List of vice presidents of the United States by age

This is a list of vice presidents of the United States by age. The first table charts the age of each vice president of the United States at the time of their inauguration (first inauguration if they were elected to multiple and consecutive terms), at the time they left office, and at the time of their death. Each vice president's age at death, their lifespan, is measured in two ways; this is to allow for the differing number of leap days occurring within each one's life. The first figure is the number of days between date of birth and date of death, allowing for leap days; in parentheses the same period given in years and days, with the years being the number of whole years that the vice president lived, and the days being the number of days after their last birthday. Where the vice president is still living, lifespan is calculated up to February 1, 2021. The second table includes those vice presidents who had the distinction among their peers of being the oldest living vice president, and charts both when they became and ceased to be oldest living.

Age of vice presidents

Bar graph depicting the age of vice presidents when assuming office

The median age upon accession to the vice presidency is around 54 years and 10 months. This is about how old John Adams and Hubert Humphrey were at the time they entered office. The youngest person to assume office was John C. Breckinridge, at the age of 36 years, 47 days. Serving only one term, he became and remains the youngest at the time of leaving office; the oldest at the time of entering office was Alben W. Barkley, at the age of 71 years, 57 days. He was also the oldest in office when he left office.

Born on January 16, 1821, John C. Breckinridge was younger than five of his successors, the greatest number to date: Andrew Johnson (12 years and 18 days); Hannibal Hamlin (11 years, 4 months, and 20 days); Henry Wilson (8 years and 11 months); William A. Wheeler (1 year, 6 months, and 17 days); and Thomas A. Hendricks (1 year, 4 months, and 9 days).

Born on July 8, 1908, Nelson Rockefeller was older than five of his predecessors, the greatest number to date: Lyndon B. Johnson (1 month and 19 days); Hubert Humphrey (2 years, 10 months, and 19 days); Richard Nixon (4 years, 6 months, and 1 day); Gerald Ford (5 years and 6 days); and Spiro Agnew (10 years, 4 months, and 1 day).[1]

Three vice presidents—Hannibal Hamlin, Charles G. Dawes, and Lyndon B. Johnson—were born on August 27 (in 1809, 1865, and 1908 respectively). This is the only day of the year having the birthday of multiple vice presidents.[1]

The oldest living vice president is Walter Mondale, born on January 5, 1928 (age 93 years, 27 days). He also has the distinction of having the longest post-vice presidency in U.S. history, currently at 40 years, 12 days. The youngest living vice president is the incumbent, Kamala Harris, born on October 20, 1964 (aged 56 years, 104 days). The shortest-lived vice president was Daniel D. Tompkins, who died at the age of 50 years, 355 days, only 99 days after leaving office. The longest-lived was John Nance Garner, who died on November 7, 1967 at the age of 98 years, 350 days.

Six U.S. vice presidents have lived into their 90s. The first to do so, John Adams, was the longest-lived vice president from the time he first took office in April 1789 until Levi Morton surpassed his lifespan in January 1915. The six nonagenarian vice presidents (ordered by lifespan) are:

John Nance Garner
1868–1967
(aged 98 years, 350 days)
Levi P. Morton
1824–1920
(aged 96 years, 0 days)
George H. W. Bush
1924–2018
(aged 94 years, 171 days)
Gerald Ford
1913–2006
(aged 93 years, 165 days)
Walter Mondale
Born 1928
(age 93 years, 27 days)
John Adams
1735–1826
(aged 90 years, 247 days)

Vice presidential age-related data points

#	Vice president	Born	Age at start of vice presidency	Age at end of vice presidency	Post-VP timespan	Lifespan
#	Vice president	Born	Age at start of vice presidency	Age at end of vice presidency	Post-VP timespan	Died	Age
01	John Adams	Oct 30, 1735	53 years, 173 days Apr 21, 1789	61 years, 125 days Mar 4, 1797	29 years, 122 days	July 5, 1826Jul 4, 1826	90 years, 247 days
02	Thomas Jefferson	Apr 13, 1743	53 years, 325 days Mar 4, 1797	57 years, 325 days Mar 4, 1801	25 years, 122 days	Jul 4, 1826	83 years, 82 days
03	Aaron Burr	Feb 6, 1756	45 years, 26 days Mar 4, 1801	49 years, 26 days Mar 4, 1805	31 years, 194 days	Sep 14, 1836	80 years, 221 days
04	George Clinton	Jul 26, 1739	65 years, 221 days Mar 4, 1805	72 years, 269 days Apr 20, 1812	00,0070 days[lower-alpha 1]	Apr 20, 1812	72 years, 269 days
05	Elbridge Gerry	Jul 17, 1744	68 years, 230 days Mar 4, 1813	70 years, 129 days Nov 23, 1814	00,0030 days[lower-alpha 1]	Nov 23, 1814	70 years, 129 days
06	Daniel D. Tompkins	Jun 21, 1774	42 years, 256 days Mar 4, 1817	50 years, 256 days Mar 4, 1825	00,09999 days	Jun 11, 1825	50 years, 355 days
07	John C. Calhoun	Mar 18, 1782	42 years, 351 days Mar 4, 1825	50 years, 285 days Dec 28, 1832[lower-alpha 2]	17 years, 93 days	Mar 31, 1850	68 years, 13 days
08	Martin Van Buren	Dec 5, 1782	50 years, 89 days Mar 4, 1833	54 years, 89 days Mar 4, 1837	25 years, 142 days	Jul 24, 1862	79 years, 231 days
09	Richard M. Johnson	Oct 17, 1780	56 years, 138 days Mar 4, 1837	60 years, 138 days Mar 4, 1841	9 years, 260 days	Nov 19, 1850	70 years, 33 days
10	John Tyler	Mar 29, 1790	50 years, 340 days Mar 4, 1841	51 years, 6 days Apr 4, 1841[lower-alpha 3]	20 years, 289 days	Jan 18, 1862	71 years, 295 days
11	George M. Dallas	Jul 10, 1792	52 years, 237 days Mar 4, 1845	56 years, 237 days Mar 4, 1849	15 years, 302 days	Dec 31, 1864	72 years, 174 days
12	Millard Fillmore	Jan 7, 1800	49 years, 56 days Mar 4, 1849	50 years, 183 days Jul 9, 1850[lower-alpha 3]	23 years, 242 days	Mar 8, 1874	74 years, 60 days
13	William R. King	Apr 7, 1786	66 years, 331 days Mar 4, 1853	67 years, 11 days Apr 18, 1853	00,0040 days[lower-alpha 1]	Apr 18, 1853	67 years, 11 days
14	John C. Breckinridge	Jan 16, 1821	36 years, 47 days Mar 4, 1857	40 years, 47 days Mar 4, 1861	14 years, 74 days	May 17, 1875	54 years, 121 days
15	Hannibal Hamlin	Aug 27, 1809	51 years, 189 days Mar 4, 1861	55 years, 189 days Mar 4, 1865	26 years, 122 days	Jul 4, 1891	81 years, 311 days
16	Andrew Johnson	Dec 29, 1808	56 years, 65 days Mar 4, 1865	56 years, 107 days Apr 15, 1865[lower-alpha 3]	10 years, 107 days	Jul 31, 1875	66 years, 214 days
17	Schuyler Colfax	Mar 23, 1823	45 years, 346 days Mar 4, 1869	49 years, 346 days Mar 4, 1873	11 years, 315 days	Jan 13, 1885	61 years, 296 days
18	Henry Wilson	Feb 16, 1812	61 years, 16 days Mar 4, 1873	63 years, 279 days Nov 22, 1875	00,0010 days[lower-alpha 1]	Nov 22, 1875	63 years, 279 days
19	William A. Wheeler	Jun 30, 1819	57 years, 247 days Mar 4, 1877	61 years, 247 days Mar 4, 1881	6 years, 92 days	Jun 4, 1887	67 years, 339 days
20	Chester A. Arthur	Oct 5, 1829	51 years, 150 days Mar 4, 1881	51 years, 349 days Sep 19, 1881[lower-alpha 3]	5 years, 60 days	Nov 18, 1886	57 years, 44 days
21	Thomas A. Hendricks	Sep 7, 1819	65 years, 178 days Mar 4, 1885	66 years, 75 days Nov 25, 1885	00,0020 days[lower-alpha 1]	Nov 25, 1885	66 years, 79 days
22	Levi P. Morton	May 16, 1824	64 years, 292 days Mar 4, 1889	68 years, 292 days Mar 4, 1893	27 years, 73 days	May 16, 1920	96 years, 0 days
23	Adlai Stevenson I	Oct 23, 1835	57 years, 132 days Mar 4, 1893	61 years, 132 days Mar 4, 1897	17 years, 102 days	Jun 14, 1914	78 years, 234 days
24	Garret Hobart	Jun 3, 1844	52 years, 274 days Mar 4, 1897	55 years, 171 days Nov 21, 1899	00,0050 days[lower-alpha 1]	Nov 21, 1899	55 years, 171 days
25	Theodore Roosevelt	Oct 27, 1858	42 years, 128 days Mar 4, 1901	42 years, 322 days Sep 14, 1901[lower-alpha 3]	17 years, 114 days	Jan 6, 1919	60 years, 71 days
26	Charles W. Fairbanks	May 11, 1852	52 years, 297 days Mar 4, 1905	56 years, 297 days Mar 4, 1909	9 years, 92 days	Jun 4, 1918	66 years, 24 days
27	James S. Sherman	Oct 24, 1855	53 years, 131 days Mar 4, 1909	57 years, 6 days Oct 30, 1912	00,0070 days[lower-alpha 1]	Oct 30, 1912	57 years, 6 days
28	Thomas R. Marshall	Mar 14, 1854	58 years, 355 days Mar 4, 1913	66 years, 355 days Mar 4, 1921	4 years, 89 days	Jun 1, 1925	71 years, 79 days
29	Calvin Coolidge	Jul 4, 1872	48 years, 243 days Mar 4, 1921	51 years, 29 days Aug 2, 1923[lower-alpha 3]	9 years, 156 days	Jan 5, 1933	60 years, 185 days
30	Charles G. Dawes	Aug 27, 1865	59 years, 189 days Mar 4, 1925	63 years, 189 days Mar 4, 1929	22 years, 50 days	Apr 23, 1951	85 years, 239 days
31	Charles Curtis	Jan 25, 1860	69 years, 38 days Mar 4, 1929	73 years, 38 days Mar 4, 1933	2 years, 341 days	Feb 8, 1936	76 years, 14 days
32	John Nance Garner	Nov 22, 1868	64 years, 102 days Mar 4, 1933	72 years, 59 days Jan 20, 1941	26 years, 291 days	Nov 7, 1967	98 years, 350 days
33	Henry A. Wallace	Oct 7, 1888	52 years, 105 days Jan 20, 1941	56 years, 105 days Jan 20, 1945	20 years, 302 days	Nov 18, 1965	77 years, 42 days
34	Harry S. Truman	May 8, 1884	60 years, 257 days Jan 20, 1945	60 years, 339 days Apr 12, 1945[lower-alpha 3]	27 years, 258 days	Dec 26, 1972	88 years, 232 days
35	Alben W. Barkley	Nov 24, 1877	71 years, 57 days Jan 20, 1949	75 years, 57 days Jan 20, 1953	3 years, 101 days	Apr 30, 1956	78 years, 158 days
36	Richard Nixon	Jan 9, 1913	40 years, 11 days Jan 20, 1953	48 years, 11 days Jan 20, 1961	33 years, 92 days	Apr 22, 1994	81 years, 103 days
37	Lyndon B. Johnson	Aug 27, 1908	52 years, 146 days Jan 20, 1961	55 years, 87 days Nov 22, 1963[lower-alpha 3]	9 years, 61 days	Jan 22, 1973	64 years, 148 days
38	Hubert Humphrey	May 27, 1911	53 years, 238 days Jan 20, 1965	57 years, 238 days Jan 20, 1969	8 years, 358 days	Jan 13, 1978	66 years, 231 days
39	Spiro Agnew	Nov 9, 1918	50 years, 72 days Jan 20, 1969	54 years, 335 days Oct 10, 1973[lower-alpha 2]	22 years, 343 days	Sep 17, 1996	77 years, 313 days
40	Gerald Ford	Jul 14, 1913	60 years, 145 days Dec 6, 1973[lower-alpha 4]	61 years, 26 days Aug 9, 1974[lower-alpha 3]	32 years, 139 days	Dec 26, 2006	93 years, 165 days
41	Nelson Rockefeller	Jul 8, 1908	66 years, 164 days Dec 19, 1974[lower-alpha 4]	68 years, 196 days Jan 20, 1977	2 years, 6 days	Jan 26, 1979	70 years, 202 days
42	Walter Mondale	Jan 5, 1928	49 years, 15 days Jan 20, 1977	53 years, 15 days Jan 20, 1981	40 years, 12 days	2021-02-1(living)	93 years, 27 days
43	George H. W. Bush	Jun 12, 1924	56 years, 222 days Jan 20, 1981	64 years, 222 days Jan 20, 1989	29 years, 314 days	Nov 30, 2018	94 years, 171 days
44	Dan Quayle	Feb 4, 1947	41 years, 351 days Jan 20, 1989	45 years, 351 days Jan 20, 1993	28 years, 12 days	2021-02-1(living)	73 years, 363 days
45	Al Gore	Mar 31, 1948	44 years, 295 days Jan 20, 1993	52 years, 295 days Jan 20, 2001	20 years, 12 days	2021-02-1(living)	72 years, 307 days
46	Dick Cheney	Jan 30, 1941	59 years, 356 days Jan 20, 2001	67 years, 356 days Jan 20, 2009	12 years, 12 days	2021-02-1(living)	80 years, 2 days
47	Joe Biden	Nov 20, 1942	66 years, 61 days Jan 20, 2009	74 years, 61 days Jan 20, 2017	4 years, 12 days	2021-02-1(living)	78 years, 73 days
48	Mike Pence	Jun 7, 1959	57 years, 227 days Jan 20, 2017	61 years, 227 days Jan 20, 2021	12 days	2021-02-1(living)	61 years, 239 days
49	Kamala Harris	Oct 20, 1964	56 years, 92 days Jan 20, 2021	56 years, 104 days(incumbent)	(incumbent)	2021-02-1(living)	56 years, 104 days
#	Vice president	Born	Age at start of vice presidency	Age at end of vice presidency	Post-VP timespan	Died	Age
#	Vice president	Born	Age at start of vice presidency	Age at end of vice presidency	Post-VP timespan	Lifespan

Notes

Died in office.
Resigned from office.
Succeeded to the presidency.
Confirmed by U.S. Congress to fill an intra-term vacancy in the vice presidency.

Oldest living

Of the 49 persons who have served as vice president, 22 have become the oldest such individual of their time, with one, Charles Dawes doing so twice. John Adams, the first vice president, held this distinction for the longest period of any, from when he assumed the office in April 1789, until his death 37 years later. Lyndon B. Johnson held it for the shortest, from the death of Harry S. Truman in December 1972 until his own death only 27 days later. Adams, at age 53, was the youngest individual ever to become the oldest living vice president; Walter Mondale is the oldest individual to acquire this distinction, at the age of 90. Nine of these individuals have also had the distinction of being the oldest living president: John Adams, Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush.

On three occasions the oldest living vice president lost this distinction, not by his own death, but by the inauguration of a vice president who was older. John C. Calhoun (born 1782) lost this distinction when Richard M. Johnson (born 1780) was inaugurated. Charles G. Dawes (born 1865) lost it when Charles Curtis (born 1860) was inaugurated. Dawes subsequently regained the honor, as he outlived the older Curtis. More recently, Hubert Humphrey (born 1911) ceased being the oldest living when Nelson Rockefeller (born 1908) was sworn into office.

Altogether, six vice presidents acquired this distinction while in office: Richard M. Johnson, Levi P. Morton, Thomas R. Marshall, Charles G. Dawes, Charles Curtis, and Nelson Rockefeller (Morton and Marshall also simultaneously became the only living vice president). By contrast, the individual to become the oldest living vice president furthest from his time in office is Walter Mondale, who had been retired for 37 years, 314 days.

Vice President	Date range	Age at start	Age at end	Time span
John Adams	April 21, 1789* – July 4, 1826	53 years, 173 days	90 years, 247 days	37 years, 74 days
Aaron Burr	July 4, 1826 – September 14, 1836	70 years, 148 days	80 years, 221 days	10 years, 72 days
John C. Calhoun	September 14, 1836 – March 4, 1837*	54 years, 180 days	54 years, 351 days	171 days
Richard Mentor Johnson	March 4, 1837* – November 19, 1850	56 years, 138 days	70 years, 33 days	13 years, 260 days
Martin Van Buren	November 19, 1850 – July 24, 1862	67 years, 349 days	79 years, 231 days	11 years, 247 days
George Dallas	July 24, 1862 – December 31, 1864	70 years, 14 days	72 years, 174 days	2 years, 160 days
Millard Fillmore	December 31, 1864 – March 8, 1874	64 years, 359 days	74 years, 60 days	9 years, 67 days
Andrew Johnson	March 8, 1874 – July 31, 1875	65 years, 69 days	66 years, 214 days	1 year, 145 days
Hannibal Hamlin	July 31, 1875 – July 4, 1891	65 years, 338 days	81 years, 311 days	15 years, 338 days
Levi P. Morton	July 4, 1891 – May 16, 1920	67 years, 49 days	96 years, 0 days	28 years, 317 days
Thomas R. Marshall	May 16, 1920 – June 1, 1925	66 years, 63 days	71 years, 79 days	5 years, 16 days
Charles G. Dawes	June 1, 1925 – March 4, 1929*	59 years, 278 days	63 years, 189 days	3 years, 276 days
Charles Curtis	March 4, 1929* – February 8, 1936	69 years, 38 days	76 years, 14 days	6 years, 341 days
Charles G. Dawes	February 8, 1936 – April 23, 1951	70 years, 165 days	85 years, 239 days	15 years, 74 days
John Nance Garner	April 23, 1951 – November 7, 1967	82 years, 152 days	98 years, 350 days	16 years, 198 days
Harry S. Truman	November 7, 1967 – December 26, 1972	83 years, 183 days	88 years, 232 days	5 years, 49 days
Lyndon B. Johnson	December 26, 1972 – January 22, 1973	64 years, 121 days	64 years, 148 days	27 days
Hubert Humphrey	January 22, 1973 – December 19, 1974*	61 years, 240 days	63 years, 206 days	1 year, 331 days
Nelson Rockefeller	December 19, 1974* – January 26, 1979	66 years, 164 days	70 years, 202 days	4 years, 38 days
Richard Nixon	January 26, 1979 – April 22, 1994	66 years, 17 days	81 years, 103 days	15 years, 86 days
Gerald Ford	April 22, 1994 – December 26, 2006	80 years, 282 days	93 years, 165 days	12 years, 248 days
George H. W. Bush	December 26, 2006 – November 30, 2018	82 years, 197 days	94 years, 171 days	11 years, 339 days
Walter Mondale	November 30, 2018 – present	90 years, 329 days	93 years, 27 days(living)	2 years, 63 days
Vice President	Date range	Age at start	Age at end	Time span

Note

* Green text and an asterisk indicate a transition that accompanied an inauguration rather than a death.

References

Strock, Ian Randal (2016). Ranking the Vice Presidents: True Tales and Trivia, from John Adams to Joe Biden. Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 11, 16. ISBN 978-1-63144-061-8. Retrieved January 8, 2017.

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[died-2] Died in office.

[resigned-3] Resigned from office.

[succeeded-4] Succeeded to the presidency.

[confirmed-5] Confirmed by U.S. Congress to fill an intra-term vacancy in the vice presidency.

[VPrankings-1] Strock, Ian Randal (2016). Ranking the Vice Presidents: True Tales and Trivia, from John Adams to Joe Biden. Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 11, 16. ISBN 978-1-63144-061-8. Retrieved January 8, 2017.