# Is Carter the longest lived President after his election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012 "2016-10-19T05:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/21 "2016-10-20T14:05:03Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Stats like this tend to be deceptive because infant mortality was so high in most eras prior to the 20th century. I can’t find a quick cite, but there’s an index of adult lifespan assuming individuals reach 15 or 20 or 25 in good health - and that number is much higher, well into the 60s for most populations, 70s for any reasonably civilized culture. Dammit. Ninja’d! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/22 "2016-10-20T14:10:21Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Dammit. Ninja’d! That would be a good name for a cat… ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/23 "2016-10-20T14:12:27Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > That would be a good name for a cat… Which? Dammit or Ninja’d? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/24 "2016-10-20T14:14:20Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Which? Dammit or Ninja’d? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/25 "2016-10-20T14:24:29Z")
Yes, of course I know that the statistics are skewed by the fact that infant mortality was high. We’ve discussed this many times on the SDMB. It’s still true that someone of the age that U.S. Presidents tend to be when they take office is expected to live quite a bit longer now than they were expected to in 1789. Why doesn’t someone here figure out what the average age that Presidents took office? You can find the age that each of the Presidents took office from the chart in the third link in my post. Then look up what the number of years that a person of that age (or perhaps just a male of that age) was expected to live after that age in 1789 and how many years they are expected to live after that age now. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/26 "2016-10-20T14:26:59Z")
You know we won’t do your homework for you. ---
**Author:** ![PeteShepherd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e480ec/32.png) [@PeteShepherd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeteShepherd)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/27 "2016-10-20T15:05:19Z")
Wendell Wagner > [@](#): > > Why doesn’t someone here figure out what the average age that Presidents took office? You can find the age that each of the Presidents took office from the chart in the third link in my post. Ummm… The third link in your post has the average age that the presidents took office: > [@](#): > > ◦The median age of US presidents upon taking office is 54 years and 11 months. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/28 "2016-10-20T15:44:56Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > The average life expectancy in the period 1750 to 1800 was 36. The average life expectancy at present is 78. So, yeah, people live a lot longer on average: > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Yes, of course I know that the statistics are skewed by the fact that infant mortality was high. You used the old, offhand form that implies it was odd to reach 37. This is the Dope, not Louie Boyd’s old nonsense column. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/29 "2016-10-20T17:44:56Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > And he’s done something worthwhile with every one of those years. (Unlike so many others, some much younger.) He has had a worthy career since losing office. What’s puzzling is why he did so little with the Presidency, because he certainly wasn’t a memorable President. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/30 "2016-10-20T18:10:15Z")
> [@PeteShepherd](#): > > Ummm… The third link in your post has the average age that the presidents took office: Though median is “an” average, it’s not what people mean (heh) when they think of average. Though in this case, the median is a better measure than the mean. Really that’s true in most cases involving age, because as noted, infant mortality skews things. Even in the “ancient times” of the first 10 presidents, 8/10 lived past 70, and 6/10 past 75, and 4/10 past 80. Quick calculation, though I rounded ages down to the nearest year: the presidents who died have a mean of 68.875 years, median 70 years. Not short-lived people, even WH Harrison. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/31 "2016-10-20T18:12:32Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > He has had a worthy career since losing office. What’s puzzling is why he did so little with the Presidency, because he certainly wasn’t a memorable President. Oh, I don’t know. The Camp David Accords. The only Middle East Peace treaty with any staying power. I think it was his brother Billy, and the giant swimming attack rabbit that did Jimmy in. Well that, and the whole Iranian Hostage, botched rescue attempt thing. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/32 "2016-10-20T19:18:26Z")
Jimmy also focused U.S. foreign policy on human rights, established the Departments of Energy and of Education, negotiated a treaty for the peaceful transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama, began the military buildup that Reagan completed, dealt with the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, appointed a then-record number of women and minorities to the Federal judiciary, and signed the SALT II nuclear weapons accord. Not a great President, certainly, but not a do-nothing either. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/33 "2016-10-20T20:05:42Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Oh, I don’t know. The Camp David Accords. The only Middle East Peace treaty with any staying power. > I think it was his brother Billy, and the giant swimming attack rabbit that did Jimmy in. Well that, and the whole Iranian Hostage, botched rescue attempt thing. Yeah, several branches of the military screwed up and it’s his fault. (What, they didn’t realize covering the vents in a helicopter would overheat the equipment? Some guy can’t do a simple move in a helicopter…? Don’t forget also he was the one who explicitly declined to answer the Soviet/Cuban troops in Angola and Mozambique, where it was suggested we needed to counter the commie threat to “save South Africa from being overrun by commies”; he ended much of the cycle of on-going proxy guerilla wars that formed a part of the cold war. He started the process of tying foreign policy to human rights, even when it went against America’s immediate interests. it was suggested as a result he was slow to help the Shah and his secret police, which precipitated the Iran hostage crisis. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/34 "2016-10-20T23:02:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > He also died relatively young, at 60. The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long. Theodore Roosevelt also had his health severely impacted by exploring the Amazon in 1912. Three members of his expedition died, two later ones that retraced his steps were wiped out. He was also badly shaken by the death of his son Quentin in World War I (Roosevelt himself wanted to lead a division over there but President Wilson wouldn’t authorize it…didn’t want to give credibility to a political opponent). Jimmy Carter may have a few good points but I remember high inflation, rising unemployment, block long gas lines, America held hostage in Iran and his support of terrorists like Arafat and dictators in North Korea. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012/35 "2016-10-21T16:54:25Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > I suppose Teddy Roosevelt is the oddity, because he was a young war hero picked as vice president who became president by chance at a very early age. I’m surprised to see how young Grant was, but I guess war was a younger man’s game in those days, and he leapfrogged a number of less competent generals. He also became addicted to cigars during the war, and that’s what killed him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-carter-the-longest-lived-president-after-his-election/769012.md?page=1)