Humanities › History & Culture The Youngest President in American History How Violence and Tragedy Thrust a 42-Year-Old Into the White House Print Theodore Roosevelt. Hulton Archive/Getty Images History & Culture American History U.S. Presidents Basics Important Historical Figures Key Events Native American History American Revolution America Moves Westward The Gilded Age Crimes & Disasters The Most Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution African American History African History Ancient History and Culture Asian History European History Genealogy Inventions Latin American History Medieval & Renaissance History Military History The 20th Century Women's History View More By Tom Murse Tom Murse Political Journalist Tom Murse has been writing about politics and government for over two decades, and has been recognized by the Nieman Foundation for fairness in investigative reporting. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on October 21, 2019 The youngest president in U.S. history was Theodore Roosevelt, who became president in 1901 when he was 42 years, 10 months, and 18 days old. Roosevelt was thrust into office following the assassination of President William McKinley. When he took office, Theodore Roosevelt was only seven years older than the constitutional requirement that the White House occupant be at least 35 years old. Roosevelt was reelected in 1904, when he reportedly said to his wife: "My dear, I am no longer a political accident." John F. Kennedy is often incorrectly cited as the youngest president. However, since Roosevelt was sworn in after an assassination (not an election), Kennedy does hold the record for the youngest person elected president. Kennedy was 43 years, 7 months, and 22 days old when he took the Oath of Office. Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt was America's youngest president at 42 years, 10 months, and 18 days old when he was sworn into the presidency. Roosevelt was likely used to being the young guy in politics. He was elected to the New York State Legislature at the age of 23. That made him the youngest state lawmaker in New York at the time. Though Kennedy was the youngest president at the time of leaving office, Kennedy's untimely departure came by assassination. Roosevelt was the youngest to leave through the normal transition of power to the next president. At the time, Roosevelt was age 50 years, 128 days. John F. Kennedy John F Kennedy takes the oath of office administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren. Getty Images/Hulton Archive John F. Kennedy is often mentioned as the youngest president ever. He took the presidential Oath of Office in 1961 at 43 years, 7 months, and 22 days old. While Kennedy isn't the youngest person to occupy the White House, he is the youngest person elected president. Roosevelt wasn't initially elected president and was vice president when McKinley was killed. Kennedy was, however, the youngest president to leave office at age 46 years, 177 days. Bill Clinton Chief Justice William Rehnquist swears in President Bill Clinton in 1993. Jacques M. Chenet/Corbis Documentary Bill Clinton, a former governor of Arkansas, became the third-youngest president in U.S. history when he took the oath of office for the first of two terms in 1993. Clinton was 46 years, 5 months, and 1 day old at the time. Ulysses S. Grant Brady-Handy Photograph Collection (Library of Congress) Ulysses S. Grant is the fourth-youngest president in U.S. history. He was 46 years, 10 months, and 5 days old when he took the oath of office in 1869. Until Roosevelt's ascension to the presidency, Grant had been the youngest president to hold the office. He was inexperienced and his administration plagued by scandal. Barack Obama Pool / Getty Images News Barack Obama is the fifth-youngest president in U.S. history. He was 47 years, 5 months, and 16 days old when he took the oath in 2009. During the 2008 presidential race, his inexperience was a major issue. He had served only four years in the U.S. Senate before becoming president, but before that had served eight years as a state lawmaker in Illinois. Obama is the youngest living former president. Grover Cleveland Corbis/VCG via Getty Images / Getty Images Grover Cleveland is the only president who served two non-consecutive terms in office and is the sixth-youngest in history. When he took the oath for the first time in 1885, he was 47 years, 11 months, and 14 days old. The man who many believe to be among America's best presidents was not new to political power. He was previously the Sheriff of Erie County, New York, Mayor of Buffalo, and was then elected Governor of New York in 1883. Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce was elected to the presidency at the age of 48 years, 3 months, and 9 days, making him the seventh-youngest president. Montage Images/Getty Images Ten years before the Civil War, Franklin Pierce was elected to the presidency at the age of 48 years, 3 months, and 9 days, making him the seventh-youngest president. His 1853 election would mark four turbulent years with a shadow of what was to come. Pierce made his political mark as a state legislator in New Hampshire, then moved on to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pro-enslavement and a supporter of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, he was not the most popular president in history. James Garfield President James Garfield was one of the youngest presidents. Brady-Handy/Epics/Getty Images In 1881, James Garfield took office and became the eighth-youngest president. On the day of his inauguration, he was 49 years, 3 months, and 13 days old. Prior to his presidency, Garfield had served 17 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing his home state of Ohio. In 1880, he was elected to the Senate, but his presidential win meant he would never serve in that role. Garfield was shot in July of 1881 and died in September of blood poisoning. He was not, however, the president with the shortest term. That title goes to William Henry Harrison who died one month after his 1841 inauguration. James K. Polk President James K. Polk was the ninth-youngest president in American history. Daguerreotype by Mathew Brady (Photo by Mathew Brady/Getty Images) The ninth youngest president was James K. Polk. He was sworn in at 49 years, 4 months, and 2 days old, and his presidency lasted from 1845 through 1849. Polk's political career began at the age of 28 in the Texas House of Representatives. He moved up to the U.S. House of Representatives and became Speaker of the House during his tenure. His presidency was marked by the Mexican-American War and the biggest additions to the U.S. territory. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Murse, Tom. "The Youngest President in American History." ThoughtCo, Feb. 22, 2021, thoughtco.com/youngest-presidents-in-american-history-3368124. Murse, Tom. (2021, February 22). The Youngest President in American History. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/youngest-presidents-in-american-history-3368124 Murse, Tom. "The Youngest President in American History." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/youngest-presidents-in-american-history-3368124 (accessed April 19, 2024). copy citation