The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1900-07-07
DUB, PR ESIDENTS
FACTS 4 ABOUT I TENANTS OF
n FL. WHITE HOUSE. "


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AS a general rule, the health of the
men chosen to- be president Of the
United States has been good during
their term Of office, and they have al
most without exception been strong
and robust, Polk being the only I'M
fortunate. OF the remainder Of the
twenty-five presidents-or perhaps it
would be better to say twenty -four,
bearing in mind the fact that Grover
Cleveland counts twice, that is, as the
twenty second and the twentyfourth
presldent-there was not one who did
not enjoy robust health up to and be-
You'd middle life, and most of them
continued to do so up to a good old
age. 1t will surprise many to know
that the average age of the twenty
one presidents who have died, from
Washington to Arthur, inclusive, is
the allotted three score and ten, or, to
be more exact, seventy years, three
months and sixteen days. The presi-
dents lived longer in the early days
than in more recent times. The aver
age age Of the first ten, from Washing
ton to Tyler, inclusive, is seventy
seven years, ten months and three
days. That of the eleven from Polk
to Arthur inclusive, is sixty-three
years, five months and seven days.
This great difference is accounted for
in part by the circumstance that two
of the eleven presidents, Lincoln and
Garfield, were stricken down by an
assassin, at the comparatively early
ages of fifty-six and forty-nine respec
lively. OF the first ten presidents,
Washington was the youngest to die,
and yet he reached the considerable
age of sixty-seven. Only three of the
eleven presidents from Polk to Arthur
attained a greater age. These were
Fillmore, Buchanan and Hayes. John
Adams, one of the sturdiest of all the
presidents, reached the most advanced
age. He lived to be ninety, and is the
only nonagenarian among them. Curl
ously enough, the second in longevity
was Madison, though at the age of
twenty-one, shortly after he was
graduated from Princeton college, he
was in so poor health that he wrote to
a friend intimating that he did not
expect long or healthy life. Yet
Madison grew stronger in due time,
and lived to the ripe old age of eighty
five. Next in longevity comes Madi-
sons life long friend and counselor,
Thomas Jefferson, who lived to be
eighty-three. John Quincy Adams
reached eighty. The youngest of all
the presidents to die was Garfield, who
was cut down in the prime of life by
an assassin's bullet. Had he lived just
two months more he would have.raach-.
ed fifty. The youngests.o of the presi-
dents to die natural death was Polk,
who lived to be fifty-three. Next to
him came Arthur, who died at fifty
six. The ages of all the dead presi
dents, arranged in the order of long
evity are: John Adams ninety, Madi-
son eighty-fve, Jefferson eighty-three.
John Quincy Adams eighty, Van Buren,
seventy-nine, Jackson seventy-eight,
Buchanan seventy-seven, Fillmore sew
enty-four, Monroe seventythree, Tyler
seventy-one, Hayes seventy, William
ton sixty-seven, Johnson sixty-six,
Taylor sixty-fve, Pierce sixty-four,
Grant sixty-three, Lincoln fifty-six,
Garfield forty-nine. It will be seen that
no two of the presidents died at the
same age except Lincoln and Arthur.
The most remarkable coincidence re-
lating to the deaths of the presidents
is the circumstance that John Adams
and Thomas Jefferson died on the
same day, July 4, 1926. Washington
was the only president to pass his life
entirely in the last century, and Pierce
was the first to be born during the
present century.
-Four of the presidents died in office,
William Henry Harrison, who served
only one month; Zachary Taylor, who
served one year and four months; Lin
coin, who served one full term and
about six weeks of his second term,
and Garfield, who died after be had
held the office six months. OF the
three presidents now living Benjamin
Harrison is sixty-six, and resides at
indianapolis; Grover Cleveland is six
ty-three, and lives at Princeton; Presi-
dent Mckinley is fifty-seven. Buffalo
enjoys the distinction of being the
only city in the country that has fur
nished two presidents. They are Fill
more and Cleveland. Each of the i'm
portant wars of the United States has
given one or more presidents to the
country. The war Of the revolution
gave Washington the. war Of 1912
Jackson and Harrison. Taylor and
Pierce. went to the White House on
the strength of their records during
the Mexican war, while every president
chosen since the civil Il war; except
Cleveland took part in that struggle.
Since Van Buren, no vice president has
been chosen TO the presidency, and so
far from the vice presidency being re-
garded as in line Of promotion to the
presidency the less Important Office is
now looked upon by some politicians
as a convenient shelf upon which 4 to
place an inconvenient candidate y for