My sister is good friends with a lady who got pregnant & married a gay guy. He wanted a career in politics and worked for a well known Demoncrat politician. He told her he wanted a family so he could have a political career & she told him to go pound sand & divorced him. He died of AIDs in the early 90s.
It was a requirement back in the day. If Barry got into politics today, he wouldn't even bother with a beard. Unless he's running as a Democrat in the South (someone like Roy Cooper in North Carolina).