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Leadership by Generation

  • Revolutionary
  • Presidents
  • Vice Presidents

Political party key: D = Democrat | D-R = Dem-Republican | F = Federalist
I = Independent | R = Republican | W = Whig

Table 1: Revolutionary-era Leaders of the United States
Leader Category Awakening Liberty Republican Total
n % Avg.
Age 		n % Avg.
Age 		n % Avg.
Age 		n % Avg.
Age
Colonial Delegates to the Stamp Act Congress
(New York City; October 7–25, 1765)		 14 52 51 13 48 36 0 0 n/a 27 100 44
Known Members of the Boston Tea Party Riot
(Boston; December 16, 1773)		 1 1 57 15 19 39 62 79 23 78 100 27
Signers of the Declaration of Independence
(Philadelphia; July–August, 1776)		 11 20 61 35 63 44 10 18 32 56 100 45
Signers of the U.S. Constitution
(Philadelphia; September 17, 1787)		 4 10 69 13 33 52 22 56 37 39 100 46
Delegates to the Continental Congress at End of Year (%)                        
  1775   22     66     12     100  
  1777   17     58     25     100  
  1779   16     61     22     100  
  1781   13     53     34     100  
  1783   5     47     48     100  
  1785   0     43     57     100  
  1787   2     24     75     100  
Table 2a: Presidents of the Continental Congress
Name Generation Lifespan State Term Age
Peyton Randolph Awakening 1721–1775 VA 1774, 1775 53, 54
Henry Middleton Awakening 1717–1784 SC 1774–1775 57–58
John Hancock Liberty 1737–1793 MA 1775–1777 38–40
Henry Laurens Liberty 1724–1792 SC 1777–1778 53–54
John Jay Republican 1745–1829 NY 1778–1779 33–34
Samuel Huntington Liberty 1731–1796 CT 1779–1781 48–50
Thomas McKean Liberty 1734–1817 DE 1781 47
John Hanson Awakening 1721–1783 MD 1781–1782 60–61
Elias Boudinot Liberty 1740–1821 NJ 1782–1783 42–43
Thomas Mifflin Republican 1744–1800 PA 1783–1784 39–40
Richard Henry Lee Liberty 1732–1794 VA 1784–1786 52–54
Nathaniel Gorham Liberty 1738–1796 MA 1786–1787 48–49
Arthur St. Clair Liberty 1736–1818 PA 1787–1788 51–52
Cyrus Griffin Republican 1748–1810 VA 1788–1789 40–41
Table 2b: Presidents of the United States
Name Generation Lifespan Party Term Age
George Washington Liberty 1732–1799 F 1789–1797 57–65
John Adams Liberty 1735–1826 F 1797–1801 61–65
Thomas Jefferson Republican 1743–1826 D-R 1801–1809 57–65
James Madison Republican 1751–1836 D-R 1809–1817 57–65
James Monroe Republican 1758–1831 D-R 1817–1825 58–67
John Quincy Adams Compromise 1767–1848 D-R 1825–1829 57–61
Andrew Jackson Compromise 1767–1845 D 1829–1937 61–69
Martin Van Buren Compromise 1782–1862 D 1837–1841 54–58
William Henry Harrison Compromise 1773–1841 W 1841 68
John Tyler Compromise 1790–1862 W 1841–1845 51–54
James Polk Transcendental 1795–1849 D 1845–1849 49–53
Zachary Taylor Compromise 1784–1850 W 1849–1850 64–65
Millard Fillmore Transcendental 1800–1874 W 1850–1853 50–53
Franklin Pierce Transcendental 1804–1869 D 1853–1857 48–52
James Buchanan Compromise 1791–1868 D 1857–1861 65–69
Abraham Lincoln Transcendental 1809–1865 R 1861–1865 52–56
Andrew Johnson Transcendental 1808–1875 R 1865–1869 56–60
Ulysses S. Grant Gilded 1822–1885 R 1869–1877 46–54
Rutherford B. Hayes Gilded 1822–1893 R 1877–1881 54–58
James A. Garfield Gilded 1831–1881 R 1881 49
Chester A. Arthur Gilded 1830–1886 R 1881–1885 50–54
Grover Cleveland Gilded 1837–1908 D 1885–1889 47–51
Benjamin Harrison Gilded 1833–1901 R 1889–1893 55–59
Grover Cleveland Gilded 1837–1908 D 1893–1897 55–59
William McKinley Progressive 1843–1901 R 1897–1901 54–58
Theodore Roosevelt Progressive 1858–1919 R 1901–1909 42–50
William H. Taft Progressive 1857–1930 R 1909–1913 51–55
Woodrow Wilson Progressive 1856–1924 D 1913–1921 56–64
Warren G. Harding Missionary 1865–1923 R 1921–1923 55–57
Calvin Coolidge Missionary 1872–1933 R 1923–1929 51–56
Herbert Hoover Missionary 1874–1964 R 1929–1933 54–58
Franklin D. Roosevelt Missionary 1882–1945 D 1933–1945 51–63
Harry S Truman Lost 1884–1972 D 1945–1953 60–68
Dwight D. Eisenhower Lost 1890–1969 R 1953–1961 62–70
John F. Kennedy G.I. 1917–1963 D 1961–1963 43–46
Lyndon B. Johnson G.I. 1908–1973 D 1963–1969 55–60
Richard M. Nixon G.I. 1913–1994 R 1969–1974 56–61
Gerald R. Ford G.I. 1913– R 1974–1977 61–63
Jimmy Carter G.I. 1924– D 1977–1981 52–56
Ronald Reagan G.I. 1911–2004 R 1981–1989 69–77
George Bush G.I. 1924– R 1989–1993 64–68
Bill Clinton Boom 1946– D 1993–2001 46–50
George W. Bush Boom 1946– R 2001– 54–
Table 3: Vice Presidents of the United States
Name Generation Lifespan Party Term Age
John Adams Liberty 1735–1826 F 1789–1797 54–62
Thomas Jefferson Republican 1743–1826 D-R 1797–1801 54–58
Aaron Burr Republican 1756–1836 D-R 1801–1805 45–49
George Clinton Liberty 1739–1812 D-R 1805–1812 66–73
Elbridge Gerry Republican 1744–1814 D-R 1813–1814 69–70
Daniel D. Tompkins Compromise 1774–1825 D-R 1817–1825 43–51
John C. Calhoun Compromise 1782–1850 D 1825–1832 43–50
Martin Van Buren Compromise 1782–1862 D 1833–1837 51–55
Richard Johnson Compromise 1780–1850 D 1837–1841 57–61
John Tyler Compromise 1790–1862 W 1841 51
George Dallas Transcendental 1792–1864 D 1845–1849 53–57
Millard Fillmore Transcendental 1800–1875 W 1849–1850 49–50
William King Compromise 1786–1853 D 1853 67
John Breckinridge Transcendental 1821–1875 D 1857–1861 36–40
Hannibal Hamlin Transcendental 1809–1891 R 1861–1865 52–56
Andrew Johnson Transcendental 1808–1875 R 1865 57
Schuyler Colfax Gilded 1823–1885 R 1869–1873 46–50
Henry Wilson Transcendental 1812–1875 R 1873–1875 61–63
William Wheeler Transcendental 1819–1885 R 1877–1881 58–62
Chester A. Arthur Gilded 1829–1886 R 1881 52
Thomas Hendricks Transcendental 1819–1885 R 1885 66
Levi Morton Gilded 1824–1920 R 1889–1893 65–69
Adlai Stevenson Gilded 1835–1914 D 1893–1897 58–62
Garret Hobart Progressive 1844–1899 R 1897–1899 53–55
Theodore Roosevelt Progressive 1858–1919 R 1901 42
Charles Fairbanks Progressive 1852–1918 R 1905–1909 53–57
James Sherman Progressive 1855–1912 R 1909–1912 54–57
Thomas Marshall Progressive 1854–1925 D 1913–1921 59–67
Calvin Coolidge Missionary 1872–1933 R 1921–1923 49–51
Charles Dawes Missionary 1865–1951 R 1925–1929 60–64
Charles Curtis Missionary 1860–1936 R 1929–1933 69–73
John Garner Missionary 1868–1967 D 1933–1941 65–73
Henry Wallace Lost 1888–1965 D 1941–1945 53–57
Harry S Truman Lost 1884–1972 D 1945 61
Alben Barkley Missionary 1877–1956 D 1949–1953 72–76
Richard M. Nixon G.I. 1913–1994 R 1953–1961 40–48
Lyndon B. Johnson G.I. 1908–1973 D 1961–1963 53–55
Hubert H. Humphrey G.I. 1911–1978 D 1965–1969 54–58
Spiro Agnew G.I. 1918–1996 R 1969–1973 51–55
Gerald R. Ford G.I. 1913– R 1973–1974 60–61
Nelson Rockefeller G.I. 1908–1979 R 1974–1977 66–69
Walter F. Mondale Silent 1928– D 1977–1981 49–53
George Bush G.I. 1924– R 1981–1989 56–64
J. Danforth Quayle Boom 1947– R 1989–1993 42–46
Albert Gore Boom 1948– D 1993–2001 45–49
Dick Cheney Silent 1941– R 2001– 60–

In This Section

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Key to Generations

Generation¹ Birth Years
¹A generation is defined by a common age location in history and a collective peer personality. See Generations (under Method & Insight).
Awakening 1701–1723
Liberty 1724–1741
Republican 1742–1766
Compromise 1767–1791
Transcendental 1792–1821
Gilded 1822–1842
Progressive 1843–1859
Missionary 1860–1882
Lost 1883–1900
G.I. 1901–1924
Silent 1925–1942
Boom 1943–1960
Generation X 1961–1981
Millennial 1982–Present

Current Ages of the Living Generations

Generation Age
Lost 106+
G.I. 82–105
Silent 64–81
Boomer 46–63
Gen-X 25–45
Millennial –24

Millennial Saeculum

Saeculum Dates
High 1946–1964
Awakening 1964–1984
Unraveling 1984–20??
Crisis 20??–20??
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