# Who was the last Presidential son (child) in the White House?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 4, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260 "2009-05-04T05:48:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2009, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/1 "2009-05-04T05:48:03Z")
The question came up when I was thinking of Sasha and Malia Obama. It made me think of the Bush twins, Chelsea Clinton, Amy Carter… All girls. Who was the last boy (of minor age) to occupy the White House?
I couldn’t figure out how to phrase it for Google in a way that would give me what I want, and I got tired pretty quickly of just clicking Wikipedia entries. Hopefully that’s enough reason to ask here. With my luck, the answer is the President right before the one I gave up on, but maybe not. 🙂
Thanks in advance.
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### Author:  [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/2 "2009-05-04T05:51:21Z")
I would say John-john Kennedy
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### Author:  [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/3 "2009-05-04T06:01:42Z")
Gerald Ford’s youngest son Steven lived in the White House for a while, but my math says he was already 18 when his father became President. Would you count him?
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/4 "2009-05-04T12:40:53Z")
Most presidents are 50 or older when elected so that means most of their kids are college age or older. Kennedy, Clinton and Obama were all under 50 so that’s why they had young kids in the WH.
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/5 "2009-05-04T14:00:22Z")
Charles Phelps Taft was 13 when his father was elected.
FDR had two boys who were teenagers when he was first elected, Franklin Jr and John.
And, as has already been posted, John-John was the most recent actual male child in the White House.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/6 "2009-05-04T14:09:18Z")
Carter took office at 52 but Amy was a late in life child, born when he was 42.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/7 "2009-05-04T14:27:05Z")
Coolidge’s son, Calvin Jr., was living in the White House when he died of blood poisoning, just past his sixteenth birthday.
Coolidge had a reputation as a dour man - in reality he had a healthy and dry sense of humor. This unhappy event, though, just made the rest of his life miserable. He never quite got over it.
The 1924 race was a very subdued one, and this is one of the reasons.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/8 "2009-05-04T15:38:54Z")
I’d agree it was John F. Kennedy Jr.
Incidentally, William Manchester in one of his JFK books insisted that the Kennedy family never called the boy “John-John.” The President was calling to his son from another room and called him twice just a few seconds apart; a nearby reporter overheard, reported it as the family nickname and it just took off from there.
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### Author:  [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/9 "2009-05-04T23:52:10Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> I’d agree it was John F. Kennedy Jr.
It was Steven Ford, unless you want to disqualify him for being over 18 when he moved in. His dad became president August 9, 1974 and Steven lived in the White House until September 3, when he left for a cross-country jeep trip before starting college.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/10 "2009-05-05T00:14:56Z")
The OP specifically said a minor child, so Steve doesn’t count.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2009, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-presidential-son-child-in-the-white-house/495260/11 "2009-05-05T05:39:25Z")
> [@Leaper](#):
>
> The question came up when I was thinking of Sasha and Malia Obama. It made me think of the Bush twins, Chelsea Clinton, Amy Carter… All girls.
I can’t seem to find it right now, but I have seen a summary that indicates that Presidential children are predominately girls. No reason given, but lots of speculation.