45 rare and classic photos of every presidential candidate as an idealistic youth

Somehow, some way, America now has 21 candidates for president. In honor of that milestone, we hit the archives to find out what every serious candidate looked like before they were familiar from politics/being on "The Apprentice."

Since they're all trying to become the 45th President of the United States, here are 45 pictures of the candidates from their halcyon days. Scroll below to see what our wannabe future presidents looked like in their younger years.

1. Ben Carson

Something about "more like Bae Carson."

2. Bernie Sanders

We've already determined that Bernie Sanders is a very chill person.

3. Bobby Jindal as he first appeared in Tiger Beat magazine. Or a yearbook.

This is cheating a little, but at one point the Baton Rouge Junior Chamber of Commerce officially gave Jindal the honorific of "Outstanding Young Man."

4. Carly Fiorina also took a yearbook photo once.

5. Chris Christie was part of the University of Delaware student government and knows how to pose for group photos.

The pride of New Jersey first learned to play hardball as a catcher on the high school squad.

6. Before graduating from Wharton and capturing our hearts, Donald Trump was a military school attendee who apparently went by his initials.

The more things change…

7. George Pataki played four years of touch football at Yale.

8. This really feels like Wellesley Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, bottom left, with unknown male.

9. Jeb Bush captained the varsity tennis teams at Phillips Academy…

…as well as at the University of Texas.

10. Jim Webb used to look like a young Jim Webb-type.

11. John Kasich really used to enjoy meeting with Richard Nixon.

He ran for Congress at 30 and had a very good billboard-slogan combination. And if you squint, it looks like an ad for a terrible Harrison Ford movie.

12. Lincoln Chafee was on the wrestling team at Brown.

13. Lindsey Graham looked very presentable.

He's still really close with his sister, which is nice.

14. Why isn't Marco Rubio smiling? He worked on the Dole '96 campaign voluntarily.

That's better.

15. Much like Russell Crowe, Martin O'Malley is someone who plays guitar.

He used to be a real cool babe.

"See you later, Catholic University! Eventual stop: the governor's mansion in Annapolis, Md." — Martin O'Malley, 1985

16. Mike Huckabee's rock-and-roll lifestyle started at an early age.

Such long, college-aged hair! What would present-day Mike Huckabee have to say about that?

17. Rand Paul was given a column in the Baylor student paper, The Lariat, after penning numerous letters to the editor. "Just My Opinion" must've been taken.

Paul (middle right) may also have been part of a secret society/the swim team.

The column's byline was not an error. Paul was a bio major—he'd leave Baylor to get a medical degree from Duke.

18. Rick Perry: area tough, expert lean-against-a-car-er.

Perry also served as a yell leader at Texas A&M.

19. Rick Santorum joined a fraternity while at Penn State.

And he looked like such a nice boy prior to that, too.

20. Scott Walker never ran the risk of being mistaken for the singer-songwriter with the same name. While at Marquette he allegedly sought to consolidate power and eliminate all those who opposed him on the student council.

His campaign fliers could've been snazzier, though.

21. Ted Cruz, pictured here debating. He did a lot of that at Princeton. Did you know Ted Cruz went to Princeton?

Will Ted Cruz be smoking a victory cigar come November 2016? We shall see.

Congratulations to all the Presidential candidates on looking so great in the past.

David Matthews operates the Wayback Machine on Fusion.net—hop on. Got a tip? Email him: david.matthews@fusion.net