Nicholas (nwhyte) wrote,
Nicholas
nwhyte

RIP Betty Ford

When we stayed in Washington in 2005, the table where we ate breakfast at our hotel was beside a tremendously vigorous picture of Betty Ford dancing on a table in the White House. I kid you not.

Anyway, it's a sad reason to revisit my various stats.

Longevity of women married to American Presidents and Vice-Presidents (top twelve, including the two oldest still living, above the cut):

Bess Truman: born 13 Feb 1885, died 18 Oct 1982, aged 97 years and 248 days.
Ann Gerry: born 12 Aug 1753, died 17 Mar 1849, aged 95 years and 217 days.
Lady Bird Johnson: born 22 Dec 1912, died 11 Jul 2007, aged 94 years and 201 days.
Jane Wyman: born 4 Jan 1914, died 10 Sep 2007, aged 93 years and 250 days (divorced Ronald Reagan before he became President).
Betty Ford: born 8 Apr 1918, died 8 Jul 2011, aged 93 years and 91 days.
Ilo Wallace: born 10 Mar 1888, died 22 Feb 1981, aged 92 years and 348 days.
Jennie Hobart: born 30 Jan 1849, died 8 Jan 1941, aged 91 years and 343 days.
Tod Rockefeller: born 17 Jun 1907, died 21 Apr 1999, aged 91 years and 308 days (divorced Nelson before he became Vice-President).
Caro Dawes: born 6 Jan 1866, died 3 Oct 1957, aged 91 years and 271 days.
Eliza Bowen Jumel: born 7 Apr 1775, died 16 Jul 1865, aged 90 years and 100 days (married and divorced Aaron Burr after he had been Vice-President).
Judy Agnew: born 23 Apr 1921, still living, aged 90 years and 77 days.
Nancy Reagan: born 6 Jul 1921, still living, aged 90 years and 3 days.
Mary Harrison: born 30 Apr 1858, died 5 Jan 1948, aged 89 years and 249 days (married husband after his term as President).
Ellen Hamlin: born 14 Sep 1835, died 1 Feb 1925, aged 89 years and 139 days.
Edith Wilson: born 15 Oct 1872, died 28 Dec 1961, aged 89 years and 74 days (married husband while he was President).
Anna Harrison: born 25 Jul 1775, died 25 Feb 1864, aged 88 years and 214 days.
Sarah Polk: born 4 Sep 1803, died 14 Aug 1891, aged 87 years and 344 days (married husband while he was President).
Edith Roosevelt: born 6 Aug 1861, died 30 Sep 1948, aged 87 years and 55 days.
Muriel Humphrey: born 20 Feb 1912, died 20 Sep 1998, aged 86 years and 213 days.
Barbara Bush: born 8 Jun 1925, still living, aged 86 years and 31 days.
Lucretia Garfield: born 19 Apr 1832, died 14 Mar 1918, aged 85 years and 329 days.
Happy Rockefeller: born 9 Jun 1926, still living, aged 85 years and 30 days.
Lois Marshall: born 9 May 1873, died 7 Jan 1958, aged 84 years and 242 days.
Abigail Adams: born 11 Nov 1744, died 28 Oct 1828, aged 83 years and 351 days.
Rosalynn Carter: born 18 Aug 1927, still living, aged 83 years and 325 days.
Frances Cleveland: born 21 Jul 1864, died 29 Oct 1947, aged 83 years and 100 days (married husband while he was President).
Mamie Eisenhower: born 14 Nov 1896, died 1 Nov 1979, aged 82 years and 352 days.
Helen Taft: born 2 Jun 1861, died 22 May 1943, aged 81 years and 354 days.
Pat Nixon: born 16 Mar 1912, died 22 Jun 1993, aged 81 years and 98 days.
Dolley Madison: born 20 May 1768, died 12 Jul 1849, aged 81 years and 53 days.
Mary Breckinridge: born 16 Aug 1826, died 8 Oct 1907, aged 81 years and 53 days.
Joan Mondale: born 8 Aug 1930, still living, aged 80 years and 335 days.
Eliza Hendricks: born 23 Nov 1823, died 3 Nov 1903, aged 79 years and 345 days.
Etty Garner: born 17 Jul 1869, died 17 Aug 1948, aged 79 years and 31 days.
Grace Coolidge: born 3 Jan 1879, died 8 Jul 1957, aged 78 years and 187 days.
Eleanor Roosevelt: born 11 Oct 1884, died 7 Nov 1962, aged 78 years and 27 days.
Louisa Adams: born 12 Feb 1775, died 1 May 1852, aged 77 years and 79 days.
Julia Grant: born 26 Jan 1826, died 14 Dec 1902, aged 76 years and 323 days.
Carrie Sherman: born 16 Nov 1856, died 5 Oct 1931, aged 74 years and 323 days.
Ellen Colfax: born 26 Jul 1836, died 4 Mar 1911, aged 74 years and 221 days.
Floride Calhoun: born 15 Feb 1792, died 25 Jul 1866, aged 74 years and 161 days.
Anna Morton: born 18 May 1846, died 14 Aug 1918, aged 72 years and 88 days.
Martha Washington: born 2 Jun 1731, died 22 May 1802, aged 70 years and 354 days.
Letitia Stevenson: born 8 Jan 1843, died 25 Dec 1913, aged 70 years and 352 days.
Sophia Dallas: born 25 Jun 1798, died 11 Jan 1869, aged 70 years and 199 days.
Lynne Cheney: born 14 Aug 1941, still living, aged 69 years and 329 days.
Lou Hoover: born 28 Mar 1874, died 7 Jan 1944, aged 69 years and 284 days.
Julia Tyler: born 4 May 1820, died 10 Jul 1889, aged 69 years and 67 days.
Caroline Fillmore: born 21 Oct 1813, died 11 Aug 1881, aged 67 years and 294 days (married husband after his term as President).
Cornelia Fairbanks: born 1848, died 24 Oct 1913, aged about 65.
Eliza Johnson: born 4 Oct 1810, died 15 Jan 1876, aged 65 years and 102 days.
Jacqueline Kennedy: born 28 Jul 1929, died 19 May 1994, aged 64 years and 295 days.
Dorothy Barkley: born 1882, died 10 Mar 1947, aged about 65.
Laura Bush: born 4 Nov 1946, still living, aged 64 years and 247 days.
Florence Harding: born 15 Aug 1860, died 21 Nov 1924, aged 64 years and 98 days.
Peggy Taylor: born 21 Sep 1788, died 14 Aug 1852, aged 63 years and 327 days.
Hillary Clinton: born 26 Oct 1947, still living, aged 63 years and 256 days.
Mary Lincoln: born 13 Dec 1818, died 16 Jul 1882, aged 63 years and 215 days.
Annie Curtis: born 24 Dec 1860, died 20 Jun 1924, aged 63 years and 178 days (died before husband became Vice-President).
Tipper Gore: born 19 Aug 1948, still living, aged 62 years and 324 days.
Elizabeth Monroe: born 30 Jun 1768, died 23 Sep 1830, aged 62 years and 85 days.
Marilyn Quayle: born 29 Jul 1949, still living, aged 61 years and 345 days.
Rachel Jackson: born 15 Jun 1767, died 22 Dec 1828, aged 61 years and 190 days (died just before husband's term as President).
Jill Biden: born 5 Jun 1951, still living, aged 60 years and 34 days.
Caroline Harrison: born 1 Oct 1832, died 25 Oct 1892, aged 60 years and 24 days (died during husband's term as President).
Ida McKinley: born 8 Jun 1847, died 26 May 1907, aged 59 years and 352 days.
Lucy Hayes: born 28 Aug 1831, died 25 Jun 1889, aged 57 years and 301 days.
Jane Pierce: born 12 Mar 1806, died 2 Dec 1863, aged 57 years and 265 days.
Cornelia Clinton: born 19 Nov 1744, died 15 Mar 1800, aged 55 years and 116 days (died before husband became Vice-President).
Abigail Fillmore: born 13 Mar 1798, died 30 Mar 1853, aged 55 years and 17 days.
Ellen Wilson: born 15 May 1860, died 6 Aug 1914, aged 54 years and 83 days (died during husband's term as President).
Jane Barkley: born 23 Sep 1911, died 6 Sep 1964, aged 52 years and 348 days.
Letitia Tyler: born 12 Nov 1790, died 10 Sep 1842, aged 51 years and 302 days (died during husband's term as President).
Mary Wheeler: born 1828, died 3 Mar 1876, aged about 48 (died before husband became Vice-President).
Theodosia Burr: born 5 Oct 1746, died 28 May 1794, aged 47 years and 235 days (died before husband became Vice-President).
Michelle Obama: born 17 Jan 1964, still living, aged 47 years and 174 days.
Hannah Tompkins: born 28 Aug 1781, died 18 Feb 1829, aged 47 years and 173 days.
Harriet Wilson: born 21 Nov 1824, died 28 May 1870, aged 45 years and 188 days (died before husband became Vice-President).
Ellen Arthur: born 30 Aug 1837, died 12 Jan 1880, aged 42 years and 134 days (died before husband became Vice-President/President).
Evelyn Colfax: born 1823, died 10 Jul 1863, aged about 40 (died before husband became Vice-President).
Sarah Hamlin: born 2 Nov 1815, died 17 Apr 1855, aged 39 years and 166 days (died before husband became Vice-President).
Hannah Van Buren: born 8 Mar 1783, died 5 Feb 1819, aged 35 years and 333 days (died before husband became Vice-President/President)..
Lucy Morton: born 22 Jul 1836, died 11 Jul 1871, aged 34 years and 354 days (died before husband became Vice-President).
Martha Jefferson: born 30 Oct 1748, died 6 Sep 1782, aged 33 years and 311 days (died before husband became Vice-President/President).
Neilia Biden: born 28 Jul 1942, died 18 Dec 1972, aged 30 years and 143 days (died before husband became Vice-President).
Alice Roosevelt: born 29 Jul 1861, died 14 Feb 1884, aged 22 years and 199 days (died before husband became Vice-President/President).

Betty Ford ranks ninth (or eighth if you are literal) of those who survived their husband's terms as President:

Mary Harrison 54.8 years (possibly doesn't count, as not married to husband while he was President)
Frances Cleveland 50.7 years
Julia Tyler 44.4 years
Sarah Polk 42.4 years
Edith Wilson 40.8 years
Edith Roosevelt 39.6 years
Lady Bird Johnson 38.5 years
Lucretia Garfield 36.5 years
Betty Ford 34.5 years
Dolley Madison 32.4 years
Jacqueline Kennedy 30.5 years
Helen Taft 30.2 years
Bess Truman 29.7 years
Caroline Fillmore 28.4 years (possibly doesn't count, as not married to husband while he was President)
Grace Coolidge 28.3 years
Abigail Adams 27.7 years
Julia Grant 25.8 years
Louisa Adams 23.2 years
Anna Harrison 22.9 years
(Nancy Reagan - still living - 22.5 years)
Pat Nixon 18.9 years
Mamie Eisenhower 18.8 years
Jane Wyman 18.6 years (possibly doesn't count, as not married to husband while he was President)
(Barbara Bush - still living - 18.5 years)

Eleanor Roosevelt 17.6 years
Mary Lincoln 17.3 years
Lou Hoover 10.8 years
(Hillary Clinton - still living - 10.5 years)
Lucy Hayes 8.3 years
Eliza Johnson 6.9 years
Jane Pierce 6.7 years
Ida McKinley 5.7 years
Elizabeth Monroe 5.6 years
Martha Washington 5.2 years
Laura Bush - still living - 2.5 years)
Peggy Taylor 2.1 years
Florence Harding 1.3 years
Abigail Fillmore 0.1 years

But surprisingly she is two places lower, eleventh, of those who survived their husband's term as Vice-President, though could again be counted as eighth if you are literal:

Eliza Bowen Jumel 60.4 years (possibly doesn't count, as not married to husband while he was Vice-President)
Ellen Hamlin 59.9 years
Julia Tyler 48.3 years (possibly doesn't count, as not married to husband while he was Vice-President)
Edith Roosevelt 47.0 years
Mary Breckinridge 46.6 years
Lady Bird Johnson 43.6 years
Jennie Hobart 41.1 years
Ellen Colfax 38.0 years
(Judy Agnew - still living - 37.7 years)
Bess Truman 37.7 years
Betty Ford 36.9 years
Lois Marshall 36.8 years
Ilo Wallace 36.1 years
(Happy Rockefeller - still living - 34.5 years)
Ann Gerry 34.3 years
Grace Coolidge 33.9 years
Floride Calhoun 33.6 years
Pat Nixon 32.4 years
Abigail Adams 31.7 years
Caroline Fillmore 31.1 years (possibly doesn't count, as not married to husband while he was President)
(Joan Mondale - still living - 30.5 years)
Muriel Humphrey 29.7 years
Caro Dawes 28.6 years
Anna Morton 25.4 years
(Barbara Bush - still living - 22.5 years)
Tod Rockefeller 22.3 years (possibly doesn't count, as not married to husband while he was Vice-President)

Sophia Dallas 19.9 years
Carrie Sherman 18.9 years
(Marilyn Quayle - still living - 18.5 years)
Eliza Hendricks 17.9 years
Letitia Stevenson 16.8 years
Jane Barkley 11.6 years
Eliza Johnson 10.8 years
(Tipper Gore - still living - 10.5 years)
Etty Garner 7.6 years
Cornelia Fairbanks 4.6 years
Hannah Tompkins 4.0 years
Abigail Fillmore 2.7 years
(Lynne Cheney - still living - 2.5 years)
Letitia Tyler 1.4 years

Edited to add: Living individuals now added to second and third lists.
Tags: people: gerald ford
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