# most living Presidents

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-living-presidents/176131>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 18, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-living-presidents/176131 "2003-05-18T23:48:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-living-presidents/176131/1 "2003-05-18T23:48:56Z")

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On what date were the most future, current, and former President living? My WAG is the day before a death or after a birth.

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**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-living-presidents/176131/2 "2003-05-19T00:31:19Z")

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Being that six US presidents are alive today, the most ever, I would guess it would have been on Clinton’s birthday, 8/19/46, on which 12 past, present and future Chief Executives were living:

Past- Herbert Hoover (died 1964)  
Present- Truman (died 1972)  
Future- Eisenhower (died 1969), Kennedy (died 1963), Johnson (died 1973), Nixon (died 1994), Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton and G.W. Bush (was a month old).

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**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-living-presidents/176131/3 "2003-05-19T00:46:25Z")

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If my data and count is correct, I believe there were 18 past, current and future presidents live on July 3, 1826. The next day John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died. I don’t know if this is the high point.

What year do we cut off future presidents – are we going to have any more born before 1940?

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**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-living-presidents/176131/4 "2003-05-19T01:09:56Z")

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aahala seems correct. I though, modern times equals longer lifespans, and counted from the end down. But given the age most are elected at, starting at the beginning and counting up yields more.