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5 Wacky Facts about the Births and Deaths of U.S. Presidents

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Portrait of American President Gerald Ford dressed in a blue, pin-striped suit as he stands with his arms crossed, taken during his first month in office, August 1974. First official portrait of President Gerald R. Ford.
Courtesy, Gerald R. Ford Library; photograph, David Hume Kennerly

Presidents’ Day is celebrated in the United States on the third Monday in February, honoring the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. But presidents were born—and died—in all the other months, too. Here are some strange facts and coincidences in the lives and deaths of the U.S. commander in chief.

  • Died on the Fourth of July

    Thomas Jefferson, portrait by an anonymous artist, 19th century; in the Musee de la Cooperation Franco-Americaine, Blerancourt, France.
    Thomas JeffersonGiraudon/Art Resource, New York

    Perhaps the most coincidental events in U.S. history are the deaths of Thomas Jefferson (3rd president) and John Adams (2nd). They died on the same day, in the same year, and on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—July 4, 1826. It has been stated that John Adams’s last words were "Jefferson still survives." The truth of this is in question, but if true, Adams was mistaken. While Adams’s heart was failing in Massachusetts, Jefferson had passed away some 5 hours earlier from a variety of maladies. James Monroe (5th) also died on July 4, but in the year 1831. The only president of the United States to be born on July 4 was Calvin Coolidge (30th). He was born in Plymouth, Vermont, on July 4, 1872.

  • George Washington’s Two Birthdays

    George Washington, oil painting by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1796; in the White House.
    Gilbert Stuart: portrait of George Washington
    George Washington, oil painting by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1803; in the White House. The work is based on Gilbert's unfinished painting of Washington known as the Athenaeum portrait (1796).
    Scala/Art Resource, New York

    The birth of George Washington (1st president), though not on July 4, is interesting in its own respect. Traditionally stated as February 22, 1732, an argument could be made to the contrary. Great Britain did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until the passage of The Calendar Act of 1751 by Parliament. Formerly, the Julian calendar was in use in Britain and its colonies. The change added 11 days to the date. This act also changed the date of the new year from March 25 to January 1. Hence, if there had been a calendar on the wall at Washington’s birth it might have read February 11.

  • March 8 Matchup

    William Howard Taft, Kent professor of constitutional law at Yale between 1913 and 1921.
    William Howard Taft
    William Howard Taft, Kent professor of constitutional law at Yale University between 1913 and 1921.
    Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

    Millard Fillmore (13th president) and William Howard Taft (27th) both died on March 8. Fillmore died in Buffalo, New York, in 1874 at age 74 as a result of a stroke. Taft died in Washington, D.C., in 1930 at age 72 of heart disease. At 340 pounds, it is somewhat remarkable that Taft exceeded the life expectancy of his time. He once wrote a friend: "Took a long horseback ride today, feel fine." The friend replied: "How’s the horse?"

  • Seventy-year Split

    James K. Polk.
    James K. PolkLibrary of Congress, Washington, D.C.

    James K. Polk (11th president) and Warren G. Harding (29th) were both born on November 2, seven decades apart. Polk was born in North Carolina in 1795. Harding was born in Ohio in 1865.

  • Boxing Day Blues

    U.S. President Gerald R. Ford (Gerald Ford).
    Gerald FordThe Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum

    Harry Truman (33rd president) and Gerald Ford (38th) both died on December 26. Truman died in 1972 in Kansas City, Missouri, of cardiovascular disease. Ford died in 2006 in Rancho Mirage, California, of vascular diseases. At the time of his death, at age 93, Ford was the president who had lived the longest life, though his record was later broken by George H.W. Bush (41st)..