# Do you know who was President when you were born? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653 "2011-08-22T14:33:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/81 "2011-08-22T22:24:50Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#): > > Jimmy Carter. Didn’t have to look, didn’t have to think about it. My answer as well ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/82 "2011-08-22T22:29:39Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I trust there was no connection between the two events. Jingle my wife heard back then: Don’t change Dicks in the middle of a screw Vote for Nixon in '72. Truman for me, and thanks to the FDR and Coolidge folks for making me less depressed. BTW my parents and my in-laws were all born during the Wilson administration. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/83 "2011-08-22T22:32:17Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Out of curiosity, are there any Americans who can tell, without looking it up, who was the Speaker of the House when they were born? I’m thinking probably less than one out of a hundred Americans know off the top of their head (I didn’t). I would have guessed Tip O’Neill. And I would have been wrong. ---
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/84 "2011-08-22T22:37:08Z")
Easy, Gerald Ford. I didn’t know his birth name was Leslie Lynch King, Jr though. Thanks for that tidbit, **Airman Doors, USAF**. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/85 "2011-08-22T22:45:59Z")
Another Ike baby here. And no, I didn’t have to think about it to remember. Although I have no clue who anybody in the Cabinet or Congress was then. Sure I know some names from the era, but whether not they held any particular office on that most magical of dates. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/86 "2011-08-22T23:03:41Z")
Bob Menzies here, Ike there and Macmillan on the far side ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/87 "2011-08-22T23:09:31Z")
I was \*in utero \*when Kennedy was killed. So for me it’s the “one after Kennedy”. But I have to think a bit to remember which one that was. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/88 "2011-08-22T23:37:18Z")
LBJ Just for laughs I looked up the British Prime Minister, since I live in London now. Harold Wilson, apparently. I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/89 "2011-08-22T23:42:18Z")
Truman (1950). But Ike’s the first one I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/90 "2011-08-22T23:46:33Z")
I [del]like[/del]… feel kind of _meh_ toward… Ike. How Democratic are we? My mom was born during the FDR administration and her middle name _literally_ is _Eleanor_. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/91 "2011-08-22T23:55:34Z")
I voted no because I couldn’t remember the dates of the inauguration and the year I was born was during a change of presidency. My first guess was right, Reagan, inaugurated January 20th, which I always get confused with elections in November. My guess for Speaker was Tom Foley, not really even close ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/92 "2011-08-22T23:57:47Z")
I look to be the sixth Truman-ite, if my counting is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/93 "2011-08-23T00:04:52Z")
FDR. Two days after his second term began (I had to look up when it was changed from March to January; 1933 was the last March inauguration). I have always known it. I still remember the 1944 election when he was elected to the fourth term. I also recall the shock when he died. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/94 "2011-08-23T00:25:53Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > FDR. Two days after his second term began (I had to look up when it was changed from March to January; 1933 was the last March inauguration). I have always known it. I still remember the 1944 election when he was elected to the fourth term. I also recall the shock when he died. Hey, there, Old Timer! If my memory is right from the “How old are you?” threads, there a few more of us in the FDR gang. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/95 "2011-08-23T00:41:46Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > My mom was born during the FDR administration and her middle name _literally_ is _Eleanor_. That’s a coincidence. Eleanor Roosevelt’s middle name literally was Eleanor too. Really, it was. Her actual first name was Anna. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/96 "2011-08-23T00:42:57Z")
…I didn’t even know what a President _was_ when I was born; and here it is, newborns all over the world knowing them by name. No wonder I screamed. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/97 "2011-08-23T00:51:04Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > …I didn’t even know what a President _was_ when I was born; and here it is, newborns all over the world knowing them by name. No wonder I screamed. Your mom was a slacker. The rest of us had mothers who walked around for nine months holding TV sets like [these](http://boomers-fifties-pinups.com/tv-sets-50s.html) to their bellies, so that their offspring sprang into the world fully formed, sort of like Athena, smaller and less well armed. ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/98 "2011-08-23T00:56:07Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > JFK was assassinated a little over a month after I was born. I’ve known my whole life … well, my whole life from when I was old enough to understand the “where were you when Kennedy was shot” discussion. And I was born a little over a month after he was killed, so LBJ for me. My SO’s older brother was born the day Kennedy was killed, younger brother born on George Washington’s birthday and the SO was born on Inauguration day. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/99 "2011-08-23T01:13:05Z")
Another Gerald Ford here. ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/100 "2011-08-23T01:14:15Z")
George Bush. Just knew it. How wouldn’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653.md?page=6)