Looking down a list of American presidents, a few facts stand out.
Of our first twelve presidents, nine were from Virginia or Massachusetts—while from 1869 to 1923, seven of eleven were from Ohio. Curiously, although only Lincoln was born in Kentucky, his opposite in the Civil War was born in the same state. The elder Bush was from Massachusetts; the younger, from Texas.
The presidents share no more common educational background than Harvard—the two Adamses, Rutherford Hayes, the two Roosevelts, Kennedy and the younger Bush.
Among denominations, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Unitarians are extraordinarily well-represented. Hoover and Nixon were Quakers; Martin Van Buren and Theodore Roosevelt were Dutch Reformed; Harding, Truman and Carter were Baptists. Kennedy was our only Catholic. No president was ever an admitted atheist.
The vast majority had previously worked as lawyers. The encyclopedia lists author as Kennedy's prior occupation; he wrote Why England Slept and Profiles in Courage. But it does not seem to have amounted to a career ambition; he served in the Navy, then pursued politics. Theodore Roosevelt was, however, a prolific author, producing a number of excellent histories and a very well-written autobiography.
Reagan was our oldest president; 70 at inauguration. John F. Kennedy was not our youngest. He was 43 when he was inaugurated; Theodore Roosevelt was 42.
There have been periods of unusual party dominance. The democrats held unbroken reign from 1933 to 1953. In more recent years, republicans have been dominant. They have held the White House 20 of the last 28 years.
There are unusual preponderances in months of birth. Of the first 37 presidents, 10 were born in October or November. Until the elder Bush, none were ever born in June.
Therefore—if you have ambitions for the highest office, it may not hurt to be a Harvard-educated Presbyterian Lawyer from Ohio born in the month of October or November. And it will be reassuring to some to see that they may become presidents even if they are authors.
