Presidents’ Day Special: Post-Administration Presidential and Veep Longevity
Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale have lived 30 percent longer than any other presidential and vice-presidential pairing since the end of their joint political service nearly 12,100 days
Former Vice President Walter Mondale underwent a successful heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic last Wednesday at the age of 86.
Mondale and his former boss, 89-year old Jimmy Carter, have each led long, productive lives over the last three-plus decades since serving side-by-side as president and vice-president.
Carter and Mondale are one of the 49 presidential and vice-presidential pairings in U.S. history, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Fifteen of these ended with a death in office of either the president (Kennedy-Johnson, Roosevelt-Truman, Harding-Coolidge, McKinley-Roosevelt, Garfield-Arthur, Lincoln-Johnson, Taylor-Fillmore, Harrison-Tyler) or the vice-president (Taft-Sherman, McKinley-Hobart, Cleveland-Hendricks, Grant-Wilson, Pierce-King, Madison-Gerry, Madison-Clinton).
Of the remaining 33 out of office, no pair lived longer once their formal political partnership ended than Carter and Mondale.
In fact, it’s not even close.
As of Monday, Carter and Mondale have lived 33 years and 28 days since their last day of service together on January 20, 1981 – or a span of 12,081 days.
That is 2,828 days longer (and counting) than the next longest post-administration pairing in U.S. history of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson – or 30.6 percent.
Adams’ presidential administration ended on March 4, 1801 and he and Jefferson lived the next 25+ years until they both died on the same day, July 4, 1826, for a span of 9,253 days.
Creeping up the all-time list are George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle at #4.
Bush and Quayle have lived 21 years and 28 days since exiting in January 1993 after their defeat to Bill Clinton and Al Gore, or 7,698 days ago.
In three months, the duo will eclipse Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr at #3.
Burr served as Jefferson’s first vice-president until March 4, 1805. Jefferson died 7,792 days later.
Clinton and Gore currently sit at #9 at 13 years, 28 days and counting and will pass up Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush (15 years, 4 months, 16 days) for the #8 spot in less than two and one-half years.
The only other surviving presidential and vice-presidential pairing – George W. Bush and Dick Cheney – have lived 5 years, 28 days since departing the White House in January 2009 (1,854 days), or #20 all-time.
Rounding out the Top 10 are:
· Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew (1973-1994) at #5: 20 years, 6 months, 12 days
· Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford (1974-1994) at #6: 19 years, 8 months, 13 days
· John Quincy Adams and John Calhoun (1829-1848) at #7: 18 years, 11 months, 19 days
· Andrew Jackson and John Calhoun (1832-1845) at #10: 12 years, 5 months, 11 days
The shortest post-administration stint is held by the presidential and vice-presidential pairing of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin.
Hamlin was replaced on the 1864 ballot by Tennessee War Democrat Andrew Johnson and left office on March 4, 1865.
Lincoln was assassinated just 42 days into his next term on April 15th.
Other particularly brief post-administration half-lives were turned in by:
· Franklin Roosevelt and Henry Wallace (January-April 1945): 2 months, 23 days (82 days)
· James Monroe and Daniel Tompkins (March-June 1825): 3 months, 7 days (99 days)
· James Polk and George Dallas (March-June 1849): 3 months, 11 days (103 days)
· Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller (1977-1979): 2 years, 6 days (736 days)
· George Washington and John Adams (1797-1799): 2 years, 9 months, 10 days (1,015 days)
The average post service half-life among the 33 pairings in history is 3,504 days, or approximately 9 years, 7 months.
Post-Administration Longevity Among Presidential and Vice-Presidential Pairings
|
Rank
|
President
|
Vice-President
|
Years
|
Span*
|
Days*
|
|
1
|
Jimmy Carter
|
Walter Mondale
|
1981-
|
33 years, 28 days
|
12,081
|
|
2
|
John Adams
|
Thomas Jefferson
|
1801-1826
|
25 years, 4 months
|
9,253
|
|
3
|
Thomas Jefferson
|
Aaron Burr
|
1805-1826
|
21 years, 4 months
|
7,792
|
|
4
|
George H.W. Bush
|
Dan Quayle
|
1993-
|
21 years, 28 days
|
7,698
|
|
5
|
Richard Nixon
|
Spiro Agnew
|
1973-1994
|
20 years, 6 months, 12 days
|
7,499
|
|
6
|
Richard Nixon
|
Gerald Ford
|
1974-1994
|
19 years, 8 months, 13 days
|
7,196
|
|
7
|
John Q. Adams
|
John Calhoun
|
1829-1848
|
18 years, 11 months, 19 days
|
6,930
|
|
8
|
Ronald Reagan
|
George H.W. Bush
|
1889-2004
|
15 years, 4 months, 16 days
|
5,615
|
|
9
|
Bill Clinton
|
Al Gore
|
2001-
|
13 years, 28 days
|
4,775
|
|
10
|
Andrew Jackson
|
John Calhoun
|
1832-1845
|
12 years, 5 months, 11 days
|
4,545
|
|
11
|
Ulysses Grant
|
Schuyler Colfax
|
1873-1885
|
11 years, 10 months, 9 days
|
4,333
|
|
12
|
Grover Cleveland
|
Adlai Stevenson
|
1897-1908
|
11 years, 3 months, 20 days
|
4,129
|
|
13
|
Martin Van Buren
|
Richard Johnson
|
1841-1850
|
9 years, 8 months, 15 days
|
3,547
|
|
14
|
Theodore Roosevelt
|
Charles Fairbanks
|
1909-1918
|
9 years, 3 months
|
3,379
|
|
15
|
Benjamin Harrison
|
Levi Morton
|
1893-1901
|
8 years, 6 months, 10 days
|
3,115
|
|
16
|
Andrew Jackson
|
Martin Van Buren
|
1837-1845
|
8 years, 3 months, 4 days
|
3,018
|
|
17
|
Dwight Eisenhower
|
Richard Nixon
|
1961-1969
|
8 years, 2 months, 8 days
|
2,989
|
|
18
|
James Buchanan
|
John Breckinridge
|
1861-1868
|
7 years, 2 months, 28 days
|
2,646
|
|
19
|
Rutherford Hayes
|
William Wheeler
|
1881-1887
|
6 years, 3 months
|
2,283
|
|
20
|
George W. Bush
|
Dick Cheney
|
2009-
|
5 years, 28 days
|
1,854
|
|
21
|
Franklin Roosevelt
|
John Garner
|
1941-1945
|
4 years, 2 months, 23 days
|
1,543
|
|
22
|
Lyndon Johnson
|
Hubert Humphrey
|
1969-1973
|
4 years, 2 days
|
1,463
|
|
23
|
Calvin Coolidge
|
Charles Dawes
|
1929-1933
|
3 years, 10 months, 1 day
|
1,403
|
|
24
|
Harry Truman
|
Alben Barkley
|
1953-1956
|
3 years, 3 months, 10 days
|
1,196
|
|
25
|
Thomas Jefferson
|
George Clinton
|
1809-1812
|
3 years, 1 month, 16 days
|
1,143
|
|
26
|
Herbert Hoover
|
Charles Curtis
|
1933-1936
|
2 years, 11 months, 4 days
|
1,071
|
|
27
|
Woodrow Wilson
|
Thomas Marshall
|
1921-1924
|
2 years, 10 months, 30 days
|
1,066
|
|
28
|
George Washington
|
John Adams
|
1797-1799
|
2 years, 9 months, 10 days
|
1,015
|
|
29
|
Gerald Ford
|
Nelson Rockefeller
|
1977-1979
|
2 years, 6 days
|
736
|
|
30
|
James Polk
|
George Dallas
|
1849-1849
|
3 months, 11 days
|
103
|
|
31
|
James Monroe
|
Daniel Tompkins
|
1825-1825
|
3 months, 7 days
|
99
|
|
32
|
Franklin Roosevelt
|
Henry Wallace
|
1945-1945
|
2 months, 23 days
|
82
|
|
33
|
Abraham Lincoln
|
Hannibal Hamlin
|
1865-1865
|
1 month, 11 days
|
42
|
* Through Monday, February 17, 2014. Table compiled by Smart Politics.
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