# why so few descendants of US presidents? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511 "2019-08-11T18:54:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/41 "2019-08-13T21:36:39Z")
President Trump has 9 grandchildren. I think it’ll be 10 pretty soon? Eric’s wife Lara is pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/42 "2019-08-13T21:52:04Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > So who are the 2 presidents? I was half right. This man is the GGGS of Grover Cleveland, and the GGN of William McKinley. [https://www.c-span.org/person/?115577](https://www.c-span.org/person/?115577) ---
**Author:** ![uncle\_squeegee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b5e925/32.png) [@uncle\_squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uncle_squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/43 "2019-08-14T21:34:37Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > John Tyler, our 10th president, had 15 children from two wives, the last one when he was in his 70s. That son also had two children when he was in his 70s himself who are still alive. > > [John Tyler - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyler) > > Correction: His 13th child, Lyon, was born when he was 63. He was the father of the two surviving grandsons. > > [Lyon Gardiner Tyler - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyon_Gardiner_Tyler#Personal_life) This is one of my two favorite facts of all time. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/44 "2019-08-15T20:17:42Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > That raises another interesting question: how many people _have_ had the distinction of being living ancestors of (current or former) US presidents? Off the top of my head, George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and Bill Clinton all had a living parent for part of their presidency, and JFK had two living parents for all of his (and, in Rose’s case, for more than thirty years afterward), and so, of course, did Bush-43. Ulysess S Grant’s father was alive during Grant’s first term in office, and passed away in 1873. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511/45 "2019-08-16T05:20:22Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > That raises another interesting question: how many people _have_ had the distinction of being living ancestors of (current or former) US presidents? Off the top of my head, George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and Bill Clinton all had a living parent for part of their presidency, and JFK had two living parents for all of his (and, in Rose’s case, for more than thirty years afterward), and so, of course, did Bush-43. There was Miss Lillian, Jimmy Carter’s mother. And James Garfield’s mother was supposedly the reason for the first elevator to be installed in the White House, but that’s possibly apocryphal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-so-few-descendants-of-us-presidents/838511.md?page=2)