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Entry Into Leadership

For each generation, we can examine the share of leadership it possesses in its early adulthood. This is done by determining the year in which the generation’s oldest members turn 42, and then looking at its shares of leadership in that year. For birthyear definitions of the generations, see the accompanying Key to Generations in the sidebar.

Table 1: Shares by Generation for First Leaders
Generation Percentage of Leadership Shares when 1st Cohorts Are 42 Age of First Leaders
National House Senate Governors
Compromise 34 35 33 35 27
Transcendental 29 42 23 21 26
Gilded 24 35 20 26 27
Progressive 16 24 5 18 28
Missionary 14 23 7 11 28
Lost 10 15 5 10 30
G.I. 11 19 7 6 27
Silent 14 20 10 12 27
Boom 13 23 9 6 27
Generation X 5 10 2 2 32

The column labeled “age of first leaders” simply shows the average age of all leaders in that generation, in the first year in which the generation has any leaders at all. The values in the table above are taken from the tables of leadership shares and average ages available on this site.

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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Leadership Share