Gathering of the Presidents: Trivia Edition

Who was the last president to serve without any living ex-presidents? Who lived to see the most subsequent presidents? Who saw the most presidents die while in office?

The unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas on Thursday gave a rare opportunity for the gathering of all five living U.S. Presidents, along with all five living First Ladies.

In honor of that occasion Smart Politics presents the following presidential trivia…

That’s a lot of pensions

The largest number of living U.S. Presidents at any one time has been six – occurring three times in our nation’s history:

· 1861-1862: With Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln. (Van Buren and Tyler both died in 1862).

· 1993-1994: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton. (Nixon died in 1994).

· 2001-2004: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush. (Reagan died in 2004 and then Ford in 2006).

Lonely at the top

Richard Nixon was the last president to serve without any other living ex-presidents.

Nixon began his first term in 1969 with three still alive, but Dwight Eisenhower died shortly in his first term (March 28, 1969), Harry Truman died near the end of his first term (December 26, 1972), and Lyndon Johnson died shortly after his second inauguration (January 22, 1973).

Nixon is one of five presidents to serve at least part of their terms without any living presidents.

Other than George Washington, that list includes John Adams (with Washington dying halfway into his term), Teddy Roosevelt (with Grover Cleveland dying at the end of his second term), and Herbert Hoover (with William Taft dying in 1930 and Calvin Coolidge dying in January 1933).

Dying on their watch

Nixon and Ulysses S. Grant are the only two presidents to see three ex-presidents die during their tenure.

During Grant’s eight years in office Franklin Pierce (October 8, 1869), Millard Fillmore (March 8, 1874), and Andrew Johnson (July 31, 1875) all passed away.

Another seven presidents were in office while two of their predecessors died: John Quincy Adams (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson), Andrew Jackson (James Madison, James Monroe), James Polk (John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson), Abraham Lincoln (Martin Van Buren, John Tyler), Grover Cleveland (Ulysses Grant, Chester Arthur), Herbert Hoover (William Taft, Calvin Coolidge), and George W. Bush (Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford).

You’re no Zachary Taylor…

The ex-president who saw the largest number of presidents sworn into office was Martin Van Buren with eight.

Van Buren lived more than 21 years after his one term in the White House.

During that span William H. Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln all became president.

John Tyler’s post-presidency life overlapped with six presidents (Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln) before his death on January 18, 1862.

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