Does it blow your mind every Democratic candidate of the past 44 years is still alive?

[Calthrina950]

But I never hear about Mondale and Dukakis in the media. They are quiet. We hear about Gore because of the environment issues and we hear about Kerry because he was secretary of state.

They've certainly kept a very low profile. However, there was a report on 60 Minutes a few years ago about electroconvulsive threapy for patients battling depression. In that report, the Dukakises were interviewed, because Kitty Dukakis (Michael Dukakis' wife), is a patient who receives electroconvulsive therapy as part of her treatment. This is probably the only time that Dukakis has made a notable media appearance in recent years.

And Gore and Kerry were both featured in media reports last year, in the context of the presidential election. Gore appeared in a virtual chat with Biden to offer his endorsement, while Kerry was one of Biden's staunchest supporters in the primaries and actually went to Iowa to campaign on his behalf. He later was one of the speakers at the Democratic National Convention.

[Calthrina950]

Give it 5 to 10 years and Carter, Mondale, and Dukakis will all be dead. Not being morbid, just the youngest is Dukakis who is 87.

Former presidential candidates older than 80:

Dole (born in 1923)
Carter (1924)
Mondale (1928)
Ed Clark-Libertarian (1930)
Dukakis (1933)
Ralph Nader-Green/Reform/Independent (1934)
Ron Paul-Libertarian (1935)
Andre Marrou-Libertarian (1938)
Pat Buchanan-Reform (1938)

For presidents, Carter will die one day soon, and then Clinton, Bush, and Trump were all born in 1946 (so all are 74 now). Biden born in '42, Kerry in '43, Romney in '46, Hillary Clinton in '47, and Gore in '48. Quayle in '47 and Lieberman in '42. Yes, the Baby Boomers and their antecedents really believed in running the world forever (Pelosi born in '40, Hoyer in '39, and Clyburn in '40).

But I never hear about Mondale and Dukakis in the media. They are quiet. We hear about Gore because of the environment issues and we hear about Kerry because he was secretary of state.

I never hear about Gore or Kerry now.

Kerry was one of Biden's staunchest supporters in the primaries and actually went to Iowa to campaign on his behalf.

You can look at the results, a lot of good Kerry's endorsement did Biden in the Iowa Caucus.

Dan Quayle has absolutely disappeared from public life after his 1996 presidential run. He really wasn't even discussed much at George H.W. Bush's funeral. (Saw a post on Facebook last night that said Quayle was elected Vice President in 1988. He's 5 years younger than Biden.)

Aside from Trump, Carter was the only ex-President who did not attend the inauguration today, due to concerns about his health-and also because they didn't want to expose him to danger with the coronavirus pandemic still ongoing. 2020 could very well be the last election that Carter lives through, and I wouldn't be surprised if he were to die sometime in the next four years, although everyone is hopeful that he will become our first centenarian President.

And I wasn't trying to say anything about how Kerry's appearances in Iowa helped Biden electorally-I was merely noting that he went there to campaign on Biden's behalf. This is one of the few times I've heard about him in the news recently.

[Calthrina950]

A little fact which highlights Carter’s amazing longevity is that he voted for both Harry Truman and Joe Biden for President.

Also, those born in the 1940s have surely got to be the most influential decade cohort in American history - they have basically run the country for the past 30 years, and are still at it. By contrast, it’s now all but certain that there’s never going to be a President born in the 1930s, and it’s looking increasingly unlikely (except if Pence wins in 2024) that there’ll ever be one born in the 1950s.

Is it known for sure that he voted for Truman?

This was when he was in the Navy, and his first shipboard assignment began on December 18, 1948.

Jack Carter was born in Portsmouth, VA in 1947; Chip Carter was born in Honolulu, HI in 1950; and Jeff Carter was born in New London, CT in 1952.

No, I was just presuming so. His father was a state legislator though, so it’s likely he’s always been interested in politics.

His father was elected just before he died, and didn't finish the term.

Jimmy Carter recalls his father being virulently opposed to FDR after his price support programs involved slaughtering hogs and plowing cotton under. I can see where that would be considered immoral. Carter recalls the family crowding around the radio to listen to the Republican convention when Alf Landon was nominated in 1936. Carter would have been 12 at the time. Carter's father remained faithful to the state Democratic Party. Carter recalled his father driving his flatbed truck filled with straw and neighbors to rallies and barbecues for Eugene Talmadge in 1932 (Eugene Talmadge was Herman Talmadge's father).

In an era when not everyone owned a car, and radio was fairly recent, it would not be unusual for people to travel to attend a campaign rally.

Sumter County was 40% for Strom Thurmond in 1948, so Jimmy Carter's father might have voted for him.

Incidentally, I found that the USS Pomfret to which Jimmy Carter was assigned to in December 1948 was home-ported in Honolulu. It is possible that Carter would have been traveling to Honolulu in November 1948.

Curiously, Carter's three siblings lived at an average of 56 years, and all died of pancreatic cancer, as did his father who died at 58. His mother did live to 85, but based on family history, being alive at 96 is quite unusual.

Well, there are outliers to every family. Carter is clearly the outlier in his.

[Calthrina950]

No.  From McGovern until Biden, Dem nominees tended to be substantially younger than GOP nominees.  

George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 is the exception to this. He is nearly two years older than Al Gore and nearly three years younger than John Kerry.

[Calthrina950]

Bob Dole and Jimmy Carter are the only living presidential candidates who are from the generation that fought in World War II (or could have).  Everyone else are Baby Boomers, or from the Silent Generation (Joe Biden), or are arguably border-line Generation X (Barack Obama).  

Walter Mondale is also a member of the Silent Generation, as is Michael Dukakis.

[Calthrina950]

Sadly, in the time since this thread was created, Mondale died. His death means that 1996 is now the earliest presidential election in which both major-party candidates are still alive. Given Bob Dole's cancer diagnosis and his advanced age, this may not be true for much longer.