Longest-Living Presidents

Langston Jones: Kid Historian
4 min readAug 7, 2020

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Here we have listed the presidents who lived longer than the U.S. life expectancy today, which is 79.11 years.

#1: Jimmy Carter

AGE AT BLOG POST: 95

Jimmy Carter is still living. On October 1, 2020, he’ll turn 96! He should quarantine A LOT because coronavirus is most likely to get old people, and he’s almost 100!

#2: George H. W. Bush

AGE AT DEATH: 94
CAUSE: Parkinson’s Disease

His last words were, “I love you, too,” spoken to his son George W. Bush.

#3: Gerald Ford

AGE AT DEATH: 93
CAUSE: Heart problems because of old age

He was the longest-living president until George H. W. Bush passed him.

#4: Ronald Reagan

AGE AT DEATH: 93 (but fewer months than Ford)
CAUSE: Alzheimer’s

…who was the oldest president at inauguration at the time.

#5: John Adams

AGE AT DEATH: 90
CAUSE: Heart failure

He died on Independence Day, just like Jefferson and Monroe. His last words were “Jefferson survives.” He didn’t know his that his friend had died five hours before.

#6: Herbert Hoover

AGE AT DEATH: 90 (but fewer months than Adams)
CAUSES: Internal hemorrhage, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, strained vascular systems

The last words he’s known to have written were a note to Harry Truman, wishing him well after hitting his head in the bathroom. I’m pretty sure Truman did get better, because he didn’t die until later.

#7: Harry S Truman

AGE AT DEATH: 88
CAUSES: Minor lung congestion, organ failures, cardiovascular-system collapse, hypotension

A lot of these presidents were REALLY sick.

#8: James Madison

AGE AT DEATH: 85
CAUSE: Heart failure

Even though he died almost 200 years ago, he still lived longer than the longest life expectancy in the world in 2020, which is Japan, with a life expectancy of 84. Can you believe that?

#9: Thomas Jefferson

AGE AT DEATH: 83
CAUSES: Kidney infection, kidney damage, and pneumonia

He must have been the sickest president at death. At least he was in his 80s. He died only five hours and 50 minutes before John Adams on July 4, 1826 at 12:30pm.

#10: Richard Nixon

AGE AT DEATH: 81
CAUSES: Stroke, paralysis, swelling of the brain

His last words were “Help!” He said this to his housekeeper as he was having a stroke. When he got to the hospital, he was unable to speak, probably because of the paralysis.

#11: John Quincy Adams

AGE AT DEATH: 80
CAUSE: Stroke

He had a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives and died in the Capitol building.

#12: Martin Van Buren

AGE AT DEATH: 79 3/4
CAUSE: Asthma

His last words were, “There is but one reliance.” I think he was talking about God.

Originally published at https://langstonjones.wixsite.com on August 7, 2020.

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Langston Jones: Kid Historian

I am an eight year old who’s interested in presidents and history. I’m posting some of my favorite lists for you!