Today marks a morbid milestone in American presidential history

Barack Obama has today helped set a historical record for the US presidency - 18,967 days have now passed since a US president last died in office.

The previous record of 18,966 days ran from George Washington’s inauguration in 1789 to William Henry Harrison’s death in 1841.

Harrison died of pneumonia at the age of 68, after only a month in office.

The record set in Obama’s presidency is partly due to advances in medical health, tighter presidential security and partly due to the fact that presidents are elected at a younger age.

Both Clinton and Obama are among the five youngest presidents to date at their inaugurations, whereas George W Bush ranked 21st.

John F Kennedy was the eighth and last president to die in office, when he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963.

Between 1865 and 1901, three presidents were assassinated - Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield and William McKinley.

HT [Quartz]1

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