Youngest & Oldest Presidential Electoral Vote Recipients

[HankW501]

Most of us have known for a long time that the youngest person ever to win a U.S. presidential election was John F. Kennedy in 1960.  It has also been common knowledge for a long time that Ronald Reagan became the oldest person to win a U.S. presidential election in 1980 then broke his own record four years later.  But what about the youngest and oldest among the non-winning nominees?

Listed below are top-twenty lists of the youngest and oldest from among everyone who received at least one electoral vote for President.  Each election is counted separately for each person, so some people are listed more than once.  Also, all electoral votes cast before 1804 were officially votes for President, despite whether the electors intended for a person to be elected to the presidency or the vice presidency.  The total number of unique individuals to receive at least one electoral vote in the 57 U.S. presidential elections from 1788 to 2012 is 111, and the total number of person elections (people times elections per person) is 167.


TWENTY YOUNGEST U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORAL VOTE RECIPIENTS:

#1 : William Jennings Bryan (D-NE) -- 36.82 years of age on 11 Jan 1897 (lost)

#2 : Aaron Burr (AA-NY) -- 36.83 years of age on 5 Dec 1792 (lost)

#3 : George B. McClellan (D-NJ) -- 38.01 years of age on 7 Dec 1864 (lost)

#4 : John C. Breckinridge (SD-KY) -- 39.89 years of age on 5 Dec 1860 (lost)

#5 : William Jennings Bryan (D-NE) -- 40.82 years of age on 14 Jan 1901 (lost)

#6 : Aaron Burr (DR-NY) -- 40.84 years of age on 7 Dec 1796 (lost)

#7 : Thomas E. Dewey (R-NY) -- 42.74 years of age on 18 Dec 1944 (lost)

#8 : John Jay (PA-NY) -- 43.12 years of age on 4 Feb 1789 (lost)

#9 : John F. Kennedy (D-MA) -- 43.56 years of age on 19 Dec 1960 (won)

#10 : DeWitt Clinton (F-NY) -- 43.75 years of age on 2 Dec 1812 (lost)

#11 : John C. Frémont (R-CA) -- 43.87 years of age on 3 Dec 1856 (lost)

#12 : Robert H. Harrison (PA-MD) -- around 44 years of age on 4 Feb 1789 (lost)

#13 : Willie P. Mangum (W-NC) -- 44.58 years of age on 7 Dec 1836 (lost)

#14 : Aaron Burr (DR-NY) -- 44.82 years of age on 3 Dec 1800 (lost)

#15 : James Iredell (F-NC) -- 45.18 years of age on 7 Dec 1796 (lost)

#16 : Strom Thurmond (Dixiecrat-SC) -- 46.02 years of age on 13 Dec 1948 (lost)

#17 : John Henry (DR-MD) -- around 46 years of age on 7 Dec 1796 (lost)

#18 : Thomas Pinckney (F-SC) -- 46.13 years of age on 7 Dec 1796 (lost)

#19 : Theodore Roosevelt (R-NY) -- 46.20 years of age on 9 Jan 1905 (won)

#20 : Bill Clinton (D-AR) -- 46.32 years of age on 14 Dec 1992 (won)


TWENTY ELDEST U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORAL VOTE RECIPIENTS:

#1 : Samuel Adams (DR-MA) -- 74.20 years of age on 7 Dec 1796 (lost)

#2 : Ronald Reagan (R-CA) -- 73.86 years of age on 17 Dec 1984 (won)

#3 : Harry Byrd (--VA) -- 73.53 years of age on 19 Dec 1960 (lost)

#4 : Bob Dole (R-KS) -- 73.41 years of age on 16 Dec 1996 (lost)

#5 : John McCain (R-AZ) -- 72.30 years of age on 15 Dec 2008 (lost)

#6 : Ronald Reagan (R-CA) -- 69.86 years of age on 15 Dec 1980 (won)

#7 : Robert M. LaFollette, Sr. (Prog.-WI) -- 69.58 years of age on 12 Jan 1925 (lost)

#8 : George Clinton (DR-NY) -- 69.37 years of age on 7 Dec 1808 (lost)

#9 : George H. W. Bush (R-TX) -- 68.51 years of age on 14 Dec 1992 (lost)

#10 : Walter B. Jones (D-AL) -- 68.17 years of age on 17 Dec 1956 (lost)

#11 : Charles J. Jenkins (D-GA) -- 67.91 years of age on 4 Dec 1872 (lost)

#12 : Lloyd Bentsen (D-TX) -- 67.85 years of age on 19 Dec 1988 (lost)

#13 : William Henry Harrison (W-OH) -- 67.81 years of age on 2 Dec 1840 (won)

#14 : Henry Clay (W-KY) -- 67.65 years of age on 4 Dec 1844 (lost)

#15 : Winfield Scott (W-NJ) -- 66.47 years of age on 1 Dec 1852 (lost)

#16 : Dwight D. Eisenhower (R-NY) -- 66.18 years of age on 17 Dec 1956 (won)

#17 : Lewis Cass (D-MI) -- 66.16 years of age on 6 Dec 1848 (lost)

#18 : Ronald Reagan (R-CA) -- 65.85 years of age on 13 Dec 1976 (lost)

#19 : Mitt Romney (R-MA) -- 65.77 years of age on 17 Dec 2012 (lost)

#20 : Andrew Jackson (D-TN) -- 65.73 years of age on 5 Dec 1832 (won)

[Lincoln Republican]

Good job.

Interesting facts.

[Nym90]

Good work. I wonder what this would look like if extended to include EVs cast for Vice President. Pretty sure the oldest was Henry Davis, age 81 in 1904, and that the youngest was John Breckinridge in 1856 at 36.

[HankW501]

Good work. I wonder what this would look like if extended to include EVs cast for Vice President. Pretty sure the oldest was Henry Davis, age 81 in 1904, and that the youngest was John Breckinridge in 1856 at 36.

Challenge accepted.

I know Richard Nixon was also in his 30's when he won his first vice presidential election; he turned 40 11 days before Inauguration Day.