25 Presidential Facts That Feel Weirdly Personal

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Jul 1, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

Presidents have long been figures of mystery. Sure, we knew what they wanted to do with the country, or at least what they said they did. But their personal lives were always pulled away from the limelight. And likely for good reason, seeing how today people get doxxed for nothing more than a mean comment.

But now that enough time has passed, and that many of these men have passed, we decided it has come time to let some secrets go free such that we might get to know a little more about the men who made America what it is today. So we made this list of presidential facts that feel weirdly personal, because they are and well, it can feel a little strange to humanize someone who has been revered as a demigods for generations. So get your ballot card at the ready and get set for president bingo.

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  • 01

    "Theodore Roosevelt would have been 80 years old when WW2 broke out, slightly younger than the previous president is now."

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  • Well, that is pretty wild to find out. And no less back in the 30s when life expectancy was not quite what it is today, especially for the world’s elite. But hey, if the Americans of the 30s trusted a man older than most apartment buildings, then why couldn’t we?

  • 02

    "Warren G. Harding died at 58 in 1923, but his stepmother lived until 1964. His mistress lived until 1991."

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  • 03

    "John Quincy Adams is the only person who met both Washington and Lincoln."

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  • 04

    "Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935) shook hands with both John Quincy Adams and JFK"

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  • 05

    "John Tyler's (1790-1862) youngest daughter Pearl, lived long enough to regularly travel by plane. She died in 1947 at 87, 102 years after her father left the White House."

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    via Hermosa06-09

  • Well that must have been quite the trip for young Pearl Tyler. To live through your father’s presidency and then to subsequently see the world turn on its head with industrial and technological revolutions is pretty wild. To think that her father had to travel by boat to accomplish international diplomatic missions.

  • 06

    "William H. Upham (1841-1924) met Lincoln in 1862. Upham's son died in 2018, at 97. So, just 5 years ago someone could say: "My father met Lincoln"."

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  • 07
    "Tis well" George Washington (1799) The cause of death: throat infection (aged 67)
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  • 08
    "Thomas Jefferson survives" John Adams (1826) The cause of death: heart failure (aged 90)
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  • 09
    "Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear." James Madison (1836) when asked "What Is the matter?" The cause of death: heart fallure (aged 85)
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  • 10
    "This is the last of Earth. But I am composed." John Quincy Adams (1848) The cause of death: stroke (aged 80)
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  • 11
    "I hope to meet each of you in heaven. Be good, children, all of you, and strive to be ready when the change comes." Andrew Jackson (1845) The cause of death: natural causes (aged 78)
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  • 12
    "Doctor, I am going"- "Perhaps it is best" John Tyler (1862) The cause of death: stroke (aged 71)
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  • 13
    "I love you, Sarah. For all eternity, I love you." James K. Polk (1849) The cause of death: cholera (aged 53)
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  • 14
    "I am about to die. I expect the summons very soon. I have tried to discharge my duties faithfully. I regret nothing, but I am sorry that I am about to leave my Friends." Zachary Taylor (1850) The cause of death: gastroenteritis (aged 65)
    via Hermosa06-09
  • 15
    "O Lord Almighty, as thou wilt." James Buchanan (1868) The cause of death: respiratory fallure (aged 77)
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  • 16
    "Water" Ulysses S Grant (1885) The cause of death throat cancer (aged 63)
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  • 17
    "I know I am going where Lucy is." Rutherford B. Hayes (1893) The cause of death: complications of a heart attack (aged 70)
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  • 18
    "Swaim, can't you stop the pain?" James A. Garfield (1881) The cause of death: doctors (complications from sepsis) (aged 49)
    via Hermosa06-09
  • 19
    "Life is not worth living." Chester Alan Arthur (1886) The cause of death: cerebral hemorrhage (aged 57)
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  • 20
    "I have tried so hard to do right." Grover Cleveland (1908) The cause of death: heart attack (aged 71)
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  • 21
    "Are the doctors here? Doctor, my lungs..." Benjamin Harrison (1901) The cause of death: pneumonia (aged 67)
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  • 22
    "Please put out that light, James" Theodore Roosevelt (1919) The cause of death: coronary embolism Haged 60)
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  • 23
    "Edith, a broken thache, but I'm ready Woodrow Wilson (1924) The cause of death: stroke (aged 67)
    via Hermosa06-09
  • 24
    "Help" Richard Nixon (1994) The cause of death: stroke (aged 81)
    via Hermosa06-09

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