underwear since he had become Labour party leader. Campbell even mentions that Blair once received him while stark naked.

This habit of receiving acolytes in a state of partial undress was shared, among others, by Winston Churchill and John Major; and I can only imagine that this eccentric practice was to do with them wanting to show how powerful they were, how they had to be listened to and taken seriously, however repulsive they might look.

Alexander Chancellor
Friday August 31, 2007
The Guardian