Presidential Trivia

Presidents Who Were Related to Each Other
* John Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams.
* James Madison and Zachary Taylor were second cousins.
* William Henry Harrison was the grandfather of Benjamin Harrison.
* Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a fifth cousin of Theodore Roosevelt.
* George W. Bush is the son of George Bush.

Before I Became President...
* Twenty-six Presidents were lawyers before becoming president.
* Twelve presidents were generals: Washington, Jackson, W. Harrison, Taylor, Pierce, A. Johnson, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, B. Harrison, and Eisenhower.

George Washington's salary as president was $25,000. Bush's salary is $400,000.

George W. Bush is our 43rd president, but there actually have only been 42 presidents: Cleveland was elected for two nonconsecutive terms and is counted twice, as our 22nd and 24th president.

Eight Presidents were born British subjects:
* Washington
* J. Adams
* Jefferson
* Madison
* Monroe
* J. Q. Adams
* Jackson
* W. Harrison

Nine Presidents never attended college:
* Washington
* Jackson
* Van Buren
* Taylor
* Fillmore
* Lincoln
* A. Johnson
* Cleveland
* Truman

The college that has the most presidents as alumni (six in total) is Harvard. Yale is a close second, with five presidents as alumni.

18 Presidents Never Served in Congress:
* Washington
* J. Adams
* Jefferson
* Taylor
* Grant
* Arthur
* Cleveland
* T. Roosevelt
* Taft
* Wilson
* Coolidge
* Hoover
* F. Roosevelt
* Eisenhower
* Carter
* Reagan
* Clinton
* G. W. Bush.

The most common religious affiliation among presidents has been Episcopalian, followed by Presbyterian.

The ancestry of all 43 presidents is limited to the following seven heritages, or some combination thereof: Dutch, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swiss, or German.

The oldest elected president was Reagan (age 69); the youngest was Kennedy (age 43). Theodore Roosevelt, however, was the youngest man to become president—he was 42 when he succeeded McKinley, who had been assassinated.

The tallest president was Lincoln at 6'4"; at 5'4", Madison was the shortest.

Fourteen Presidents served as Vice Presidents
* J. Adams
* Jefferson
* Van Buren
* Tyler
* Fillmore
* A. Johnson
* Arthur
* T. Roosevelt
* Coolidge
* Truman
* Nixon
* L. Johnson
* Ford
* George H.W. Bush.

Four presidential candidates won the popular vote but lost the presidency:
Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but lost the election to John Quincy Adams (1824); Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote but lost the election to Rutherford B. Hayes (1876); Grover Cleveland won the popular vote but lost the election to Benjamin Harrison (1888); Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the election to George W. Bush (2000).

James Buchanan was the only president never to marry. Five presidents remarried after the death of their first wives—two of whom, Tyler and Wilson, remarried while in the White House. Reagan was the only divorced president. Six presidents had no children. Tyler—father of fifteen—had the most.

Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy were assassinated in office.
Assassination attempts were made on the lives of Jackson, T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, Truman, Ford, and Reagan.

Eight Presidents died in office: W. Harrison (after having served only one month), Taylor, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding, F. Roosevelt, and Kennedy.

Presidents Adams, Jefferson, and Monroe all died on the 4th of July; Coolidge was born on that day.

Kennedy and Taft are the only presidents buried in Arlington National Cemetery.