# What do Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan, and G.W. Bush have in common? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787 "2017-05-16T20:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/1 "2017-05-16T20:56:42Z")
None of them are in my kitchen. 😃 But no, seriously: TIL (or, more precisely, figured out) that they are the only three U.S. presidents to serve two full, consecutive\* terms in office without a census occurring during their presidency. Before you ask “So?”, please recall this is MPSIMS! 😛 \*Grover Cleveland managed the same feat in non-consecutive terms. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/2 "2017-05-16T21:18:47Z")
Right, as an artifact of being the only three who have served two full consecutive terms after being first elected in a “zero” year election. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/3 "2017-05-16T21:30:11Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Right, as an artifact of being the only three who have served two full consecutive terms after being first elected in a “zero” year election. Indeed. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/4 "2017-05-16T21:31:25Z")
What do these presidents have in common: John Adams Hiram U. Grant Theodore Roosevelt Herbert Hoover Richard M. Nixon ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/5 "2017-05-16T21:38:56Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > What do these presidents have in common: > John Adams > Hiram U. Grant > Theodore Roosevelt > Herbert Hoover > Richard M. Nixon Wow, I dunno. Can you give us a hint? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/6 "2017-05-16T21:54:43Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Wow, I dunno. Can you give us a hint? George Washington is excluded from the list because the answer involves only _part_ of a term. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/7 "2017-05-16T22:25:22Z")
Just checked to see if the answer was “they are all dead”, but not yet. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/8 "2017-05-16T22:28:48Z")
They’ve never been in my kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/9 "2017-05-16T22:39:45Z")
Ok, too difficult, I guess. Grant: 582 days Nixon: 549 days Adams: 380 days TR: 233 days Hoover: 54 days represents the remainder of the term after the last living ex-president died. Each of these presidents became the only living ex-president upon leaving office, with Hoover being the longest sole ex-president, for just shy of 20 years. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/10 "2017-05-16T22:51:45Z")
Okay, I’ll play. What do these Presidents have in common? Andrew Jackson Zachary Taylor James Buchanan Andrew Johnson Chester Arthur Benjamin Harrison William Taft Woodrow Wilson Lyndon Johnson Ronald Reagan George W. Bush Donald Trump ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/11 "2017-05-16T23:38:27Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Okay, I’ll play. > > What do these Presidents have in common? > > Andrew Jackson > Zachary Taylor > James Buchanan > Andrew Johnson > Chester Arthur > Benjamin Harrison > William Taft > Woodrow Wilson > Lyndon Johnson > Ronald Reagan > George W. Bush > Donald Trump People questioned their qualifications to be President? Works for: Trump, Bush, Regan, and probably LBJ. Not sure if it continues to work. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/12 "2017-05-16T23:54:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Okay, I’ll play. > > What do these Presidents have in common? > > Andrew Jackson > Zachary Taylor > James Buchanan > Andrew Johnson > Chester Arthur > Benjamin Harrison > William Taft > Woodrow Wilson > Lyndon Johnson > Ronald Reagan > George W. Bush > Donald Trump Ok, I’ll play too… None of them have ever been in my kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/13 "2017-05-17T00:09:25Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > People questioned their qualifications to be President? Works for: Trump, Bush, Regan, and probably LBJ. Not sure if it continues to work. It’s true about Buchanan and Johnson. Benjamin Harrison also lost the popular vote. But so did Rutherford Hayes. He should probably be on the list, if that’s the answer. Maybe it was that someone in a very specific and citable way questioned their cognitive abilities. There was a lot of speculation that Bush had dyslexia, and I read one fairly well-reasoned article in a prominent newspaper, although it was a paper paper, and I can’t find it online now. Wilson actually was incapacitated, and it’s been speculated that his wife ran the country for several months after he had a stroke-- it’s certain he wasn’t doing it. Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s so shortly after his second term, that it’s hard to imagine he wasn’t somewhat incapacitated during his last year or two. And the APA is considering revising its rule about diagnosing public figures whom doctors have not met personally so that they can comment on Trump’s mental health. IIRC, there was a lot of rumbling about Buchanan being a little more than eccentric, but my memory is shaky here. Johnson, I recently heard, had some pretty frightening paranoia during the end of his term, and some people close to him were talking 25th amendment. I think a book detailing it just came out. On the other hand, I can’t remember hearing anything about Taft, and he was appointed to the Supreme Court after he was president. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/14 "2017-05-17T00:10:37Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Ok, I’ll play too… > > None of them have ever been in my kitchen. Oh, well, in that case, I didn’t vote for any of them. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/15 "2017-05-20T03:37:42Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Okay, I’ll play. > > What do these Presidents have in common? > > Andrew Jackson > Zachary Taylor > James Buchanan > Andrew Johnson > Chester Arthur > Benjamin Harrison > William Taft > Woodrow Wilson > Lyndon Johnson > Ronald Reagan > George W. Bush > Donald Trump All of them were older than the President they succeeded. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/16 "2017-05-20T03:45:17Z")
Here’s one ( though this could change): Andrew Jackson James Polk Donald Trump ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-thomas-jefferson-ronald-reagan-and-g-w-bush-have-in-common/786787/17 "2017-05-20T03:47:03Z")
What do John Adams Thomas Jefferson John Q Adams Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison Zachery Taylor Millard Fillimore James Garfield Donald Trump (for now) … Have in common.