Last week, President George H.W. Bush became the oldest living president in American history, at 93 years, 166 days old.
He’s beaten Gerald Ford, who died at 93 years, 165 days.
Jimmy Carter, also 93, is 111 days younger than H.W.
Ronald Reagan also lived to be 93.
So far, no president has lived to the ripe age of 94. But quite a few have made it into the 90s, starting with John Adams, who died at the age of 90 in 1826 (meaning he witnessed every presidency between George Washington and his own son, John Quincy Adams). Herbert Hoover also lived into his 90s.
A great tidbit gleaned from this week’s research is this: the greatest number of presidents alive at the same time is six. This has happened four times. The first time was between 1861 and 1862, when Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln were alive. The second time was between 1993 and 1994 (when Nixon died). The living presidents for those two years were Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The third features more or less the same crowd between 2001 and Reagan’s death in 2004–Ford, Carter, Reagan, H.W., Clinton, and George Bush. Today, Carter, H.W., Clinton, Bush, Obama & Trump make up the fourth six.
History First 