# How many US Presidents have there been in your lifetime? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913 "2013-03-25T14:02:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/101 "2013-09-05T03:52:26Z")
11 though I don’t remember Eisenhower (he only had a couple of months remaining of his term when I was born) or Kennedy (I had been 3 for less than a month when he died). ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/102 "2013-09-05T17:52:54Z")
Ten, though one I have no memory of hearing about Jack while in office. And since 2009 I am (barely, a couple of weeks) older than the POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/103 "2013-09-05T18:03:00Z")
9 for me. Ford was my favorite. Couldn’t tell you why, I just remember I always used to say that when I was a kid. Hated Carter. Again, couldn’t tell you why. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/104 "2013-09-05T18:27:02Z")
I’m another of the mid-seventies 7 babies (and I counted the presidents myself before I saw the list, so yay me!). Don’t remember Ford actually being in office, and while I know I have some memories that took place during the Carter years (I was just over a year old when he took office), I don’t remember actually knowing who the president was. I know I already knew who Reagan was when he was shot, so I guess my political comprehension dawned sometime around my fifth birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/105 "2013-09-05T18:31:58Z")
Eleven. I don’t remember Ike, and my memory of Kennedy is from the day he died, so I suppose he was technically no longer president then. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/106 "2013-09-05T19:57:49Z")
> [@Draelin](#): > > I’m another of the mid-seventies 7 babies (and I counted the presidents myself before I saw the list, so yay me!). Don’t remember Ford actually being in office, and while I know I have some memories that took place during the Carter years (I was just over a year old when he took office), I don’t remember actually knowing who the president was. I know I already knew who Reagan was when he was shot, so I guess my political comprehension dawned sometime around my fifth birthday. My earliest political memory was my parents being the only ones on the block with a McGovern sign on their lawn - that was the 1972 election. Two years later, we were staying at a summer cottage with no TV or radio, and my parents trooped my sisters and me outside to listen to Nixon’s resignation speech on the car radio. They told us to listen carefully “because this is history.” It certainly stuck with me. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/107 "2013-09-05T20:01:01Z")
Eleven, but I don’t remember Eisenhower or Kennedy at all and have only vague memories of Johnson. Apparently Pkbites and I are just about exactly the same age…born fall of 60? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/108 "2013-09-05T20:16:41Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > …Nitpick: I thought it was Harry S Truman. > [@Zeldar](#): > > That’s how I’m remembering it, too. The S stood for nothing but a middle initial… > [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Yes and no. The S didn’t stand for anything, but Truman himself wrote it as “S.”. The AP Style Guide says Harry S. Truman, but I’ve seen it both ways. Truman’s presidential library also recommends its use: [Trumanlibrary.org](http://www.trumanlibrary.org/speriod.htm) > [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > …Someone who was born early in 1837 and lived to be just over 96 would have lived under _26_ presidents, well over half the American presidents there have ever been. I always find that kind of mind-blowing. Better yet, he or she would’ve lived through two years with three Presidents each - 1841 (Van Buren, W.H. Harrison and Tyler) and 1881 (Hayes, Garfield and Arthur). > [@Loach](#): > > I remember a few things from Nixon, the reelection and resignation. Was born during the LBH administration. Lyndon Baines Humphrey? > [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > …12 Australian Prime Ministers (I’m doing this off the top of my head, but I think it’s right): > > Menzies > Holt > McEwen - caretaker PM after Holt disappeared (until the Liberal Party chose a successor), but legitimately sworn in > Gorton > McMahon > Whitlam > Fraser > Hawke > Keating > Howard > Rudd > Gillard And now Rudd again… but perhaps not for long! ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/109 "2013-09-06T03:36:09Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > 10 for me. I remember all of them except JFK. 10 for me too. I was born in '62. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/110 "2013-09-06T08:02:13Z")
9 I don’t remember LBJ since I was only about 3 months old when he left office. I remember Nixon mostly because the Watergate hearings were on TV when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/111 "2013-09-06T08:37:59Z")
Seven here. Don’t remember Ford at all. I dimly remember Reagan’s first election, but nothing about Carter specifically. Clinton was the first president I voted for. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/112 "2013-09-06T08:54:02Z")
> [@as\_u\_wish](#): > > Twelve for me. I don’t remember Truman, but I remember all the others. Same here. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/113 "2013-09-06T15:44:40Z")
1. And I remember them all. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/114 "2013-09-06T16:12:56Z")
12 for me. Truman was Prez when I was born. Eisenhower is the first one that I remember. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/115 "2013-09-06T17:20:56Z")
1. Missed Eisenhower by about 6 weeks. I have fuzzy memories of the Kennedy Assassination as I was 2 yrs and 8.5 old. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/116 "2013-09-07T01:52:07Z")
1. I remember them all except Eisenhower and Ford\*. mmm \*I was in high school, emphasis on _high_ ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/117 "2013-09-07T02:29:58Z")
7, just barely. I was born Jan 16, 77, so I was alive for the last few days of Ford’s administration, then the entirety of Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II: The Bushening and Obama. Don’t have any firm memories until Reagan’s first term, no real concept of who the PotUS was until his second. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913/118 "2013-09-07T05:45:11Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > 7, just barely. > > I was born Jan 16, 77, so I was alive for the last few days of Ford’s administration, then the entirety of Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II: The Bushening and Obama. > > Don’t have any firm memories until Reagan’s first term, no real concept of who the PotUS was until his second. 6 because I’m three months younger, but yeah, while I remember Regan, I really doubt I have many real memories of his first term. By the end of his first term I’d barely worked out that there _wasn’t_ a guy named Richard Stands being mentioned in the pledge of allegiance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-us-presidents-have-there-been-in-your-lifetime/653913.md?page=5)