Michael Dukakis was a Democrat candidate running for President in 1988. He had previously been criticized as being soft on national defense, so in September of that year he orchestrated a photo op in an M1 Abrams tank meant to toughen up his image.
The public found the image of Dukakis in the oversized safety helmet comical, and the photo op had the opposite of the intended effect of making him look tough. So much so that his opponent, George H.W. Bush used footage of Dukakis' tank ride in his own advertisements.
Similar to John Kerry's bunny suit photo... In the US you can be an absolute shit of a person, but don't you dare let someone take an unflattering of you or the American people won't vote for you.