Millard Fillmore
I have a precocious presidential historian in my family. When she was in 2nd grade, my daughter Sofia took an interest in U.S. presidents, largely because of creative assignments about George Washington or Abraham Lincoln as Presidents Day neared in February. Well, it so happens that I love biographies about U.S. presidents, and not just “the Big Two.” So I bought a pack of flash cards — portraits and bio sketches of each American president — and Sofia and I had a new game, one that would provide invaluable moments together while educating both of us. By the time she was in 3rd grade, Sofia could identify Millard Fillmore. She could tell you Rutherford Hayes had a longer beard than Benjamin Harrison. (Where has presidential facial hair gone?)
With happy memories of those flash cards in mind — and Sofia now completing her final semester in college — I’ll share some presidential factoids that go beyond cherry trees and the Gettysburg Address.
Since 2017, we have had three living two-term presidents, and this is extraordinary. Every day Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama are alive together establishes a new record for such a trio of “eight-year men” in the White House. There has been only one other such trio: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. And that group, sadly, was short-lived. Jefferson died in 1826, merely a year after Monroe departed office.
Four American presidents have been honored with the Nobel Peace Prize. Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Barack Obama received the salute while in office, and Jimmy Carter earned the prize in 2002, largely for his extraordinary humanitarian efforts since leaving the White House in January 1981.
Eight presidents have died in office (four of them assassinated), but we haven’t lost a sitting president in almost 60 years. This is, happily, the longest period in American history without a death atop the executive branch (since John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963). The longest previous stretch was 52 years, the period between George Washington taking office (in 1789) and William Henry Harrison’s death (in 1841) after only a month as president.
Jimmy Carter served only one term as president, but has lived longer (96 years) than any other commander in chief. Five other presidents lived into their 90s: John Adams, Herbert Hoover, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush.
At age 78, Joe Biden is the oldest man to assume duties as President of the United States. (He broke the record of his predecessor, Donald Trump, who took office in 2017 at age 70.) Eight presidents have taken office before their 50th birthday: James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce, Ulysses Grant, Grover Cleveland, Teddy Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
Hundreds of books have been written about Washington and Lincoln, but four books have been written about Lyndon Johnson … without covering his presidency. Biographer Robert Caro published the first volume of his LBJ study (The Path to Power) in 1981 and the fourth, most recently, in 2012 (The Passage of Power). Even with more than 2,800 pages on the shelf, readers are only up to 1963, when Johnson assumes the presidency upon Kennedy’s death. So it’s not necessarily the number of books that measure a president’s significance, but the number of volumes necessary to complete the tale.
With President Biden’s inauguration, there are now six living American presidents, the most since Ronald Reagan died in 2004. For the last 19 months of his presidency (from January 1973 to August 1974), Richard Nixon was the only living American president.
Only four presidents have taken the oath of office outside Washington D.C. since the capitol moved there in 1800. Each was after the untimely death of his predecessor: Chester Arthur (1881 in New York City), Teddy Roosevelt (1901 in Buffalo, New York), Calvin Coolidge (1923 in Plymouth Notch, Vermont), and Lyndon Johnson (1963 in Dallas, Texas).
Plenty of presidents have represented both the executive and legislative branches of our government. But only one president has also served on the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to being America’s 27th president (1909-13), William Howard Taft was the country’s 10th Chief Justice (1921-30).
Back to that facial hair question. The last American president to sport a beard or mustache was William Howard Taft, who left office in March 1913. There was a time when facial fashion was much more hairy. Starting with Abraham Lincoln (who took office in 1861), nine of the next eleven presidents are recognized today for their facial hair. And yes, Rutherford Hayes wins the prize for bushiest beard.