#potus stats

[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]

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]

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):

[deadpresidents]

Do you have a list of which states the presidents were born and lived in like the list of vice presidents you posted earlier?

You're referencing this list that I posted a few days ago of the states where the Vice Presidents of the United States were born and the states they represented at the time of their election.

Here's a similar list for each of the Presidents of the United States. The state "represented" is official state of residency at the time of their election or succession to the Presidency:

*Note that three Presidents changed their official state of residency during their respective Presidencies: -When Dwight D. Eisenhower was first elected in 1952 he was living in New York where he was president of Columbia University. Prior to his reelection in 1956, Eisenhower changed his state of residency to Pennsylvania where he had a farm in Gettysburg. -Richard Nixon was born in California and represented California in Congress and as Vice President. When he was elected in 1968 he was living in New York where was practicing law. Prior to his reelection in 1972, Nixon changed his official state of residency back to California. -Donald Trump was living in New York at the time of his election in 2016. Prior to his unsuccessful bid for reelection in 2020 Trump changed his official state of residency to Florida. Trump continued to use his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida as his primary residence during the 2024 election.

[deadpresidents]

How many presidents have had both of their parents alive when they were president?

Three Presidents have had both parents alive when they became President:

•Ulysses S. Grant Grant was the first President with both of his parents alive at the time of his inauguration. His father, Jesse Root Grant, died on June 29, 1873 during Grant’s second term. His mother, Hannah Simpson Grant, survived both of his terms and died two years before he did, on May 11, 1883. •John F. Kennedy Not only were both of JFK’s Presidents alive when he became President, but they are the only parents of a President who both outlived him. JFK was assassinated in 1963. His father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., died in 1969, and his mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy died in 1995 at the age of 104. •George W. Bush Both of Bush’s parents were alive when he took office and survived his entire two-term Presidency. His father, former President George H.W. Bush, died on November 30, 2018, just six months after the death of his mother, Barbara Bush, in April 2018.

Several Presidents have had either their father or mother still alive when they became President:

FATHER •John Quincy Adams: The first son of a President to be elected President himself was also the first President whose father was still alive at the time of his inauguration. John Adams died July 4, 1826, a little over a year into JQA’s Presidency. •Millard Fillmore: Nathaniel Fillmore lived through his son’s entire Presidency (1850-1853) and died in his 90s during the Civil War, on March 28, 1863. •Warren G. Harding: Harding’s father, George Tryon Harding, lived through his son’s entire Administration and died on November 19, 1928. Harding, who died in office on August 2, 1923, was the first President who was outlived by his father. •Calvin Coolidge: Not only did Coolidge’s father, John Calvin Coolidge, live to see his son become President, but he actually administered the oath of office. Coolidge, the Vice President at the time, was visiting his father when President Harding died in office and the elder Coolidge, a notary public, administered the Presidential oath at the family home in Vermont. Coolidge’s father died on March 18, 1926 during President Coolidge’s second term.

MOTHER •George Washington: Mary Ball Washington died August 25, 1789, a little less than four months after his first inauguration. •John Adams: Susanna Boylston Adams died  April 21, 1797, just under two months after Adams became President. •James Madison: Eleanor Conway Madison lived through both of her son’s terms as President (1809-1817) and died February 11, 1829 at the age of 98. •James K. Polk: Polk was the first President who didn’t outlive his mother. She died on January 11, 1852, almost three years after Polk left office and died. •James Garfield: Garfield’s mother, Eliza Ballou Garfield, lived to see him become President and die in office. She died on January 21, 1888, almost seven years after he was assassinated. •William McKinley: McKinley’s mother, Nancy Allison McKinley, lived to attend her son’s first inauguration, but died several months later, December 12, 1897. •Franklin D. Roosevelt: FDR’s mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt, lived to see her son inaugurated three times. She died during her son’s third term, on September 7, 1941. •Harry S. Truman: Truman’s mother, Martha Young Truman, lived to see her son succeed to the Presidency in April 1945. She died during his first term, on July 26, 1947, at the age of 94. •Jimmy Carter: Lillian Carter lived through her son’s entire Presidency and was even sent to represent him at events overseas several times, which made her a celebrity in her own right during his Presidency. She died on April 30, 1983, two years after Carter left the White House. •George H.W. Bush: Bush’s mother, Dorothy Walker Bush, lived to see her son become President. She died on November 19, 1992, two weeks after her son lost his bid for re-election. •Bill Clinton: Virginia Cassidy Kelley, Clinton’s mother, lived to see him become President but died less than a year later, on January 6, 1994.

[deadpresidents]

Who are the youngest and oldest vice presidents

At the time of their Inauguration? Here's the list of the Vice Presidents' Age at Inauguration, from youngest-to-oldest:

AGE AT INAUGURATION: NAME OF VP [Administration] 36 years, 42 days: John C. Breckinridge [Buchanan] 40 years, 11 days: Richard Nixon [Eisenhower] 41 years, 353 days: Dan Quayle [G.H.W. Bush] 42 years, 128 days: Theodore Roosevelt [McKinley's 2nd VP] 42 years, 256 days: Daniel D. Tompkins [Monroe] 42 years, 352 days: John C. Calhoun [J.Q. Adams/Jackson's 1st VP] 44 years, 232 days: Al Gore [Clinton] 45 years, 26 days: Aaron Burr [Jefferson's 1st VP] 45 years, 346 days: Schuyler Colfax [Grant's 1st VP] 48 years, 243 days: Calvin Coolidge [Harding] 49 years, 15 days: Walter Mondale [Carter] 49 years, 56 days: Millard Fillmore [Taylor] 50 years, 72 days: Spiro Agnew [Nixon's 1st VP] 50 years, 98 days: Martin Van Buren [Jackson's 2nd VP] 50 years, 340 days: John Tyler [W.H. Harrison] 51 years, 150 days: Chester A. Arthur [Garfield] 51 years, 189 days: Hannibal Hamlin [Lincoln's 1st VP] 52 years, 105 days: Henry A. Wallace [FDR's 2nd VP] 52 years, 146 days: Lyndon B. Johnson [JFK] 52 years, 237 days: George M. Dallas [Polk] 52 years, 274 days: Garret A. Hobart [McKinley's 1st VP] 52 years, 297 days: Charles W. Fairbanks [T. Roosevelt] 53 years, 131 days: James S. Sherman [Taft] 53 years, 174 days: John Adams [Washington] 53 years, 238 days: Hubert H. Humphrey [LBJ] 53 years, 325 days: Thomas Jefferson [J. Adams] 56 years, 65 days: Andrew Johnson [Lincoln's 2nd VP] 56 years, 92 days: Kamala Harris [Biden] 56 years, 138 days: Richard M. Johnson [Van Buren] 56 years, 223 days: George H.W. Bush [Reagan] 57 years, 132 days: Adlai E. Stevenson [Cleveland's 2nd VP] 57 years, 227 days: Mike Pence [Trump] 57 years, 247 days: William A. Wheeler [Hayes] 58 years, 355 days: Thomas R. Marshall [Wilson] 59 years, 189 days: Charles G. Dawes [Coolidge] 59 years, 335 days: Dick Cheney [G.W. Bush] 60 years, 145 days: Gerald Ford [Nixon's 2nd VP] 60 years, 257 days: Harry S. Truman [FDR's 3rd VP] 61 years, 16 days: Henry Wilson [Grant's 2nd VP] 64 years, 102 days: John Nance Garner {FDR's 1st VP] 64 years, 292 days: Levi P. Morton [B. Harrison] 65 years, 178 days: Thomas A. Hendricks [Cleveland's 1st VP] 65 years, 221 days: George Clinton [Jefferson's 2nd/Madison's 1st] 66 years, 61 days: Joe Biden [Obama] 66 years, 165 days: Nelson Rockefeller [Ford] 66 years, 331 days: William R.D. King [Pierce] 68 years, 230 days: Elbridge Gerry [Madison's 2nd VP] 69 years, 38 days: Charles Curtis [Hoover] 71 years, 57 days: Alben W. Barkley [Truman]