Mourning for Jimmy Carter: These US presidents had long lives

After leaving the White House, he lived for almost another 44 years – longer than anyone else before him: Jimmy Carter (born 1924), the longest-living US president, died on December 29th. He was the first and only president to live to the ripe old age of 100 years and 89 days.

Some other US presidents were also granted a long life after their term in office. These presidents also lived to be almost 100 years old:

The second longest-lived former US president is George HW Bush (born 1924). He died on November 30, 2018 at the age of 94 years and 171 days. The 41st US President would have turned 100 this year on June 12th. After his term ended in 1993, the Republican lived for almost 26 more years. From November 2017 to March 22, 2019, Bush Sr. was the longest-lived president of all presidents, until he was surpassed that day by Jimmy Carter.

He had a close friendship with his successor Jimmy Carter: Gerald Ford (born 1913) was the oldest living former US president until his death on December 26, 2006. He died at the age of 93 years and 165 days. After his relatively short term in office, the 38th President of the United States lived for just under 30 years.

His presidency lasted only 895 days, making it the shortest of any U.S. president who did not die in office. He took over the presidency from Nixon in 1974, after he became the first and only US president to resign from office following the Watergate affair, and completed the remaining two and a half years of his current term of office as provided for by the Constitution. Afterwards, Ford was valued as an elder statesman.

Jimmy Carter’s successor Ronald Reagan (born 1911) was also blessed with a long life. The 40th US President was 93 years and 120 days old. At the start of his presidency he was already 69 years old. At the time, he was the oldest president when he took office. He ended his time in the White House at the age of almost 78. He was then granted another 15 years of life before the former actor died in June 2004.

The six US presidents who lived to be over 90 years old also include the second US President John Adams (1735 – 1826), who held office from 1797 to 1801 after George Washington, and Herbert Hoover (1874 – 1964). , who was president from 1929 to 1933.

John F. Kennedy (born 1917), on the other hand, has a sad record: The 35th US President was assassinated on November 22, 1963. He was only 46 years old at the time: his lifespan is the shortest of all previous presidents, and he is considered the youngest president at the end of his term in office. By the way, the oldest president at the end of his term in office will soon be Joe Biden – at 82 years old, almost twice as old as Kennedy.

Three other US presidents died relatively young after an assassination attempt on their person: Abraham Lincoln (born 1809) in April 1865 at the age of 56, James A. Garfield (born 1831) in September 1881 at the age of 49, and William McKinley (born 1843) in September 1901 at the age of 58.

James K. Polk (1795 – 1849) had the shortest retirement of all presidents. The 11th US President died of cholera at the age of 53, 103 days after leaving office.

Five former, current or designated US presidents are currently still alive: Bill Clinton (78), George W. Bush (78), Barack Obama (63), Donald Trump (78) and Joe Biden (82).