Baris Inan |
Two former US presidents, born in 1924, turned 90 this year; the 41st President George H. W. Bush celebrated his 90th birthday on June 12th and the 39th President Jimmy Carter, on October 1st. Since these two presidents are still alive, they are on their way to become the oldest-living US president.
A natural question occurred to me: Which US presidents lived the longest?
After consulting with Wikipedia, I found out that the longest-lived president was the 38th President, Gerald Ford, who died at the age of 93 years and 165 days. The 40th President, Ronald Reagan, is the second longest-lived president, who lived 93 years and 120 days, 45 days short of Ford.
The third place for the longest-living US president belongs to the 2nd President John Adams, who lived an amazing 90 years and 247 days since he served at the turn of the 19th century.
Until this year, the 31st President Herbert Hoover, was the fourth longest-lived president, who died at an age of 90 years and 71 days. However, this year, based on the total number of days in their lifespan, President Bush’s age matched that of President Hoover on August 22nd. As a result, President Bush is currently the fourth longest-lived US president.
President Bush will tie President Adams if he lives until February 14th, 2015, tie President Reagan on October 10th, 2017 and tie President Ford on November 24th, 2017.
President Jimmy Carter will tie Hoover on December 11th, 2014, tie President Adams on June 5th, 2015, tie President Reagan on January 29, 2018, and lastly, tie President Ford on March 15, 2018.
Interestingly enough, currently, two of the living US presidents, Bush and Carter, are competing to become the longest-lived US presidents in American history. As long as they both continue to live, George H. W. Bush, being 111 days older than Jimmy Carter, remains the frontrunner candidate to become the longest-lived US president.
I would like to wish a happy 90th birthday to both Presidents Bush and Carter and hope that God grant them long life and good health.
| US presidents | Gerald Ford | Ronald Reagan | John Adams | Herbert Hoover |
|
George H. W. Bush
(Born on Jun. 12th, 1924) |
Nov. 24th, 2017 | Oct. 10th, 2017 | Feb. 14th, 2015 | Aug. 22nd, 2014 |
|
Jimmy Carter
(Born on Oct. 1st, 1924) |
Mar. 15th, 2018 | Jan. 29th, 2018 | Jun. 5th, 2015 | Dec. 11th, 2014 |
Baris Inan is a senior electrical engineering major. Baris can be reached at inan13@up.edu.
