List of presidents of the United States by age

Last updated December 09, 2024

In this list of presidents of the United States by age, the first table charts the age of each president of the United States at the time of presidential inauguration (first inauguration if elected to multiple and consecutive terms), upon leaving office, and at the time of death. Where the president is still living, their lifespan and post-presidency timespan are calculated through December 9, 2024.

Age of presidents

Article Two of the United States Constitution provides that U.S. presidents must be at least 35 years old at the time of taking office. The median age at inauguration of incoming U.S. presidents is 55 years.^[1]^[2] The youngest person to become U.S. president was Theodore Roosevelt, who, at age 42, succeeded to the office after the assassination of William McKinley.^[1] The oldest person inaugurated president is Joe Biden, at the age of 78.^[1]^[3]

Assassinated at age 46, John F. Kennedy was the youngest president at the end of his tenure, and his lifespan was the shortest of any president.^[4] The oldest president at the end of his tenure will be Joe Biden at 82.

James K. Polk had the shortest retirement of any president, dying of cholera only 103 days after leaving office, at the age of 53 (the youngest president to die of natural causes).^[5] Jimmy Carter's retirement, currently 43 years, is the longest in American presidential history. Carter is the oldest of the six living U.S. presidents,^[2] the nation's longest-lived former president, and the first former president to reach the age of 100.^[6] The youngest living former president is Barack Obama, age 63.

Presidential age-related data

No.	President	Born	Age at start of presidency	Age at end of presidency	Post-presidency timespan	Lifespan
No.	President	Born	Age at start of presidency	Age at end of presidency	Post-presidency timespan	Died	Age
1	George Washington	Feb 22, 1732^[a]	57 years, 67 days Apr 30, 1789	65 years, 10 days Mar 4, 1797	2 years, 285 days	Dec 14, 1799	67 years, 295 days
2	John Adams	Oct 30, 1735^[a]	61 years, 125 days Mar 4, 1797	65 years, 125 days Mar 4, 1801	25 years, 122 days	Jul 4, 1826	90 years, 247 days
3	Thomas Jefferson	Apr 13, 1743^[a]	57 years, 325 days Mar 4, 1801	65 years, 325 days Mar 4, 1809	17 years, 122 days	Jul 4, 1826	83 years, 82 days
4	James Madison	Mar 16, 1751^[a]	57 years, 353 days Mar 4, 1809	65 years, 353 days Mar 4, 1817	19 years, 116 days	Jun 28, 1836	85 years, 104 days
5	James Monroe	Apr 28, 1758	58 years, 310 days Mar 4, 1817	66 years, 310 days Mar 4, 1825	6 years, 122 days	Jul 4, 1831	73 years, 67 days
6	John Quincy Adams	Jul 11, 1767	57 years, 236 days Mar 4, 1825	61 years, 236 days Mar 4, 1829	18 years, 356 days	Feb 23, 1848	80 years, 227 days
7	Andrew Jackson	Mar 15, 1767	61 years, 354 days Mar 4, 1829	69 years, 354 days Mar 4, 1837	8 years, 96 days	Jun 8, 1845	78 years, 85 days
8	Martin Van Buren	Dec 5, 1782	54 years, 89 days Mar 4, 1837	58 years, 89 days Mar 4, 1841	21 years, 142 days	Jul 24, 1862	79 years, 231 days
9	William Henry Harrison	Feb 9, 1773	68 years, 23 days Mar 4, 1841	68 years, 54 days Apr 4, 1841	0 days^[b]	Apr 4, 1841	68 years, 54 days
10	John Tyler	Mar 29, 1790	51 years, 6 days Apr 4, 1841	54 years, 340 days Mar 4, 1845	16 years, 320 days	Jan 18, 1862	71 years, 295 days
11	James K. Polk	Nov 2, 1795	49 years, 122 days Mar 4, 1845	53 years, 122 days Mar 4, 1849	103 days	Jun 15, 1849	53 years, 225 days
12	Zachary Taylor	Nov 24, 1784	64 years, 100 days Mar 4, 1849	65 years, 227 days Jul 9, 1850	0 days^[b]	Jul 9, 1850	65 years, 227 days
13	Millard Fillmore	Jan 7, 1800	50 years, 183 days Jul 9, 1850	53 years, 56 days Mar 4, 1853	21 years, 4 days	Mar 8, 1874	74 years, 60 days
14	Franklin Pierce	Nov 23, 1804	48 years, 101 days Mar 4, 1853	52 years, 101 days Mar 4, 1857	12 years, 218 days	Oct 8, 1869	64 years, 319 days
15	James Buchanan	Apr 23, 1791	65 years, 315 days Mar 4, 1857	69 years, 315 days Mar 4, 1861	7 years, 89 days	Jun 1, 1868	77 years, 39 days
16	Abraham Lincoln	Feb 12, 1809	52 years, 20 days Mar 4, 1861	56 years, 62 days Apr 15, 1865	0 days^[b]	Apr 15, 1865	56 years, 62 days
17	Andrew Johnson	Dec 29, 1808	56 years, 107 days Apr 15, 1865	60 years, 65 days Mar 4, 1869	6 years, 149 days	Jul 31, 1875	66 years, 214 days
18	Ulysses S. Grant	Apr 27, 1822	46 years, 311 days Mar 4, 1869	54 years, 311 days Mar 4, 1877	8 years, 141 days	Jul 23, 1885	63 years, 87 days
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	Oct 4, 1822	54 years, 151 days Mar 4, 1877	58 years, 151 days Mar 4, 1881	11 years, 319 days	Jan 17, 1893	70 years, 105 days
20	James A. Garfield	Nov 19, 1831	49 years, 105 days Mar 4, 1881	49 years, 304 days Sep 19, 1881	0 days^[b]	Sep 19, 1881	49 years, 304 days
21	Chester A. Arthur	Oct 5, 1829	51 years, 349 days Sep 19, 1881	55 years, 150 days Mar 4, 1885	1 year, 259 days	Nov 18, 1886	57 years, 44 days
22	Grover Cleveland	Mar 18, 1837	47 years, 351 days Mar 4, 1885	51 years, 351 days Mar 4, 1889	4 years, 0 days^[c]	Jun 24, 1908	71 years, 98 days
23	Benjamin Harrison	Aug 20, 1833	55 years, 196 days Mar 4, 1889	59 years, 196 days Mar 4, 1893	8 years, 9 days	Mar 13, 1901	67 years, 205 days
24	Grover Cleveland	Mar 18, 1837	55 years, 351 days Mar 4, 1893	59 years, 351 days Mar 4, 1897	11 years, 112 days^[d]	Jun 24, 1908	71 years, 98 days
25	William McKinley	Jan 29, 1843	54 years, 34 days Mar 4, 1897	58 years, 228 days Sep 14, 1901	0 days^[b]	Sep 14, 1901	58 years, 228 days
26	Theodore Roosevelt	Oct 27, 1858	42 years, 322 days Sep 14, 1901	50 years, 128 days Mar 4, 1909	9 years, 308 days	Jan 6, 1919	60 years, 71 days
27	William Howard Taft	Sep 15, 1857	51 years, 170 days Mar 4, 1909	55 years, 170 days Mar 4, 1913	17 years, 4 days	Mar 8, 1930	72 years, 174 days
28	Woodrow Wilson	Dec 28, 1856	56 years, 66 days Mar 4, 1913	64 years, 66 days Mar 4, 1921	2 years, 336 days	Feb 3, 1924	67 years, 37 days
29	Warren G. Harding	Nov 2, 1865	55 years, 122 days Mar 4, 1921	57 years, 273 days Aug 2, 1923	0 days^[b]	Aug 2, 1923	57 years, 273 days
30	Calvin Coolidge	Jul 4, 1872	51 years, 29 days Aug 2, 1923	56 years, 243 days Mar 4, 1929	3 years, 307 days	Jan 5, 1933	60 years, 185 days
31	Herbert Hoover	Aug 10, 1874	54 years, 206 days Mar 4, 1929	58 years, 206 days Mar 4, 1933	31 years, 230 days	Oct 20, 1964	90 years, 71 days
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	Jan 30, 1882	51 years, 33 days Mar 4, 1933	63 years, 72 days Apr 12, 1945	0 days^[b]	Apr 12, 1945	63 years, 72 days
33	Harry S. Truman	May 8, 1884	60 years, 339 days Apr 12, 1945	68 years, 257 days Jan 20, 1953	19 years, 341 days	Dec 26, 1972	88 years, 232 days
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Oct 14, 1890	62 years, 98 days Jan 20, 1953	70 years, 98 days Jan 20, 1961	8 years, 67 days	Mar 28, 1969	78 years, 165 days
35	John F. Kennedy	May 29, 1917	43 years, 236 days Jan 20, 1961	46 years, 177 days Nov 22, 1963	0 days^[b]	Nov 22, 1963	46 years, 177 days
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	Aug 27, 1908	55 years, 87 days Nov 22, 1963	60 years, 146 days Jan 20, 1969	4 years, 2 days	Jan 22, 1973	64 years, 148 days
37	Richard Nixon	Jan 9, 1913	56 years, 11 days Jan 20, 1969	61 years, 212 days Aug 9, 1974^[e]	19 years, 256 days	Apr 22, 1994	81 years, 103 days
38	Gerald Ford	Jul 14, 1913	61 years, 26 days Aug 9, 1974	63 years, 190 days Jan 20, 1977	29 years, 340 days	Dec 26, 2006	93 years, 165 days
39	Jimmy Carter	Oct 1, 1924	52 years, 111 days Jan 20, 1977	56 years, 111 days Jan 20, 1981	43 years, 324 days	–	100 years, 69 days
40	Ronald Reagan	Feb 6, 1911	69 years, 349 days Jan 20, 1981	77 years, 349 days Jan 20, 1989	15 years, 137 days	Jun 5, 2004	93 years, 120 days
41	George H. W. Bush	Jun 12, 1924	64 years, 222 days Jan 20, 1989	68 years, 222 days Jan 20, 1993	25 years, 314 days	Nov 30, 2018	94 years, 171 days
42	Bill Clinton	Aug 19, 1946	46 years, 154 days Jan 20, 1993	54 years, 154 days Jan 20, 2001	23 years, 324 days	–	78 years, 112 days
43	George W. Bush	Jul 6, 1946	54 years, 198 days Jan 20, 2001	62 years, 198 days Jan 20, 2009	15 years, 324 days	–	78 years, 156 days
44	Barack Obama	Aug 4, 1961	47 years, 169 days Jan 20, 2009	55 years, 169 days Jan 20, 2017	7 years, 324 days	–	63 years, 127 days
45	Donald Trump	Jun 14, 1946	70 years, 220 days Jan 20, 2017	74 years, 220 days Jan 20, 2021	3 years, 324 days	–	78 years, 178 days
46	Joe Biden	Nov 20, 1942	78 years, 61 days Jan 20, 2021	(Incumbent)	(Incumbent)	–	82 years, 19 days

Notes

1 2 3 4 Birthdate as changed to New Style
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Died in office
↑ This is the length of Cleveland's first (1889–1893) post-presidential retirement, between his two terms in office.
↑ This is the length of Cleveland's second (1897–1908) post-presidential retirement, after his second term in office.
↑ Resigned from office

Graphical representation

This is a graphical lifespan timeline of the presidents of the United States. They are listed in order of office, with Grover Cleveland listed in the order of his first presidency.

List of presidents of the United States by age

The following chart shows presidents by their age (living presidents in green), with the years of their presidency in blue. The vertical blue line at 35 years indicates the minimum age to be president.

Related Research Articles

Religious affiliations can affect the electability of the presidents of the United States and shape their stances on policy matters and their visions of society and also how they want to lead it. While no president has ever openly identified as an atheist, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and William Howard Taft were speculated to be atheists by their opponents during political campaigns; in addition, a survey during the presidency of Donald Trump showed that 63% of Americans did not believe he was religious, despite his professed Christian affiliation. Conspiracy theorists also falsely circulated rumors that Barack Obama was a Muslim during his 2004 Senate campaign and later time as President. Conversely, other presidents, such as Jimmy Carter, have used their faith as a defining aspect of their campaigns and tenure in office.

The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also an officer in the legislative branch, as the president of the Senate. In this capacity, the vice president is empowered to preside over the United States Senate, but may not vote except to cast a tie-breaking vote. The vice president is indirectly elected at the same time as the president to a four-year term of office by the people of the United States through the Electoral College, but the electoral votes are cast separately for these two offices. Following the passage in 1967 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the US Constitution, a vacancy in the office of vice president may be filled by presidential nomination and confirmation by a majority vote in both houses of Congress.

Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Minnesota from 1964 to 1976, he was the Democratic Party's nominee in the 1984 presidential election, but lost to incumbent Ronald Reagan in an Electoral College and popular vote landslide.

A gerontocracy is a form of rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population.

Anna Tuthill Harrison was the first lady of the United States in 1841 as the wife of President William Henry Harrison. She served in the role for only one month, as her husband contracted pneumonia and died shortly after his term began. Their son John Scott Harrison was the father of President Benjamin Harrison. She never entered the White House during her tenure as first lady, remaining the only presidential wife to never visit the capital during her husband's presidency. At age 65 when her husband's presidential term began, Harrison was the oldest woman ever to assume the role of first lady, a record held until Jill Biden became first lady at age 69 in 2021. She also has the distinction of holding the title for the shortest length of time, and the first first lady to be widowed while holding the title. Harrison was the last first lady to have been born before the inauguration of George Washington. She was the only First Lady of the United States to have been the wife of one U.S. President and the grandmother of another U.S. President.

Between 73 and 79 days after the presidential election, the president-elect of the United States is inaugurated as president by taking the presidential oath of office. The inauguration takes place for each new presidential term, even if the president is continuing in office for a second term.

Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States, has run for public office several times, beginning in 1970. Biden served as the 47th vice president (2009–2017), and as a United States senator from Delaware (1973–2009). Biden is the oldest elected and serving president, the second Catholic president, after John F. Kennedy, and the first president from Delaware.

The inauguration of William Henry Harrison as the ninth president of the United States was held on Thursday, March 4, 1841, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 14th inauguration and marked the commencement of the only four-year term of both William Henry Harrison as president and John Tyler as vice president. The presidential oath of office was administered to Harrison by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. Harrison died 31 days into his term, the first U.S. president to die in office and has the shortest presidential term in American history. Tyler then succeeded to the presidency, creating a precedent which would be followed seven more times before it was officially regulated through the Twenty-fifth Amendment in 1967.

The second inauguration of Ronald Reagan as president of the United States was held in a televised ceremony on January 20, 1985, at the White House, and was repeated the following day, January 21, 1985, at the Capitol's rotunda. This was the 50th presidential inauguration and marked the commencement of the second and final four-year term of both Ronald Reagan as president and of George H. W. Bush as vice president. At 73 years, 349 days of age on Inauguration Day, Reagan was the oldest U.S. president to be inaugurated. Thirty-six years later, in 2021, this record was surpassed by Joe Biden at 78 years, 61 days, and four years later by Donald Trump at 78 years, 220 days.

The second lady of the United States or second gentleman is the informal title held by the spouse of the vice president of the United States, concurrent with the vice president's term of office. Coined in contrast to "first lady" – albeit used less commonly – the title "second lady" was apparently first used by Jennie Tuttle Hobart to refer to herself. The first second gentleman of the United States is Doug Emhoff, the husband of Kamala Harris, the current vice president and first woman in the position, since January 20, 2021.

The C&O desk is one of six desks ever used in the Oval Office by a sitting President of the United States. The C&O Desk was used in the executive office by only George H. W. Bush, making it one of two Oval Office desks to be used by only one president there. Prior to its use in the Oval Office by Bush, the desk had been in use elsewhere in the White House. It is the shortest-serving Oval Office desk to date, having been used for one four-year term.

The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021, on the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It was the 59th inauguration and marked the commencement of Joe Biden's only term as president and Kamala Harris' only term as vice president. Biden took the presidential oath of office, before which Harris took the vice presidential oath of office.

The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States is scheduled to take place on Monday, January 20, 2025, on the West Front of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The event will be Trump's second inauguration to the presidency and the 60th U.S. presidential inauguration. It will mark the commencement of Trump's second and final non-consecutive term as U.S. president, the term of JD Vance as the 50th vice president, and the only non-consecutive re-inauguration for a U.S. president after the second inauguration of Grover Cleveland in 1893. Trump's first inauguration was eight years earlier, in January 2017.

References

1 2 3 McCarthy, Niall (November 9, 2020). "Biden Set To Become The Oldest President In U.S. History". Forbes . Retrieved January 27, 2021.
1 2 Diaz, Johnny (January 18, 2021) [Updated January 20, 2021]. "Biden Is the Oldest President to Take the Oath". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
↑ Merrill, Dave; Caronello, Sophie (January 19, 2021). "Biden to Become Oldest President Ever at Inauguration". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
↑ Merelli, Annalisa (January 20, 2021). "What happens if Joe Biden dies in office?". Quartz . Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
↑ "James Polk". biography.com. A&E Television Networks. October 24, 2019 [April 2, 2014]. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
↑ "President Jimmy Carter becomes the first US president to live to 100 years old". USA Today News. October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.

Sources

Frank Freidel and Hugh S. Sidey, "The Presidents of the United States". The White House.
Robert S. Summers, "POTUS: Presidents of the United States". Internet Public Library.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[calendar-7] 1 2 3 4 Birthdate as changed to New Style

[died-8] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Died in office

[cleveland_1-9] This is the length of Cleveland's first (1889–1893) post-presidential retirement, between his two terms in office.

[cleveland_2-10] This is the length of Cleveland's second (1897–1908) post-presidential retirement, after his second term in office.

[11] Resigned from office

[Forbes11092020-1] 1 2 3 McCarthy, Niall (November 9, 2020). "Biden Set To Become The Oldest President In U.S. History". Forbes . Retrieved January 27, 2021.

[NYT01202021-2] 1 2 Diaz, Johnny (January 18, 2021) [Updated January 20, 2021]. "Biden Is the Oldest President to Take the Oath". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.

[Bloomberg01192021-3] Merrill, Dave; Caronello, Sophie (January 19, 2021). "Biden to Become Oldest President Ever at Inauguration". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.

[4] Merelli, Annalisa (January 20, 2021). "What happens if Joe Biden dies in office?". Quartz . Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.

[5] "James Polk". biography.com. A&E Television Networks. October 24, 2019 [April 2, 2014]. Retrieved January 24, 2021.

[6] "President Jimmy Carter becomes the first US president to live to 100 years old". USA Today News. October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 1, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]