Presidential candidate John Hickenlooper can’t remember people by their appearance. How he copes with ‘face blindness’

3-19-2019 b a d c c
Deux hommes en pied by Edgar Degas. Image credit: Renaud Camus/flickr

John Hickenlooper knows he knows you from somewhere. The former Colorado governor now running for president just doesn’t know if it’s really you.

Such is the life of a politician who suffers from prosopagnosia, or face blindness, a medical condition that makes it difficult — and often impossible — to recognize or remember people’s faces, even if someone with the ailment has met them a handful of times.

…

[Professor Brad] Duchaine said face blindness comes in a variety of different forms and impacts between 1 to 2% of the population. Some people struggle with processing faces and others struggle to access faces that they have processed. A number of people come up with strategies to cope with the issue, Duchaine added, but a common reaction to the medical condition is friendliness.

…

It’s difficult to tell Hickenlooper is face blind at events in Iowa. He seems to engage with everyone warmly and it is apparent that he has compensated for the ailment by engaging everyone as a friend.

In the end, Hickenlooper said, he believes face blindness could actually make him a better politician and person, even if it is difficult at times to manage.

Read full, original post: John Hickenlooper didn’t mean to forget who you are: How face blindness has affected his political career

Related Articles

Infographic: Global regulatory and health research agencies on whether glyphosate causes cancer

Infographic: Global regulatory and health research agencies on whether glyphosate causes cancer

Does glyphosate—the world's most heavily-used herbicide—pose serious harm to humans? Is it carcinogenic? Those issues are of both legal and ...

Most Popular

Wave Crest Over Red Cross
Viewpoint: Here are the election-inspired Trump administration healthcare policy reversals expected in the coming months
ChatGPT-Image-Mar-10-2026-01_39_01-PM
Viewpoint—“Miracle molecule” debunked: Why acemannan supplements don’t work
Democratic Donkey Plowing at Sunset
Viewpoint: Democratic tsunami: As the red tide recedes, here are the most likely shifts in food and agricultural policy
p22_spraying_2
How climate change is driving increased pesticide usage
Aerial Sprayer Over Gradient Fields
Farming, food, and chemicals: Post-midterms, the MAHA alliance between Democrats and MAGA Republicans is bruised but not cowed. What comes next?
Screenshot-2026-11-05-at-1.20.54-PM
$7.35 billion PFAS settlement: 3M to pay people who blame health problems on ‘forever chemicals’ phased out of firefighting foam for more than 20 years
Crumbling MAHA Stage Portrait
Cataloging the RFK Jr.-MAHA crushing midterm collapse
Blue Checklist in Centered Hand
Viewpoint: From Medicaid cuts to MAHA-backed anti-vaccine and chemical hysteria, voters reject Republicans’ science-skeptical agenda
Picture1
Viewpoint: How badly is the U.S. food-safety net fraying? FDA’s bungled handling of the tainted lettuce crisis deepens concerns over cuts to disease tracking and response
Screenshot-2026-11-05-at-2.47.29-PM
Collagen supplements are not a wrinkle-reducing silver bullet, but they sure cost a lot
Microscopic IVF Egg Injection
With technical barriers to human embryo editing falling, ethical concerns escalate
glp menu logo outlined

Get news on human & agricultural genetics and biotechnology delivered to your inbox.