Presidential Statistics

Only 3 Presidents Did Not Seek Reelection, And Only 5 Failed To Gain A Nomination To Run For Reelection

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A historical investigation of Presidential reelection efforts shows only three Presidents, who survived to the end of their term, chose not to attempt to run for reelection:

James K. Polk in 1848

James Buchanan in 1860

Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.

Five Presidents who did not survive to run were:

William Henry Harrison, elected in 1840, dying in 1841.

Zachary Taylor, elected in 1848, dying in 1850.

James A. Garfield, elected in 1880, dying in 1881.

Warren G. Harding, elected in 1920, dying 1923.

John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, dying in 1963.

Five Presidents wished to run for reelection, but failed to gain a nomination on any party line:

John Tyler in 1844

Millard Fillmore in 1852

Franklin Pierce in 1856

Andrew Johnson in 1868

Chester Alan Arthur in 1884

Two Presidents chose not to run after succeeding a President due to death, only having one full term:

Calvin Coolidge in 1928

Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968

A Day Of Presidential Statistics: Four Times With Six Living Presidents, and Six Times With No Living Predecessor President

Ronald 5 Comments

Some interesting Presidential Statistics on Presidents:

Specifically, the four times we have had six Presidents alive at the same time and also six times with no President alive other than that one serving? So here goes:

Six Presidents alive:

March 1861 to January 1862—Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln —320 days until death of Tyler.

January 1993 to April 1994—Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton—1 year 92 days until death of Nixon.

January 2001 to June 2004—Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush—3 years 137 days until death of Reagan.

January 2017 to November 2018—Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump—1 year 314 days until death of H. W. Bush.

Six living Presidents, no living predecessors:

April 1789 to March 1797—George Washington, no earlier President

December 1799 to March 1801—John Adams after death of Washington

July 1875 to March 1877—Ulysses S. Grant after death of Andrew Johnson

June 1908 to March 1909—Theodore Roosevelt after death of Grover Cleveland

January 1933 to March 1933—Herbert Hoover after death of Calvin Coolidge

January 1973 to August 1974—Richard Nixon after death of Lyndon B. Johnson