The Volokh Conspiracy - More on Presidential Life Spans:

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, here are some questions on Presidential births. (You might want to try to answer all the questions before looking at any of the answers, since some answers may give away other ones.)

We all know that the Presidents who died closest in time to each other were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who both died on July 4, 1826. What two U.S. Presidents were born closest in time to each other?

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What two consecutive U.S. Presidents were born furthest apart in time?

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What is the longest stretch of time during which no Presidents were born? (Note that this is different from the question above. There may have been a long gap between the birth of consecutive Presidents during which some other President was born. For example, while 15 years separated the births of consecutive Presidents McKinley (1843) and Teddy Roosevelt (1858), there were, indeed, other Presidents born during that gap: Taft (1857) and Wilson (1856).)

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What Presidents was born the most time before his immediate predecessor?

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What President was born before the most of his predecessors?

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	[Puzzleblogger Kevan Choset, July 28, 2005 at 10:43am] Trackbacks More on Presidential Life Spans: As a follow-up to yesterday's post, here are some questions on Presidential births. (You might want to try to answer all the questions before looking at any of the answers, since some answers may give away other ones.) We all know that the Presidents who died closest in time to each other were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who both died on July 4, 1826. What two U.S. Presidents were born closest in time to each other? (show) Bill Clinton (August 19, 1946) and George W. Bush (July 6, 1946), separated by 44 days. (hide) What two consecutive U.S. Presidents were born furthest apart in time? (show) Dwight Eisenhower (October 14, 1890) and John F. Kennedy (May 29, 1917), separated by 26 years, 7 months, 15 days. The second longest stretch was between George H.W. Bush (June 12, 1924) and Bill Clinton (August 19, 1946), separated by 22 years, 2 months, 7 days. Of course, if we eliminate the "consecutive" requirement, the answer is George Washington (February 22, 1732) and Bill Clinton (August 19, 1946) (not George W. Bush), separated by 214 years, 5 months, 28 days. (hide) What is the longest stretch of time during which no Presidents were born? (Note that this is different from the question above. There may have been a long gap between the birth of consecutive Presidents during which some other President was born. For example, while 15 years separated the births of consecutive Presidents McKinley (1843) and Teddy Roosevelt (1858), there were, indeed, other Presidents born during that gap: Taft (1857) and Wilson (1856).) (show) Despite the caveat that this question is different from the previous one, the answer to this one is very similar to the runner-up in the previous one. While two Presidents were born between Bush Sr. and Clinton, Carter (October 1, 1924) was born just after Bush Sr., and Bush Jr. (July 6, 1946) was born just before Clinton. Thus, the longest stretch is the 21 years, 9 months, 5 days between the births of Carter and Bush Jr. (hide) What Presidents was born the most time before his immediate predecessor? (show) Reagan. Though Reagan (February 6, 1911) served as President after Carter (October 1, 1924), he was born 13 years, 7 months, 25 days before him. Buchanan comes in a close second. Buchanan (April 23, 1791) followed Pierce (November 23, 1804) as President, but was born 13 years, 7 months before him. (hide) What President was born before the most of his predecessors? (show) Ronald Reagan (born 1911) was born before four of his predecessors: Carter (1924), Ford (1913), Nixon (1913), and Kennedy (1917). (hide)