Fun Presidential Facts

Apparently we just swore in a new president or something. In honor of today’s significance(or simply because all the news today is about Obama and nothing else is interesting), here’s some fun facts about presidents that I totally didn’t steal off another website.

The majority of the presidents were between the ages of 50 and 59 when they were elected into office. The youngest elected president was John F. Kennedy at the age of 43. The oldest elected president was Ronald Reagan at the age of 69.

Episcopalian and Presbyterian were the most common religions amongst the presidents. In fact, about 1/2 of the presidents were of these two religions. There have been two Quakers (Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon), and one Roman Catholic president (John F. Kennedy).

Since Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860, 18 out of 28 presidents have been Republican.

Only 12 presidents have been elected for two terms. One president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was elected for four.

Four presidents took office without winning the popular vote. In other words, they did not receive a plurality in terms of the popular vote. They were elected, instead, by the electoral college or in the case of John Quincy Adams by the House of Representatives after a tie in the electoral votes. They were:

* John Quincy Adams who lost by 44,804 votes to Andrew Jackson in 1824
* Rutherford B. Hayes who lost by 264,292 votes to Samuel J. Tilden in 1876
* Benjamin Harrison who lost by 95,713 votes to Grover Cleveland in 1888
* George W. Bush who lost by 543,816 votes to Al Gore in the 2000 election.

Four presidents were assassinated while in office. Those were:

* Abraham Lincoln
* James Garfield
* William McKinley
* John F. Kennedy.

Ronald Reagan became the oldest president when he was elected in 1980 at the age of 69. He survived an assassination attempt. When he finished his second term in office he was 77 years old.

John F. Kennedy was the youngest president ever elected to the presidency at the age of 43. Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest man to serve as president when he took over after William McKinley’s assassination. He was 42.

Eight presidents have died while in office. Those are:

* William Henry Harrison – April 4, 1841, died of pneumonia after giving a long inaugural address in the cold and rain.
* Zachary Taylor – July 9, 1850, died of cholera after eating tainted cherries and milk in the middle of the summer.
* Abraham Lincoln – April 15, 1865, died a few hours after being shot by an assassin.
* James Garfield – September 19, 1881, died of blood poisoning two months after being shot by an assassin.
* William McKinley – September 14, 1901, died eight days after being shot by an assassin.
* Warren G. Harding – August 2, 1923, died of pneumonia.
* Franklin D. Roosevelt – April 12, 1945, died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
* John F. Kennedy – November 22, 1963, died a few hours after being shot by an assassin.

Tags: abraham lincoln, Al Gore, barack obama, CNN, franklin d roosevelt, grover cleveland, how old is barack obama, how old is obama, inauguration day 2009, inauguration day 2009 live, inauguration day 2009 video, james garfield, john quincy adams, MSNBC, Obama, obama age, oldest elected president, popular vote, president franklin d roosevelt, president john f kennedy, richard nixon, roman catholic president, ronald reagan, roosevelt wa, rutherford b hayes, theodore roosevelt, William McKinley, youngest elected president, youngest president