Fun Facts About United States Presidents

Which US coin has a president on both sides?


TITANSOFTRIVIA.COM
QUESTION OF THE DAY
JANUARY 12, 2021

The President of the United States have one of the toughest jobs in the world – at least, tough to do well. The nature of the job is, by default, going to ensure the the president leads an interesting life, but most of them are pretty intereting people well before they get into the Oval Office. If you haven’t, check out our US Presidents Quiz – EASIER and our US Presidents Quiz – VERY DIFFICULT depending on how ambitious you are feeling. But there is way too much interesting presidential trivia to include in a few quizzes! Check out some of the additional Fun Facts that we found about the US Presidents.

Fun Facts about the United States Presidents

1.Most Presidents are wealthy

The US Presidency pays $400,000 per year, which immediately puts the president in the top 1% of earners. On top of that, the President pays virtually no costs while in office – food, lodging, travel is all taken care of – and he or she receives a lifetime pension of $219,200 annually. That is all fine and good, but that does not account for why the presidents tend to be wealthy. They often come from wealthy families with political influence. Below are the seven US Presidents worth $100 million or more ( in today’s value):

Wealthiest US Presidents
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Theodore Roosevelt
Andrew Jackson
James Madison
Lyndon B. Johnson
Donald Trump

With the exception of Lyndon B Johnson, all were born into extremely wealthy families. Lyndon B Johnson was not, but he married a Texas debutante who inherited a large fortune, and she (not him) grew it. In addition to being born lucky, modern day Presidents also have countless opportunities to make money. Many sit on corporate boards and give six-figure speaking events, actions which used to be frowned upon but which are more accepted today. Bill Clinton received a $15 million advance for his best selling memoirs, the highest such fee at the time, and then made much more from proceeds on the book sales. Speaking fees for past US Presidents can also top $750,000. While most presidents do still come into office as multi-millionaries, clearly, the opportunity to make money after the presidency is there.

2. In the 20th century and beyond, Democratic Presidents are wealthier than Republicans

Wikipedia lists the Presidents by net worth. Going back to 1900, there has been wealthy presidents on both sides of the political table. Removing Donald Trump as an outlier worth (allegedly) $4.5 billion, the Republicans since 1900 are worth $340 million. The Democrats are worth $319 million. However, there have been eleven Repulican presidents and just nine Democratic presidents.

The average net worth of Republican presidents is $30.9 million. The average net worth of Democratic presidents is $35.4 million. Those number are actually quite close. No matter how you slice it, that’s a LOT of money.

3. July 4th is the birth of our country – and the death of our presidents

Most people know that July 4th, 1776 was the signing of the Declaration of Independence which signified the birth fo the United States and its separation from England. But did you know that, strangely, multiple founding fathers also died on July 4th?

On July 4th, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the sgning of the Declaration of Independence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died. They were not only the 2nd and 3rd presidents, but they were also political rivals. Just 5 years later, James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, died on July 4th, 1831. I’m betting that John Quincy Adams – the sixth president – was feeling pretty nervous every Fourth of July.

4. The youngest a President can be is 35 years old

Written into the US Constitution (Article II) is a rule stating that the President of the United States needs to be at least 35 years of age. Teddy Roosevelt was 42 years, 10 months, 18 days when he took office after the assisination of President McKinley. However, the youngest president elected was John F. Kennedy. The oldest president is Joe Biden at age 78 years, 2 months, 3 days.

Also written into the Constitution are a few more requirements. The president must be born in the United States or an outlying territory, and he or she must resided in the United States for at least 14 years prior to assuming the Presidency.

5. Seven presidents have been shot

Teddy Roosevelt’s speech manuscript with bullet hole

Sadly, four presidents have been assisinated while in office. They are fairly well-known, having paid the ultimate price to lead our country: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F Kennedy.

A lesser known fact is that three additional presidents have been shot but survived. As a young man, Andrew Jackson took part in a duel – a controversial but somewhat accepted practice at the time. He was shot in the chest, but he managed to remain standing, shot, and killed his opponent. The bullet could not be safetly removed and remained in Jackson for the rest of his life – approximately 40 years. Equally astonishing is the story of Teddy Roosevelt. On October 4, 1912, as President Roosevelt pulled up to a hotel in Milwaukee for a speech and waved to the crowd, shots rang out. A New York saloon owner who had followed Roosevelt from New Orleans to Milwaukee had shot him twice, but Roosevelt’s glasses case and 50 page speech manuscript slowed the bullet down so that it did not penetrate his ribs. In a blood-soaked shirt, he went on to give a 90 minute speech to the crowd before allowing his aides to take him to the hospital. And finally, On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan exited the Washington Hilton Hotel when John Hinkley Jr. shot him. Hinkely had become obsessed with the actress Jodie Foster and believed the attack would impress her. The bullet broke through Reagan’s ribs, punctured a lung, and he was in critical condition before being stabilized in the emergency room. He made a full recovery, but other shots from Hinkely wounded Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty. Brady was paralyzed for the rest of his life.

6. Martin Van Buren was the first truly American president – sort of

Born in Kinderhook, New York in 1782, Martin Van Buren was the first president born after that nation had declared its independence. Every president before him and been born under British rule which made them British citizens at birth. However, Van Buren was born to a Dutch family. His parents had immigrated from the Netherlands, and his father had fought in the Revolutionary War. In that region of New York, most families were Dutch, and it was the common language. So while the first truly American president, Van Buren is also the first – and to this day, the only – US President who learned English as a second language. According to an account taken from the Complete Book of US Presidents, Van Buren had no noticeable accent by the time he took office,

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