# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/101 "2011-08-23T01:25:54Z")
I know it off the top of my head (Reagan). > [@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 also guessed Tip O’Neill, and I was also wrong. ---
**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, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/102 "2011-08-23T01:26:35Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > 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. Oh, she did everything she could, **Frank** but I was preoccupied with the dilemmas of measuring my own head, seeing the size of the escape hatch, and growing hair. Thanks to this thread, however, I _know_ why I was slapped. Thanks for nuthin’ JFK. ---
**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 23, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/103 "2011-08-23T01:40:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That’s a coincidence. Eleanor Roosevelt’s middle name literally was Eleanor too. > > Really, it was. Her actual first name was Anna. Anna was my mother’s mother’s first name. Told you we were Democratic. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/104 "2011-08-23T02:05:33Z")
Bill Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/105 "2011-08-23T02:08:53Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Yet another JFK. I was walking by the time he was assassinated. Same here. He was killed about six weeks before my first birthday. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/106 "2011-08-23T02:38:58Z")
I always thought it was Reagan because he’s the first I remember (though only vaguely). I just looked it up, it was Carter for 1 year and 7 days after I was born. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/107 "2011-08-23T02:40:40Z")
Eisenhower. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/108 "2011-08-23T03:01:06Z")
Yep. I know. The presidency swapped hands (and parties) 5 months later. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/109 "2011-08-23T03:48:21Z")
I was born in late '78, so definitely the Carter Admin. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/110 "2011-08-23T04:07:36Z")
JFK for about 3.5 hours. If I had dawdled, it’s possible the answer could have been nobody? ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/111 "2011-08-23T04:15:38Z")
> [@LunarPlexus](#): > > JFK for about 3.5 hours. If I had dawdled, it’s possible the answer could have been nobody? Missed edit window: So I guess the answer is, “Yes, I know it off the top of my head,” but that seems kind of tasteless. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/112 "2011-08-23T08:58:10Z")
> [@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 was born 6/30/49, so Truman was President, but I am not sure which party controlled the HR then, and if it was the Republicans I do not know who the Speaker would have been. If it was the Democrats then the Speaker would have been Sam Rayburn. I am going to go with Rayburn on the assumption that Truman’s 1948 upset victory coattails deliivered an HR majority for his party. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/113 "2011-08-23T09:15:00Z")
Yep, James Callaghan (Carter in US) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/114 "2011-08-23T09:28:42Z")
I’m a Brit. I knew LBJ off the top of my head, and I suspected Harold Wilson. Embarrassingly I had to look the British PM up to confirm. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/115 "2011-08-23T09:49:17Z")
Like **jjimm** I’ll have to look up the Irish Political leader to make sure but off the top of my head. 1971 US Pres = Nixon UK PM = Heath Irish Pres = De Valera Irish PM = ehhh … Lynch ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/116 "2011-08-23T10:20:14Z")
I think his name was Bob. Or Steve. Or possibly Frank. ---
**Author:** ![Anamorphic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/anamorphic/32/3057_2.png) [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/117 "2011-08-23T15:06:46Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > How is that easy? Because of the controversy surrounding his presidency, and the fact that he resigned only a few years later, I would think the years of his stay in office would be more implanted in people’s minds than the average presidency. I guess I could be wrong on that. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/118 "2011-08-23T15:59:29Z")
Ireland 1981 Irish President - Patrick Hillery (not sure if I have the spelling right!) Irish PM (Taoiseach) - I’m gonna guess Charlie Haughey but not too sure British PM - Maggie “the milk snatcher” Thatcher US President - Ronnie Reagan ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/119 "2011-08-23T16:09:01Z")
Ford. Missed Nixon by seventeen days. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653/120 "2011-08-23T18:19:18Z")
Truman, though in his final months as president. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-who-was-president-when-you-were-born/593653.md?page=7)