#potus data

[deadpresidents]

Excluding his own, how many presidents of the USA have served during Jimmy Carter's lifespan?

Not including himself, there have been 16 different Presidents during Jimmy Carter's lifetime: Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

To put it another way, if you count his own term, Jimmy Carter has been alive during the terms of nearly 37% of America's Presidents.

[deadpresidents]

What is the youngest that a US president has ever held an office at? I think that it's Andrew Johnson, who was elected an alderman at age 20?

Though I was kind of surprised by how young Franklin Pierce and Theodore Roosevelt were when they held pretty senior positions in their state legislature.

Yeah, I'm pretty certain it's Andrew Johnson when he was elected an alderman in his hometown of Greeneville, Tennessee in 1828. And, really, Johnson was 19 years old because his birthday is December 29th, so he was only 20 years old for the last two days of 1828. Johnson also became Mayor of Greeneville at the age of 21.

While it wasn't an elective office or a traditional political position, George Washington was appointed the surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia when he was 17 years old. Washington received the position partly due to the political influence of Virginia landowner Lord Fairfax, who was a mentor. So, while it wasn't an elective office, Washington began to learn valuable political, financial, and leadership lessons as a teenage county surveyor. Franklin Pierce was remarkably young at every position he held: elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives at 25 years old; elected Speaker of the New Hampshire House at 27 years old; elected to the U.S. House of Representatives at 29 years old; elected to the U.S. Senate at 33 years old; and he was 48 years old when he was inaugurated as President of the United States -- the youngest President in American history up to that time.

But when I took a deep dive after getting your question, I found that a surprising number of Presidents were elected or appointed to offices while they were in their 20s:

•John Tyler was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates when he was 21 years old. •Andrew Jackson was made the public prosecutor for the Western District of North Carolina in 1788 when he was 21 years old. •James Madison was elected to the Orange County (Virginia) Committee of Public Safety when he was 23 years old. •James Monroe was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates when he was 24 years old. •James Buchanan was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives at 24 years old. •Benjamin Harrison was elected City Attorney of Indianapolis at 24 years old. •Theodore Roosevelt elected to the New York State Assembly at 24 years old. •William Howard Taft was assistant prosecutor of Hamilton County, Ohio at 24 years old. •James K. Polk was clerk of the Tennessee State Senate at 24 years old and elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives at 28. •Abraham Lincoln was Postmaster of New Salem, Illinois at 24 years old and elected to the Illinois State Legislature at 25. •William Henry Harrison was appointed Secretary of the Northwest Territory at 25 years old. •Thomas Jefferson was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses at 26 years old. •Martin Van Buren was appointed surrogate of Columbia County, New York at age 26. •William McKinley was elected prosecutor of Stark County, Ohio at 26 years old. •Grover Cleveland was assistant district attorney for Erie County, New York at 26 years old. •John Quincy Adams was appointed U.S. Minister to the Netherlands by George Washington when JQA was 27 years old. •Calvin Coolidge was elected to the Northampton, Massachusetts City Council at 27 years old. •Lyndon B. Johnson was Director of the National Youth Administration in Texas at 27 years old. (LBJ also was the extraordinarily influential secretary to Texas Congressman Richard M. Kleberg and practically ran that Congressional district when he was 23 years old.) •James Garfield was elected to the Ohio State Senate at 28 years old. •Millard Fillmore was elected to the New York State Assembly at 29. •Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to the New York State Senate at 29 years old. •Joe Biden was 28 years old when he was elected to the New Castle County (Delaware) Council. He also was 29 years old when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate, so he wouldn't have been old enough to actually take his seat if he had been sworn in immediately.

[deadpresidents]

Is the age difference between Trump and Vance the biggest between a potus and veep? And have there been many vps older than the presidents they served under?

Good questions!

Yes, the age difference between Donald Trump and JD Vance is the largest between any President and Vice President in American history, and by a pretty big margin. And while it would seem that most Presidents would choose a younger running mate, that's not really the case and it's been about even throughout history: 28 Presidents were older than their Vice Presidents and 24 Vice Presidents were the older side of the duo.

Here's the list of biggest age differences between Presidents who were OLDER than their Vice Presidents: 38 years, 49 days: Trump/Vance 29 years, 273 days: Buchanan/Breckinridge 22 years, 237 days: G.H.W. Bush/Quayle 22 years, 87 days: Eisenhower/Nixon 21 years, 334 days: Biden/Harris 17 years, 48 days: W.H. Harrison/Tyler 16 years, 54 days: Monroe/Tompkins 15 years, 271 days: McKinley/T. Roosevelt 15 years, 265 days: Jackson/Van Buren 15 years, 44 days: Taylor/Fillmore 15 years, 3 days: Jackson/Calhoun 14 years, 250 days: J.Q. Adams/Calhoun 13 years, 126 days: Reagan/G.H.W. Bush 12 years, 358 days: Trump/Pence 12 years, 299 days: Jefferson/Burr 7 years, 165 days: J. Adams/Jefferson 6 years, 250 days: F. Roosevelt/Wallace 6 years, 244 days: Harding/Coolidge 5 years, 304 days: Nixon/Agnew 3 years, 250 days: Washington/J. Adams 3 years, 96 days: Carter/Mondale 2 years, 273 days: L. Johnson/Humphrey 2 years, 98 days: F. Roosevelt/Truman 1 year, 224 days: Clinton/Gore 1 year, 125 days: McKinley/Hobart 330 days: Grant/Colfax 196 days: Lincoln/Hamlin 186 days: Nixon/Ford

And here is the list of biggest age differences between Presidents who were YOUNGER than their Vice Presidents: -18 years, 257 days: Obama/Biden -18 years, 230 days: Pierce/King -17 years, 192 days: Cleveland/Hendricks -14 years, 197 days: Hoover/Curtis -13 years, 69 days: F. Roosevelt/Garner -11 years, 233 days: Madison/G. Clinton -10 years, 70 days: Grant/H. Wilson -8 years, 275 days: Kennedy/L. Johnson -7 years, 96 days: B. Harrison/Morton -6 years, 311 days: Coolidge/Dawes -6 years, 242 days: Madison/Gerry -6 years, 169 days: T. Roosevelt/Fairbanks -6 years, 165 days: Truman/Barkley -5 years, 157 days: G.W. Bush/Cheney -5 years, 6 days: Ford/Rockefeller -3 years, 261 days: Jefferson/G. Clinton -3 years, 115 days: Polk/Dallas -3 years, 96 days: Hayes/Wheeler -2 years, 290 days: Wilson/Marshall -2 years, 49 days: Van Buren/R. Johnson -2 years, 45 days: Garfield/Arthur -1 year, 326 days: Taft/Sherman -1 year, 146 days: Cleveland/Stevenson -45 days: Lincoln/A. Johnson

[deadpresidents]

Is George the most common name among presidents?

No, it's "Rutherford". Just kidding, it's "James".

James: 6 (James Madison; James Monroe; James K. Polk; James Buchanan; James Garfield; and, James Earl "Jimmy" Carter)

John: 5 (John Adams; John Quincy Adams; John Tyler; [John] Calvin Coolidge; and, John F. Kennedy)

William: 4 (William Henry Harrison; William McKinley; William Howard Taft; and, William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton)

George: 3 (George Washington; George H.W. Bush; and, George W. Bush)

(TIE) Andrew/Thomas/Franklin: 2 (Andrew Jackson and Andrew Johnson; Thomas Jefferson and [Thomas] Woodrow Wilson; Franklin Pierce and Franklin D. Roosevelt)

[deadpresidents]

Which president and vp team were the oldest and youngest?

Combined? Like, which President/Vice President duo were the oldest and youngest when their ages were combined? I'm going with their combined ages on the date of their inauguration:

Combined Age of Presidents/VPs at Inauguration (Oldest-to-Youngest) •135 years, 314 days | Truman/Barkley (1949) •134 years, 207 days | Reagan/G.H.W. Bush (2nd term/1985) •134 years, 153 days | Biden/Harris (2021) •130 years, 218 days | Madison/Gerry (1813) •128 years, 82 days | Trump/Pence (2017) •127 years, 323 days | Ford/Rockefeller (1974) (Rockefeller was appointed to the Vice Presidency to fill the vacancy created by Ford's succession to the Presidency. This was the combined age of Ford and Rockefeller at the time of Rockefeller's inauguration as Vice President on December 19, 1974.) •127 years, 209 days | Madison/G. Clinton (1809) •127 years, 181 days | Jefferson/G. Clinton (1805) •126 years, 207 days | Reagan/G.H.W. Bush (1st term/1981) •123 years, 247 days | F. Roosevelt/Truman (1945) •123 years, 244 days | Hoover/Curtis (1929) •123 years, 55 days | Wilson/Marshall (2nd term/1917) •123 years, 49 days | F. Roosevelt/Garner (2nd term/1937) •122 years, 188 days | G.W. Bush/Cheney (2nd term/2005) •121 years, 230 days | Obama/Biden (2nd term/2013) •121 years, 111 days | Nixon/Ford (1973) (Ford was appointed to the Vice Presidency to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Spiro Agnew. This was the combined age of Nixon and Ford at the time of Ford's inauguration as Vice President on December 6, 1973.) •120 years, 123 days: B. Harrison/Morton (1889) •119 years, 26 days: Trump/Vance (2025) •118 years, 363 days | W.H. Harrison/Tyler (1841) •118 years, 135 days | Washington/J. Adams (2nd term/1793) •116 years, 78 days | Jackson/Van Buren (1833) •115 years, 135 days | F. Roosevelt/Garner (1st term/1933) •115 years, 85 days | J. Adams/Jefferson (1797) •115 years, 83 days | Nixon/Agnew (2nd term/1973) •115 years, 67 days | Pierce/King (This was the combined age of Pierce and King on Inauguration Day, March 4, 1853. King, who was seriously ill and attempting to recover his health outside of Washington, D.C., received special Congressional permission to be formally sworn in as Vice President in Cuba on March 24, 1853.) •115 years, 55 days | Wilson/Marshall (1st term/1913) •114 years, 188 days | G.W. Bush/Cheney (1st term/2001) •113 years, 230 days | Obama/Biden (1st term/2009) •113 years, 164 days | Cleveland/Hendricks (1885) •113 years, 156 days | Taylor/Fillmore (1849) •113 years, 118 days | Cleveland/Stevenson (1893) •112 years, 85 days | Lincoln/A. Johnson (1865) •112 years, 67 days | Coolidge/Dawes (1925) •112 years, 33 days | Hayes/Wheeler (1877) •111 years, 327 days | Grant/H. Wilson (1873) •111 years, 95 days | F. Roosevelt/Wallace (1941) •110 years, 241 days | Washington/J. Adams (1st term/1789) (Adams was sworn in as the first Vice President on April 21, 1789. Washington was sworn in as the first President nine days later, on April 30, 1789.) •110 years, 227 days | Van Buren/R. Johnson (1837) •110 years, 109 days | Eisenhower/Nixon (2nd term/1957) •110 years, 19 days | L. Johnson/Humphrey (1965) •109 years, 201 days | Monroe/Tompkins (2nd term/1821) •108 years, 340 days | Jackson/Calhoun (1829) •107 years, 83 days | Nixon/Agnew (1st term/1969) •106 years, 308 days | McKinley/Hobart (1897) •106 years, 211 days | G.H.W. Bush/Quayle (1989) •104 years, 301 days | Taft/Sherman (1909) •104 years, 0 days | Harding/Coolidge (1921) •103 years, 209 days | Lincoln/Hamlin (1861) •102 years, 351 days | Jefferson/Burr (1801) •102 years, 109 days | Eisenhower/Nixon (1st term/1953) •101 years, 362 days | Buchanan/Breckinridge (1857) •101 years, 359 days | Polk/Dallas (1845) •101 years, 201 days | Monroe/Tompkins (1st term/1817) •101 years, 116 days | Carter/Mondale (1977) •100 years, 255 days | Garfield/Arthur (1881) •100 years, 222 days | J.Q. Adams/Calhoun (1825) •100 years, 162 days | McKinley/T. Roosevelt (1901) •99 years, 60 days | T. Roosevelt/Fairbanks (1905) •99 years, 16 days | Clinton/Gore (2nd term/1997) •96 years, 17 days | Kennedy/L. Johnson (1961) •92 years, 292 days | Grant/Colfax (1869) •91 years, 16 days | Clinton/Gore (1st term/1993)

[deadpresidents]

Hi there! A couple questions:

1. I know that both James K. Polk and Warren G. Harding share a birthday (November 2) Are there any VPs who share a birthday?

2. Are there any First or Second Ladies that share a birthday?

I'm not sure about which, if any, First or Second Ladies share a birthday.

But two Vice Presidents were born on February 6th: Aaron Burr (1756) and Dan Quayle (1947).

And three Vice Presidents were born on August 27th: Hannibal Hamlin (1809), Charles Gates Dawes (1865), and Lyndon B. Johnson (1908).

An interesting (somewhat related) bit of trivia is that October is the most popular birth month for Presidents AND Vice Presidents. Technically, October and November are tied for most Presidential birthdates with six, while eight Vice Presidents were born in the month of October.

[deadpresidents]

Have any Vice Presidents later run for Governor or other office besides President after their terms?

Yes. Not counting those who served as President or ran for President following their time as Vice President, or the seven Vice Presidents who died in office (George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, William R. King, Henry Wilson, Thomas A. Hendricks, Garret Hobart, and James S. Sherman), here are the VPs who sought other offices post-Vice Presidency:

•Aaron Burr (1801-1805): Lost race for Governor of New York in 1804 during his Vice Presidency. •Daniel D. Tompkins (1817-1825): Lost race for Governor of New York in 1820 during his Vice Presidency. •John C. Calhoun (1825-1832): Resigned the Vice Presidency to join in the U.S. Senate from South Carolina (1832-1843); Served as Secretary of State (1844-1845) in the last stretch of the Tyler Administration; Elected again to the U.S. Senate from South Carolina (1845-1850) after serving as Secretary of State.

•Richard M. Johnson (1837-1841): Lost race for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky in 1842; Served two separate terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives (1841-1843; 1850) after his Vice Presidency. Died two weeks into his second post-Vice Presidential term in the state legislature.

•John Tyler (1841): After serving as Vice President and President, and following Virginia's secession from the Union in 1861, Tyler was elected as a delegate to the Provisional Confederate Congress. Tyler was also elected to a full term in the Confederate House of Representatives but died just before taking his seat in February 1862.

•George M. Dallas (1845-1849): Appointed U.S. Minister to Great Britain (1856-1861) by President Pierce and served under Presidents Pierce and Buchanan before being replaced early in the Lincoln Administration.

•John C. Breckinridge (1857-1861): Elected to a U.S. Senate seat from Kentucky while still Vice President. After administering the oath of office to his successor as Vice President, Hannibal Hamlin, Breckinridge was immediately sworn into the Senate by Hamlin. Although Kentucky remained neutral during the Civil War, Breckinridge supported the Confederacy and joined the Confederate military while still a sitting Senator, resulting in treason charges in November 1861 and, a month later, unanimous expulsion from the Senate. Breckinridge became a general in the Confederate Army and served as Confederate President Jefferson Davis's final Secretary of War.

•Hannibal Hamlin (1861-1865): Briefly served as Collector of the Port of Boston (1865-1866) after being appointed by President Andrew Johnson. Elected U.S. Senator from Maine (1869-1881). Served as U.S. Ambassador to Spain (1881-1882) under Presidents Garfield and Arthur.

•Andrew Johnson (1865): After his brief Vice Presidency and nearly four years as President, Johnson lost races for the U.S. Senate (1869) and U.S. House of Representatives in Tennessee. Elected as U.S. Senator from Tennessee in 1875 and died in office.

•William A. Wheeler (1877-1881): Wheeler was considered as a candidate for the U.S. Senate from New York on several occasions following his Vice Presidency but never made a serious bid for election.

•Levi P. Morton (1889-1893): Served as Governor of New York (1895-1896).

•Adlai E. Stevenson (1893-1897): Lost race for Governor of Illinois in 1908.

•Charles W. Fairbanks (1905-1909): Fairbanks was the Republican nominee for Vice President on a ticket alongside Presidential nominee Charles Evans Hughes in 1916 but they lost to incumbent President Woodrow Wilson and Vice President Thomas R. Marshall.

•Charles G. Dawes (1925-1929): Served as U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain (1929-1931), appointed by President Hoover.

•Henry A. Wallace (1941-1945): After being dumped as Vice President in favor of Harry Truman when Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for a fourth term in 1944, FDR appointed Wallace Secretary of Commerce where he served from 1945-1946 under Roosevelt and Truman

•Alben W. Barkley (1949-1953): Elected to the U.S. Senate from Kentucky after his Vice Presidency and served from 1955 until dying in office in 1956.

•Richard Nixon (1953-1961): After losing his first bid for the White House in 1960, Nixon also lost a race for Governor of California in 1962 after leaving the Vice Presidency before making a remarkable comeback to win the Presidency in 1968.

•Hubert H. Humphrey (1965-1969): Elected to his former seat in the U.S. Senate from Minnesota and served until dying in office (1971-1978).

•Walter Mondale (1977-1981): U.S. Ambassador to Japan (1993-1996), appointed by President Clinton. In 2002, Mondale lost a race for U.S. Senate from Minnesota when he was the last-minute replacement on the ballot after Senator Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash.

[deadpresidents]

If Walz wins he'll be the third vp in 50 years from MN. If VA is the cradle of presidents what is the cradle of vps??

Virginia is barely holding on to the title of "Cradle of the Presidents". There have been eight Presidents born in Virginia (Washington; Jefferson; Madison; Monroe; W.H. Harrison; Tyler; Taylor; and Wilson), and seven Presidents born in Ohio, all of whom served in the White House in the 52 years before the 1868 and 1920 elections (Grant; Hayes; Garfield; B. Harrison; McKinley; Taft; and Harding).

As for Vice Presidents, New York is, by far, the "Cradle of the Vice Presidents". Eight Vice Presidents were born in New York (G. Clinton; Tompkins; Van Buren; Fillmore; Colfax. Wheeler; T. Roosevelt; and Sherman). And New York was the official state of residency for eleven Vice Presidents (Burr; G. Clinton; Tompkins; Van Buren; Fillmore; Wheeler; Arthur; Morton; T. Roosevelt; Sherman; and Rockefeller).

Here's a quick look at the state of birth for each of our Vice Presidents, as well as the state they represented (which was their official state of residency at the time of their election):