Here’s former First Lady Barbara Bush sharing with an audience about her famous husband’s recent choices in sock fashion. Or perhaps the socks are just a way to impress cute young girls? See for yourself.
President George H. W. Bush was born June 12, 1924.
And incidentally, proper protocol is to always refer to any former political leader by their most recent title, even if they are out of office. So calling him “president” even if he’s out of office is correct. It’s the same reason people still refer to Mitt Rmoney as “Governor Mitt Romney” even though he’s been out of office for years. But I digress.
So since President Bush was born in 1924, he’ll be 89 years old in about three weeks from the time of this writing. He’s currently the fifth longest living U.S. president ever, according to this list at Wikipedia of longest living US presidents. The longest living U.S. presidents in history are, in reverse order:
- Gerald Ford – 93 years, 165 days
- Ronald Reagan – 93 years, 120 days
- John Adams – 90 years, 247 days
- Herbert Hoover – 90 years, 71 days
And, at the time of this writing:
- George H. W. Bush – 88 years, 348 days
- Jimmy Carter – 88 years, 237 days
Those are the two oldest living former presidents, by far. For the next two who are still living, you have to skim allll the way down the list to:
- George W. Bush – 66 years, 324 days
- Bill Clinton – 66 years, 280 days
Isn’t it interesting how close to each other these pairs of presidents are in age – Bush “41”, as he’s often called (he was the country’s 41st president) and Carter at only 111 days apart, and Bush 43 and Clinton at only 44 days apart.
And in case you’re looking at the list and thinking “wow, look at President Obama, after 5 years in office he’s still the third youngest on the list – and that’s true, but remember, this list considers the full lifespans of all presidents, not just their age while serving in office. It makes sense that the current president, whoever he might be, would be younger – for now.
And hopefully, for all living presidents, past and present, for their sakes, we’ll see all living presidents rise up the list as their lives continue.
