§ Quantized History #19

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December 26, 1972 and 2006»

December 26, 1972 - Harry S. Truman (b. 1884), 33rd President of the United States died at 7:50a.m. at the age of 88. He died of multiple organ failure developed subsequent to lung congestion from pneumonia.

December 26, 2006 - Gerald R. Ford, (b. 1913), 38th President of the United States died at 6:45p.m. at the age of 93 years and 165 days. He died of a heart attack and heart failure. Gerald Ford lived the longest of any American President, beating Ronald Reagan by 45 days.

Connections of Note Involving Pairs of American Presidents

• December 26: Presidents Harry Truman (1972) and Gerald Ford (2006) died on the same date.
• Father and Son: Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the first father and son Presidential pair. The son was President at the time of his father's death.
• Father and Son: Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush are the second father and son Presidential pair.
• Grandfather and Grandson: Presidents William H. Harrison and Benjamin Harrison are (so far) the only grandfather and grandson Presidential pair.
• Cousins: The Roosevelt family is a prominent American political family of Dutch descent that produced two United States Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt (FDR's wife).
  
  In the 18th century the Roosevelt family divided into two branches, the Hyde Park Roosevelts, who by the late 19th century were Democrats, and the Oyster Bay Roosevelts, who generally became Republicans. President Theodore Roosevelt, an Oyster Bay Republican, was President Franklin Roosevelt's fifth cousin. Despite their political differences, which led family members to actively campaign against each other, the two branches generally remained friendly: James Roosevelt met his wife at a Roosevelt family gathering in the home of Theodore's mother, and James' son Franklin married Theodore's niece Eleanor.
• July 4, 1826: Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on Independence Day, the 50th Anniversary of their signing of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson being its author. Late in the afternoon of the Fourth of July, just hours after Jefferson had died at Monticello, Adams, unaware of that fact, is reported to have uttered these final words, "Jefferson survives." This is arguably the most amazing coincidence in American History!
• July 4: In addition to Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both of whom died July 4, 1826 (as noted above), President James Monroe died July 4, 1831, exactly 5 years later. More American Presidents (astoundingly, 3 of the first 5) died on Independence Day than any other calendar date. Furthermore, President Calvin Coolidge was born July 4, 1872.
• November 2: Presidents James K. Polk (1795) and Warren G. Harding (1865) were born on the same date.