Are U.S. Presidents Getting Older?
After the first presidential debate featuring both incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden and his challenger, former President Donald Trump, the topic of Biden's age - currently 81 - has been thrust back into the spotlight. In fact, Biden and Trump were the oldest U.S. presidents ever at the time of their inauguration. Trump was 70 years old in 2017 and Biden was 78 in 2021. Ronald Reagan, who was 69 in 1981, comes third. At the start of a second term, Biden would be 82, making him 86 when reaching his term limit. Trump is now 78 - the same age as Biden when he started his first term - and would be 82 at term limit.
Taking a look at all presidents’ ages at the time of their inauguration since 1789, no clear trend is visible. Before Trump and Biden, presidents’ ages were actually well below average. Barack Obama took office at 47 years and 169 days, according to Potus.com, making him the fifth youngest president at the time of inauguration. Bill Clinton, who was 46 when he took over, was the third youngest - only John F. Kennedy (43) and Teddy Roosevelt (42) were younger.
Some of the oldest presidents hail from past centuries. William Henry Harrison was 68 at his inauguration in 1841 (he died a month later of typhoid and pneumonia), making him the fourth-oldest president ever. James Buchanan, who took office in 1857, was the fifth-oldest president at 65.
Dataset
Rank | # | President | Age at Inauguration |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 46 | Joe Biden | 78 years 61 days |
2 | 45 | Donald J. Trump | 70 years 220 days |
3 | 40 | Ronald Reagan | 69 years 348 days |
4 | 9 | William Henry Harrison | 68 years 23 days |
5 | 15 | James Buchanan | 65 years 315 days |
6 | 41 | George H. W. Bush | 64 years 222 days |
7 | 12 | Zachary Taylor | 64 years 100 days |
8 | 34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 62 years 98 days |
9 | 7 | Andrew Jackson | 61 years 354 days |
10 | 2 | John Adams | 61 years 125 days |
11 | 38 | Gerald R. Ford | 61 years 26 days |
12 | 33 | Harry S. Truman | 60 years 339 days |
13 | 5 | James Monroe | 58 years 310 days |
14 | 4 | James Madison | 57 years 353 days |
15 | 3 | Thomas Jefferson | 57 years 325 days |
16 | 6 | John Quincy Adams | 57 years 236 days |
17 | 1 | George Washington | 57 years 68 days |
18 | 17 | Andrew Johnson | 56 years 107 days |
19 | 28 | Woodrow Wilson | 56 years 66 days |
20 | 37 | Richard M. Nixon | 56 years 11 days |
21 | 24 | Grover Cleveland | 55 years 351 days |
22 | 23 | Benjamin Harrison | 55 years 196 days |
23 | 29 | Warren G. Harding | 55 years 122 days |
24 | 36 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 55 years 87 days |
25 | 31 | Herbert Hoover | 54 years 206 days |
26 | 43 | George W. Bush | 54 years 198 days |
27 | 19 | Rutherford B. Hayes | 54 years 151 days |
28 | 8 | Martin Van Buren | 54 years 89 days |
29 | 25 | William McKinley | 54 years 34 days |
30 | 39 | Jimmy Carter | 52 years 111 days |
31 | 16 | Abraham Lincoln | 52 years 20 days |
32 | 21 | Chester A. Arthur | 51 years 349 days |
33 | 27 | William H. Taft | 51 years 170 days |
34 | 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 51 years 33 days |
35 | 30 | Calvin Coolidge | 51 years 29 days |
36 | 10 | John Tyler | 51 years 6 days |
37 | 13 | Millard Fillmore | 50 years 183 days |
38 | 11 | James K. Polk | 49 years 123 days |
39 | 20 | James A. Garfield | 49 years 105 days |
40 | 14 | Franklin Pierce | 48 years 101 days |
41 | 22 | Grover Cleveland | 47 years 351 days |
42 | 44 | Barack Obama | 47 years 169 days |
43 | 18 | Ulysses S. Grant | 46 years 311 days |
44 | 42 | Bill Clinton | 46 years 154 days |
45 | 35 | John F. Kennedy | 43 years 236 days |
46 | 26 | Theodore Roosevelt | 42 years 322 days |