Youngest U.S. Presidents

“Youth is wasted on the young,” or so said Irish playwright and Nobel laureate George Bernard Shaw.

However, when Barack Obama landed in the White House, the relatively youthful 47-year-old Democrat (born August 4, 1961) became the nation’s fifth youngest president, beating Grover Cleveland by 66 days.

Here are the Top Ten youngest presidents, by age upon taking office, courtesy of Infoplease.

1. Theodore Roosevelt (42 years, 322 days)
2. John F. Kennedy (43 years, 236 days)
3. Bill Clinton (46 years, 154 days)
4. Ulysses S. Grant (46 years, 236 days)
5. Barack Obama (47 years, 285 days)
6. Grover Cleveland (47 years, 351 days)
7. Franklin Pierce (48 years, 101 days)
8. James Garfield (48 years, 105 days)
9. James K. Polk (49 years, 122 days)
10. Millard Fillmore (50 years, 184 days)

Note: Roosevelt was sworn in after the assassination of William McKinley in 1901, making Kennedy the youngest president actually voted to the office. At 69, Ronald Reagan was the oldest president to take office.

Related lists:

• Popular books about presidents
• Unfortunate political one-liners
• Secret Service code names
• Presidential Disapproval Ratings
• U.S Presidential Trivia
• Presidential Vacation Spots
• Birth States of Presidents
• Top Movie Presidents
• Presidents By Height

Advertisement