Oldest living United States president

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

This is a chronology of who was the oldest living president of the United States, former or current, at any given time.

While the title of oldest living president is often lost due to the death of its holder, the title may also be lost if an older person is inaugurated.

[edit] Table

George H.W. Bush, age 84, the current oldest living president since the death of Gerald Ford.

Herbert Hoover holds the record with 31 years spent as the oldest living U.S. president, followed by John Adams with 26 years, and Ronald Reagan with 23 years.

 *did not die on this date: older person was inaugurated President.
 **current age.

[edit] Statistics

• All Presidents lost their title of oldest living United States President by dying, except for Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Richard Nixon, who each lost the title when an older man (William Taft, Woodrow Wilson and Ronald Reagan, respectively) was inaugurated President. Nixon was the only one of the three to not lose the title to the President who immediately followed him.
• William Howard Taft was the only one to regain the title after losing it.
• The President who held the title of oldest living United States President for the longest span of time was Herbert Hoover, who held the title from the death of Calvin Coolidge on January 5, 1933 to his own death on October 20, 1964, a span of 31 years, 10 months and 15 days. Incidentally, Hoover also holds the distinction of having the longest retirement of any United States President, at 31 years, 7 months. Currently the United States President who has been retired the longest is Jimmy Carter, who is due to pass Hoover on September 9, 2012.
• The President who held the title of oldest living United States President for the shortest span of time was Lyndon Baines Johnson, who held the title from the death of Harry S. Truman on December 26, 1972 to his death on January 22, 1973, a span of 27 days.
• There have been six instances where the sitting United States President was the only living United States President. The six Presidents were George Washington (being the first and at the time only), John Adams (following Washington's death), Ulysses S. Grant (following Andrew Johnson's death), Theodore Roosevelt (following Grover Cleveland's death), Herbert Hoover (following Calvin Coolidge's death) and Richard Nixon (following Lyndon Baines Johnson's death). Other than Washington, the longest any of them had to serve as the only living President was Grant, who served 1 year, 216 days alone.
• After George H. W. Bush, the order of age of the remaining living United States Presidents is Jimmy Carter (born October 1, 1924), George W. Bush (born July 6, 1946) and Bill Clinton (born August 19, 1946).
• The president to live the longest out of all of them was Gerald R. Ford, living ninety-three years, five months, and nine days, exceeding the previous record lifespan of Ronald Reagan who lived ninety-three years, three months, and twenty-eight days.

[edit] See also

• List of United States Presidents by age
• Earliest living United States senator
• Oldest living United States governor
• List of oldest Surviving members of the House of Representatives
• Earliest serving United States governor
• List of United States Congressmen by longevity of service
• Dean of the United States Senate
• Dean of the United States House of Representatives