October birthdays

October is tied with November as our birthiest month, presidentially speaking. A whopping six presidents entering the world in this order:

1. John Adams

2. Rutherford B. Hayes

3. Chester Arthur

4. Theodore Roosevelt

5. Dwight Eisenhower

6. Jimmy Carter

Or if you prefer by birth date, in this order:

1. October 1: Jimmy Carter

2. October 4: Rutherford B. Hayes

3. October 5: Chester Arthur

4. October 14: Dwight Eisenhower

5. October 27: Theodore Roosevelt

6. October 30: John Adams

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Comparatively speaking

These presidents didn’t sort themselves out quite so delightfully as the August birthdays sorted themselves, if you leave out Lyndon Johnson which I definitely did not do. (Yes, I totally did.) Just look at this Venn diagram! It’s a thing of beauty! (The data itself, not my crude skills.)

Birth century

With this batch, we have representation from the 1700s, the 1800s, and the 1900s! It wasn’t until I added my little bouncy shapes that I realized the birth centuries line up perfectly with…

Political party

Federalist

• John Adams

Republican

• Rutherford B. Hayes

• Chester Arthur

• Theodore Roosevelt

• Dwight Eisenhower

Democrat

• Jimmy Carter

Age elected became president

• 40s: Roosevelt

• 50s: Hayes, Arthur, and Carter

• 60s: Adams and Eisenhower

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Kicked upstairs

Three used to be vice president.

• John Adams

• Chester Arthur

• Theodore Roosevelt

Two of those were considered pains-in-the ass / dangerous and were kicked upstairs to keep them out of trouble:

• When James Garfield was assassinated, the super-corrupt Chester Arthur became president. He actually reformed his ways (thank you, Julia Sand!) and rose to the occasion.

• Two decades later, we once again thought the vice presidency was a safe place to put someone we don’t trust with power. Aaaaand once again the president was assassinated, giving us President Theodore Roosevelt.

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Terms in office

Less than one

• Chester Arthur

One term

• John Adams

• Rutherford B. Hayes

• Jimmy Carter

Slightly less than two terms

• Theodore Roosevelt served for 7.5 years. (McKinley was assassinated six months into his second term.)

Two terms

• Dwight Eisenhower

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Marriage

Like the August batch, only one of these presidents was married twice. Despite taking a staunch stance against second marriages, Theodore Roosevelt married Edith after Alice died. Doing so made him feel weak and unfaithful. He didn’t want to even go to heaven were he “sure there was one” out of fear of seeing his first wife. In contrast to August birthday boy Benjamin Harrison, Roosevelt didn’t marry his niece.

From The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris. Interesting read, though I had some gripes about this book.

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Astrology

October birthdays are a mix of Libras and Scorpios. Libras are supposedly intellectuals into diplomacy. John Adams, the only diplomat on this list, was not a Libra. (FYI: John Adams was an ambassador, which apparently is the highest-ranking diplomat.)

Scorpios

• John Adams

• Theodore Roosevelt

Libras

• Rutherford B. Hayes

• Chester Arthur

• Jimmy Carter

• Dwight Eisenhower

NOTES: As of right now, this is the full list of Libra presidents. Currently, Scorpio is tied with Aquarius for the most presidents. A bunch of presidents born in November were also Scorpios, including: James K. Polk, James Garfield, and Warren G. Harding.

I’m not really into astrology. In college, I worked with someone who told me I should never date a Pisces. Up until that point, my boyfriends were all born within one day of each other… and all Pisces. I laughed dismissively and thought nothing of it. Coincidentally, I never did date a Pisces again. Turns out maybe that guy was onto something. Speaking of Pisces though… no Pisces have been president since 1897. Maybe America and I have something in common…. Or maybe not. America is a Cancer and apparently Pisces are a good match for Cancers.

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Offspring

• Their offspring count ranges from 2 - 6, with Roosevelt having the most. Fun fact I just learned: as of right now, Eisenhower was the last president to only have sons. Gasp! Especially fun because Jimmy Carter would have been the last … if he’d not successfully talked Rosalynn into trying again for a girl! It took him nearly a decade and a half, but then Amy was born and joined their three boys.

• One of Eisenhower’s sons had a son who married Richard Nixon’s daughter, Julie. Together, they had a son. And three girls. Neither here nor there, but that’s not going to stop me from mentioning it.

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Years lived after their presidency

This question fascinated me ever since I discovered that it seemed like presidents didn’t live long after their presidencies. Of course, that’s not always the case. Our second president, John Adams, lived twenty five years after he left office. (I didn’t read the books in order, so my information set was a bit skewed.)

Of this batch, Chester Arthur lived the shortest amount of time after he left office — a year. (Give or take. I didn’t run the numbers. This isn’t a math blog.) He knew he was dying and opted not to run for reelection.

October birthday boy Jimmy Carter, on the other hand, has been out of office for 43 years.

Friends, that’s more than enough time for Another October Birthday Boy to have been born, raised, become president, AND BE PRESIDENT FOR A MONTH.

Chronologically speaking, that makes no sense. They missed each other by five years.

Hear me out though:

• The long blue lines are their lifespans (so far)!

• The purple block shows their presidencies.

• If just I grab Roosevelt’s years up until he became president (so, a 42 year span of his life).. and drop it off after Carter’s presidency ends… see?!? Isn’t that wild? I’m exercising a lot of restraint with my punctuation here and I hope you appreciate my effort.

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Only one of them has a statue on Union College campus. Chet!

Union College

Chester Arthur and Jimmy Carter both studied at Union College in Schenectady, NY. Chester Arthur studied reactor technology and nuclear physics.

[Just making sure you’re still paying attention.]

Carter did. Non-credit classes. For just half a year. Apparently, his connection to the college has kind of been overstated a bit which, frankly, is a bit of a bummer.

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100!! 🎉

The bar chart above shows how close each one got to 100. Can you imagine how thrilled I am that Jimmy Carter turned 100? I’ve been giddy with anticipation.

John Adams was the next closest — he lived to 90 years old.

On the flip side, it shocked me that Theodore Roosevelt was only 60 when he died. Thomas Marshall (Woodrow Wilson’s vice president) commented that “death had to take him sleeping, for if Roosevelt had been awake there would have been a fight.”

Doodles inspired by The President Is Dead!: The Extraordinary Stories of Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond by Louis L. Picone. Perhaps the hearse wasn’t so bumpy, but you never know. Teddy was a Rough Rider.

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How well do know these October celebrants?

• Which was the tallest?

  Chester Arthur! He stood all dapper and decked out in his fancy pants and expensive hats at 6' 2". Hat not included.

  Then came:

  • Carter and Eisenhower, tied at 5' 10"

  • Roosevelt and Hayes, tied at 5' 8"

  • Adams was 5' 7"

• Which was the only one not to serve in the military?

  John Adams

• Who spent the most on clothes?

  Chester Arthur. Totally guessing on this, but it feels right.

• Which one was born David?

  Eisenhower.

  David Dwight Eisenhower, but he ended up going by Dwight D. Eisenhower.

• How many have a South American football club named for them?

  Just one.

  Rutherford B. Hayes. Click on this text to learn more (even though this text doesn't look clickable. You'll have to trust me on this.)

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