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Counting Back From John Adams' Birthday

I learned a few months ago that President Joe Biden was born in closer proximity to Abraham Lincoln's assassination than to the inauguration of Joe Biden. This inspired a study at The New LeafJournal.

My Study: Biden, Lincoln, and Counting Back From the President's Birth

For each president, I took the time that elapsed between his birth and his first taking office and counted backward from his birth using the same period of time. I then determined who was president at the pertienent countback date. For example, Mr. Biden's count-back president is Lincoln, Mr. Donald Trump's count-back president was Ulysses S. Grant, and Mr. Barack Obama's count-back president was Woodrow Wilson (the latest thus far). Because I was looking at who was president at the pertinent count-back date, I only calculated results for the presidents whose count-back dates landed after the inauguration of George Washington. Thus, I covered every president starting with the 26th president (who happens to be the youngest to have taken the oath of office), Theodore Roosevelt.

But what would happen if I calculated results for the earlier presidents? What would the earliest count-back date be?

To begin, the earliest count-back date would be that of John Adams. Some readers may have expected that George Washington, the first president, would have the earliest count-back date. However, it is important to remember that the president's count-back date is heavily influenced by his age at the time he takes office. George Washington, at 57 years and 67 days on April 30, 1789, was neither especially old nor especially young when he took office. He was the youngest at the time of taking the oath of the first seven presidents, but all seven of those men were between the ages of 57 and 61 when they took office. John Adams was the first of 11 presidents to be over the age of 60 when he took office on March 4, 1797, at the age of 61 years and 125 days. Although George Washington was just over three years older than his Vice President and presidential successor, Adams overcomes Washington in the count-back date math because the difference in his age and Washington's at the respective times they took office is greater than the difference between their dates of birth.

Thus, let us calculate the earliest presidential count-back date, that of the second president of the United States, John Adams:

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735
John Adams became president on March 4, 1797
John Adams was 61 years and 125 days old when he became president
The date 61 years and 125 days before October 30, 1735 was June 27, 1674

Because there was no president on June 27, 1674, John Adams does not have a count-back president like all of the presidents starting with Theodore Roosevelt (fun fact: the only president whose count-back date landed during John Adams' term in office was Woodrow Wilson). But the American Colonies did have a monarch. John Adams' count-back King was Charles II, who ruled from May 29, 1660 to February 6, 1685.

If you enjoyed this content, you may also be interested in my article on presidential birthday facts.

My post on presidential birthday facts.

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