More presidential notes

Joseph Biden, President no 46, was born on 20/11/1942. When sworn in on 20/01/2021, he was at 78+ the oldest to be sworn in as President. The previous record was held by Ronald Reagan (b. 06/02/1911) when sworn in for the second time on 20/01/1985. He was then almost 74.

The oldest President to be sworn in for the first time was Donald Trump (14/06/1946) who was 70+ when sworn in on 20/01/2016. Earlier it was Reagan who was almost 70 when sworn in on 20/01/1981.

At one time it was felt that Bernard Sanders might be elected President. Born on 08/09/1941, he is over a year older than Biden and would have set the same records.

Biden is the second Catholic President (after JFK) and the second to be born in Pennsylvania (after James Buchanan of 1857-1861), the predecessor of Abraham Lincoln. Buchanan figures quite high in the rankings of “Worst President”, though Trump may ultimately get this title. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States

The US has not had a First Gentleman yet, though Bill Clinton came close to it in 2016. Now there is a Second Gentleman, who is Jewish for good measure.

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, CA in 1964. She has a chance of becoming President in 2025 (or earlier, if Tippecanoe’s Curse reappears). She would then be the second President after Nixon to be born in CA.

Notes from the US elections of 2020

If you have not heard of the Curse of Tippecanoe, you can look it up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Tippecanoe

More details here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEqokw0gQLc&ab_channel=Mr.Beat

Also Joe Biden (born 20/11/1942) will be the oldest President (78+) at the time of his inauguration on 20/01/2021. The previous record was 70+ by Donald Trump when he was sworn in on 20/01/2017. Ronald Reagan was 73+ when he was sworn in for the second time on 20/01/1985.

Joe Biden was born before 4 of his predecessors (Clinton, Bush (Jr), Obama and Trump.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Carter continues his run as the longest-lived President. He crossed 97 on Oct 1, 2021

Joe Biden becomes the second Catholic President after JFK (1961-63).

He emulated Richard Nixon and George Bush (Sr) by being elected Vice-President twice and then becoming President.

He may be the first incoming President to have a railway station named after him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmington_station_(Delaware)

Along with POTUS and VPOTUS, there are normally FLOTUS and SLOTUS: the First Lady and Second Lady. For the first time there will be a First Gentleman. Douglas Emhoff becomes the first Jewish person to be either President, Vice-president or spouse of either.

Looking more closely as the outgoing and incoming FLOTUSs:

Melania Trump has some claims to fame: “In March 2001 she became a permanent resident of the U.S. She married the businessman, real estate developer and television personality Donald Trump in January 2005, gave birth to their son Barron in March 2006, and obtained U.S. citizenship in July 2006.After Louisa Adams, she is the second First Lady to have been born outside the country (not counting those born in U.S. territory before the country existed), the first one to be a naturalized citizen and the first whose native language is not English.”

As for her successor-she is the first First Lady with Italian ancestry and the first with a PhD. This is the second marriage for both her and her husband.

While there have been several Presidents named John (hence Jack), she is the first Jill among First Ladies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Biden

Long live gerontocracy!

Some basic facts:

Ronald Reagan was born on Feb 6, 1911.

He was sworn in as President on Jan 20, 1981 (69 years 349 days of age) and again on Jan 20, 1985 (73/349). The second occasion was a record for the oldest person to be sworn in as President, though it was for his second term.

Now, it appears that the next President (who will be sworn in on Jan 20, 2021) will be ONE OF the following:

Donald Trump (Jun 14, 1946)

Joseph Biden (Nov 20, 1942)

Bernard Sanders (Sep 8, 1941)-even before Pearl Harbour!

Trump was 70/220 when he was sworn in on Jan 20, 2017. That makes him the oldest to be sworn in as President for the FIRST time (unlike Reagan in 1985). And if he wins this time, he will be sworn in on Jan 20, 2021 at a record of 74/220, several months older than Reagan’s 73/349 in 1985.

And Biden will be still older on that day if he is elected: 78/61.

Sanders will be even older: 79/134.

Long live gerontocracy! as Mahathir Mohamad, Robert Mugabe and others such as Morarji Desai would have said.

So youngsters such as Pete Buttegieg and Tulsi Gabbard would need to be about 40 years older if they are to be taken seriously.

Meanwhile Jimmy Carter (Oct 1, 1924 and President in 1977-81) looks on in his 95th year.

Also see: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/more-about-long-lived-leaders/