America’s 238-Year History Can Be Summed Up in the Overlapping Lives of Just Four Presidents

The Washington Post recently pointed out that America’s 238 years of existence can be summed up in the overlapping lives of just four United States presidents. It works like this: When President Obama was born in 1961, President Herbert Hoover was still alive (1874-1964). When Hoover was born, America’s 17th president, President Andrew Johnson, was still alive (1808-1875). And when Andrew Johnson was born, the extraordinarily long-lived President John Adams was still alive (1735-1826). The article was inspired by a reddit discussion about famous historical figures whose lives overlapped.