United States Presidents Live Longer Lives

Have you ever noticed how quickly a U.S. Presidents hair turns grey from their stressful job? Just take a look at before and after pictures of Barack Obama and it’s easy to see. Yet while graying hair is often seeing as a sign of quick aging it turns out that U.S. Presidents typically live longer than the average life expentancy rate.

S. Jay Olshansky at the University of Illinois conducted some quick calculations involving 34 presidents who died of natural causes and he found that 23 of those Presidents exceeded the life expectancy of men living in their own era.

In an attempt to control the “perception of accelerated aging” in White House Presidents he even subtracted two days for every one spent in office and it still didn’t matter.

When all was said and done Olshansky said:

“All of these presidents benefited from the trifecta of exceptional wealth, almost all were highly educated and all of them had access to medical care.”

Olshansky also brings up another interesting point, while Presidents appear to age rapidly, it’s likely the fact that every wrinkle, every gray hair are witnessed under a media fueled microscope.

The study doesn’t fully take into consideration the excellent level of preventive care U.S. Presidents receive, for example constant health check-ups, a well balanced diet full of fresh and organic fruits and vegetables and constant monitoring during their time in office could potentially help extend their life expectancy long after they leave the White House.

Are you surprised that U.S. Presidents tend to live longer than the general population?