- Jimmy Carter has the longest post-presidency at over 40 years.
- Eight presidents died while in office.
- Of those that completed their terms, James K. Polk had the shortest post-presidency at 103 days.
- The average length of time a president lives after their presidency is a little under 14 years.
- * indicates the president is still alive. Those presidents' time after their presidency were calculated on 20 Jan 2021.
- + Cleveland's time is based on the end of the second of his two non-consecutive terms.
Rank | # | President | Time Post-Presidency |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 39 | Jimmy Carter | 40 years 0 days * |
2 | 31 | Herbert Hoover | 31 years 230 days |
3 | 38 | Gerald R. Ford | 29 years 340 days |
4 | 41 | George H. W. Bush | 25 years 314 days |
5 | 2 | John Adams | 25 years 122 days |
6 | 8 | Martin Van Buren | 21 years 142 days |
7 | 13 | Millard Fillmore | 21 years 4 days |
8 | 42 | Bill Clinton | 20 years 0 days * |
9 | 33 | Harry S. Truman | 19 years 340 days |
10 | 37 | Richard M. Nixon | 19 years 256 days |
11 | 4 | James Madison | 19 years 116 days |
12 | 6 | John Quincy Adams | 18 years 356 days |
13 | 3 | Thomas Jefferson | 17 years 122 days |
14 | 27 | William H. Taft | 17 years 4 days |
15 | 10 | John Tyler | 16 years 320 days |
16 | 40 | Ronald Reagan | 15 years 136 days |
17 | 14 | Franklin Pierce | 12 years 218 days |
18 | 43 | George W. Bush | 12 years 0 days * |
19 | 19 | Rutherford B. Hayes | 11 years 319 days |
20 | 24 | Grover Cleveland | 11 years 112 days + |
21 | 26 | Theodore Roosevelt | 9 years 308 days |
22 | 18 | Ulysses S. Grant | 8 years 141 days |
23 | 7 | Andrew Jackson | 8 years 96 days |
24 | 34 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 8 years 67 days |
25 | 23 | Benjamin Harrison | 8 years 9 days |
26 | 15 | James Buchanan | 7 years 89 days |
27 | 17 | Andrew Johnson | 6 years 149 days |
28 | 5 | James Monroe | 6 years 122 days |
29 | 36 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 4 years 2 days |
30 | 44 | Barack Obama | 4 years 0 days * |
31 | 30 | Calvin Coolidge | 3 years 307 days |
32 | 28 | Woodrow Wilson | 2 years 336 days |
33 | 1 | George Washington | 2 years 285 days |
34 | 21 | Chester A. Arthur | 1 year 259 days |
35 | 11 | James K. Polk | 103 days |
36 | 45 | Donald J. Trump | 0 days * |
- | 9 | William Henry Harrison | Died in Office |
- | 12 | Zachary Taylor | Died in Office |
- | 16 | Abraham Lincoln | Died in Office |
- | 20 | James A. Garfield | Died in Office |
- | 25 | William McKinley | Died in Office |
- | 29 | Warren G. Harding | Died in Office |
- | 32 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Died in Office |
- | 35 | John F. Kennedy | Died in Office |
- | 46 | Joe Biden | Incumbent |
Return to Presidential Facts